Southampton vs. Aston Villa: Why Both Clubs Must Win Saturday's Match

It may only be the fifth match of the season for Southampton and Aston Villa, but it may be the most important one so far for both clubs.

Heading into the beginning of the season, both the Saints and Villains were predicted to finish near the bottom of the table.

Those predictions are looking to be true so far as both clubs have started the season on the wrong foot.

Saturday's match at St. Mary's Stadium may prove to be more important for the hosts, who sit in last place in the table with no points after four matches.

The Saints have shown some heart in their matches with the giants of the Premier League so far but have not been able to close out each match.

Against both Manchester City and Manchester United, the Saints were up by a goal late in the second half before giving up two late goals to both clubs.

In their other two matches, the Saints have looked far from a Premier League side as they were blown out by Arsenal last weekend by a 6-1 scoreline and failed to score at home in a 2-0 loss to Wigan in their second match of the season.

Nigel Adkins' club need some type of positive result against Villa on Saturday in an attempt to keep hope of staying in the EPL for another season alive and to keep Adkins' job for the rest of the season.

On the other hand, Aston Villa head into Saturday's match as the club in a better position, 13th in the table to be exact, with four points.

After their match on the road against Southampton, the Villains enter a difficult part of their schedule.

In their next eight matches after Saturday in the Premier League, Villa will play only two clubs that are currently below them in the table.

Some of the clubs that sit on their upcoming schedule and are above them in the table include Manchester United, Manchester City, Tottenham and Arsenal.

In their matches against the stronger clubs in the league so far this season, the Villains lost by two goals at home to Everton and drew with Newcastle on the road.

There is no doubt that the club will be able to escape a few of those fixtures with unexpected points but they need to prepare for the worst.

That reason alone is why the Villains are in need of earning the full three points on Saturday.

If they fail to earn any points against Southampton, Villa will fall further down the table and will run the risk of sitting in the relegation zone in recent weeks.

With all that being said, both Southampton and Aston Villa will enter the match on Saturday in a situation that is close to a must-win situation.

Southampton need the points to have any hope of success in their season.

Aston Villa need a win to give them confidence ahead of their tough stretch of matches.