Walker-Peters looks to release Mara in behind the Villa defence with a long ball forward, but the substitute is flagged for offside as we enter the final minute! Martinez will be in no rush to take the free-kick, that's for sure.
90' +1
We're into four minutes of injury time, and is that enough for Southampton to find a late goal here?
88'
L. Dendoncker enters the game and replaces Douglas Luiz.
Luiz's peach of a cross into the box resulted in the goal which currently separates the two sides, and the all-action Brazil midfielder is replaced by Leander Dendoncker.
84'
M. Oršić enters the game and replaces A. Armstrong.
M. Djenepo enters the game and replaces D. Ćaleta-Car.
Caleta-Car is also brought off in an attacking change, and can Moussa Djenepo, who scored a beauty to knock Manchester City out of the EFL Cup, provide something similar late in this game?
Armstrong has been once of Saints' brightest sparks so far, but comes off now for the club's new Croatian signing, Mislav Orsic.
83'
Ward-Prowse whips the Southampton free-kick into the box from deep, but Salisu's towering header is sent looping over the goalkeeper and wide of the target.
82'
Álex Moreno gets yellow.
Moreno is beaten on the spin by Walker-Peters, and proceeds to drag the Saints full-back down by his shirt, picking up the most textbook of textbook yellow cards that you'll ever see.
81'
M. Cash enters the game and replaces L. Bailey.
Bailey comes off next for Villa, who look to preserve their lead by bringing on defender Matty Cash.
77'
O. Watkins has scored a goal for Aston Villa! Assist by Douglas Luiz.
The cross in from Luiz couldn't have been better, and it gave Watkins the ball exactly where he wanted it, to score accordingly for the Villans.
GOOOOOOAAAAALLLL!!!!! Villa get the breakthrough!!! Mara concedes a free-kick which is whipped in with venom by Luiz, and Watkins ghosts ahead of his marker to bury a superb downward header in the bottom corner, and the Villa fans behind that very goal go crazy! 1-0 to Villa after Saints have twice been denied an opener, and with less than 15 to go, can they hold on?
73'
Ramsey finds Luiz on the edge of the box, who looks to play a one-two with Coutinho inside the area. However, Salisu cuts out the return ball between the Brazilians, and scythes it clear for Saints.
Minute
Description
72'
Lyanco dispossesses Ramsey in midfield and links up with Armstrong and Mara to his right. The latter looks to flash the ball across the face of goal, but can only send it into Martinez's gloves at the near post.
70'
Ramsey charges forward with pace before feeding Watkins, who attempts a shot from a tight angle which is blocked behind for a corner!
69'
Philippe Coutinho enters the game and replaces E. Buendía.
Off comes Buendia in Villa's first change of the game, and Philippe Coutinho will replace him.
68'
A Villa free-kick is half-cleared and falls to Moreno, who attempts the spectacular but fires his chested volley a mile over the crossbar.
67'
Chants of "you're not fit to referee" bellow out from the home fans as Armstrong is penalised for flying into a tackle, and the officials may struggle to keep a lid on this game if the players' frustrations grow any further.
64'
Douglas Luiz gets yellow.
Luiz is shown a yellow card for dissent, having been the most vocal of the Villa players who surrounded the referee upon the ball hitting the net.
62'
R. Perraud enters the game and replaces S. Edozie.
Edozie has been really impressive in this game, but his afternoon is cut short by the introduction of Romain Perraud.
61'
M. Elyounoussi enters the game and replaces R. Lavia.
S. Mara enters the game and replaces C. Adams.
Lavia also comes off, and he's replaced by Mohamed Elyounoussi.
Saints boss Jones makes a triple change on the hour mark, with Adams first off for Sekou Mara to replace him up front.
60'
Adams does brilliantly to keep the ball away from Mings, and Ward-Prowse finds Edozie. He whips another promising ball into the box, but Young meets it and clears for Villa.
58'
A long ball forward is missed by Mings at full stretch, giving Armstrong space to run into, but once again Martinez is miles off his line and comes out to control the ball, before clearing it!
57'
Buendia looks to weave his way into the box and has Luiz in support. The ball flicks up and the Brazilian looks to pull off a wonderstrike, but mishits the ball and sends it rolling to the feet of Salisu!
55'
Adams and Young almost end up in row 1 of the stands after colliding on the far touchline. Both are fine though, and play continues when Young picks himself up and gingerly returns to the pitch.
52'
Edozie beats Buendia all ends up once again before linking up with Armstrong. He tees Ward-Prowse up to cross, but the Saints captain's ball in finds no-one in red and white.
50'
Edozie beats Buendia before showing great skill and power to turn inside Moreno, but Buendia comes back and fouls the teenager, right on the edge of Villa's box.
46'
Ward-Prowse kicks off for Saints, and we're back underway at St. Mary's!
45' +2
HALF-TIME: SOUTHAMPTON 0-0 ASTON VILLA.
45'
We'll play two added minutes at the end of a rather eventful first half.
42'
Play has been halted before the free-kick could be taken, due to a remote-controlled drone flying above the goal at that end of St. Mary's. After some deliberation, the referee takes the players off the pitch and down the tunnel, and it's anyone's guess as to when they'll return!
Here come the players with the match set to resume, and Villa have at least had plenty of time to plan their routine for this free-kick!
There's still no sign of the players returning as we approach what would have been half-time, and let's hope the delay isn't too lengthy!
What a sight! Luiz and Bailey stand over the free-kick and Luiz knocks the ball to his teammate, but Bailey doesn't see him do so and Villa lose the ball!
40'
Caleta-Car is all over Watkins with his back to goal, and brings the striker down as he looks to control the ball. Villa will have a free-kick in prime shooting position, but unfortunately for them, James Ward-Prowse is on the other team.
38'
Edozie dribbles down the byline and beats two defenders before crossing, but the ball is deflected up and into the waiting gloves of Martinez.
35'
Bazunu is now down for Saints, nursing a knock to his knee, and should be okay to carry on, despite replacement goalkeeper Willy Caballero warming up.
33'
Villa queue up in the box as Moreno finds Watkins on the edge, and he dribbles past one defender before firing off a limp left-footed effort.
27'
Buendia's ball forward to Watkins skews into the air off Caleta-Car, sparking pandemonium in the Saints box. Lyanco can't get there under pressure from the Villa striker, and with Bazunu stranded, only a strong header from Salisu gets the ball away!
15'
Play halts for Southampton winger Edozie to receive treatment, having gone down on the edge of his own box after picking up a knock. Good news for Nathan Jones though, as the youngster is soon back on his feet.
13'
Lyanco gets yellow.
Lyanco flies forward looking to press Villa back towards their own goal, but he follows through with a challenge which catches Mings very late, and the Saints defender receives the first yellow card of the game.
12'
Neither side has been able to create anything resembling a chance so far, as both try to keep a decent spell of possession for more than just a few passes.
8'
Two successive Southampton breaks are thwarted by fouls from Konsa and Buendia respectively. The latter free-kick is swung into the Villa box by Ward-Prowse, but Martinez races out of the goalmouth to pluck the ball out of the air superbly.
7'
A ball is knocked forward for Ramsey to chase into the Southampton box, but after getting to it he's clattered by Bazunu! The visiting players and fans scream for a penalty, but the referee waves away all their appeals!
6'
Lyanco rises at the back post to connect with Ward-Prowse's corner, but he can't get enough power on his header and Martinez easily gathers.
5'
Lavia's cross-field pass finds Edozie on the run, who looks to twist and turn away from Moreno before winning the game's first corner via a deflection off the Villa left-back.
3'
Moreno whips in a good cross from the left, which Buendia meets on the edge of the box, but the Argentine's glancing header doesn't have enough power or accuracy on it to trouble Bazunu.
1'
Buendia kicks off for the visitors, and we are up and running at St. Mary's!
Hello, and welcome to live coverage of this Premier League fixture, as Southampton welcome Aston Villa to St. Mary's.
Villa’s form under Unai Emery since the World Cup break has been nothing short of impressive, recording two wins from four and being unbeaten in their last three matches, most recently beating Leeds 2-1 at Villa Park.
Sat rock-bottom of the Premier League table, Southampton have won just once in their last eight games. That sole victory did come in their most recent outing against Everton though, snapping a six-game losing streak in the process.
SOUTHAMPTON SUBS: Willy Caballero, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Joe Aribo, Mislav Orsic, Romain Perraud, Sekou Mara, Moussa Djenepo, Mohamed Elyounoussi, Carlos Alcaraz.
SOUTHAMPTON (4-2-3-1): Gavin Bazunu; Lyanco, Duje Caleta-Car, Mohammed Salisu, Kyle Walker-Peters; Romeo Lavia, Ibrahima Diallo; Adam Armstrong, James Ward-Prowse, Samuel Edozie; Che Adams.
ASTON VILLA SUBS: Robin Olsen, Viljami Sinisalo, Matty Cash, Morgan Sanson, Calum Chambers, Philippe Coutinho, Leander Dendoncker, Kadan Young.
ASTON VILLA (4-4-2): Emiliano Martinez; Ashley Young, Ezri Konsa, Tyrone Mings, Alex Moreno; Jacob Ramsey, Douglas Luiz, Boubacar Kamara, Emiliano Buendia; Leon Bailey, Ollie Watkins.
The teams head out onto the pitch, and we're just moments away from kick-off on the south coast!
The players return for the second half, and who will be the side that finds the all-important first goal in this game?
That's all from us, we hope you enjoyed the game. Until next time, goodbye!
A seventh loss in eight for Southampton leaves Nathan Jones' side rooted to the bottom of the table on 15 points after 20 games played. They're still only two points from safety, but need to start putting some consistent form together if they're to have a fightring chance of survival. A third win in four for Villa on the other hand, sees Unai Emery's men stay 11th, and are three points off Brighton in sixth. This rich vein of post-Qatar form is helping Villa rise up the table, and with both Chelsea and Liverpool just one point ahead of the Villans, the Birmingham club will fancy their chances of climbing further still.
Commentary
More…