If nothing else over the last few days, the fortunes of Aston Villa have given the footballing neutral a good old chuckle, an antidote to the back-to-work January blues. Defeat to Bradford Tuesday made Villa, not for the first time in recent weeks, the laughing stock of football.

The claret and blue faithful, of course, do not see the funny side at all. The joke is wearing thin. In and around Villa Park, the atmosphere is one of tension, apprehension, frustration and, it has to be said, fear. Genuine fear that this once-proud football club is now in realistic danger of losing its Premier League status.

Villa flirted with relegation two seasons ago before a late surge to mid-table, came uncomfortably close last season and, despite widespread optimism back in the summer, are right on the edge of the bottom three with performances and results getting progressively worse.

The team desperately need a break - either in terms of a positive result, or a week or more without a game, just to regroup, hunker down and work on the training ground - but the fixture list is rarely kind, and up next is another match which could carry severe consequences if Villa slip up.

Southampton are the visitors to Villa Park Saturday. The Saints are literally breathing down Villa's neck - the south coast club are in 17th place, on 18 points, with Villa in 16th place, on 19 points. Southampton have a game in hand. Just below both clubs sit Wigan, also on 18 points - Roberto Martinez's team are at Fulham this weekend - so Villa could be in the bottom three by Saturday evening.

In many ways, it was the earlier meeting this season between Southampton and Villa in September which gave the first firm indications that Paul Lambert had a big job on his hands in trying to steer the club back to better times. Having just beaten Swansea at home the week before, Villa were 1-0 up at half-time through Darren Bent, and all was looking well.

In the second half at St. Mary's, the Saints cut loose, scoring four goals in 32 minutes. It was Southampton's first league win of the season. They were off and running, whereas Villa started drifting off course. It was, in hindsight, perhaps something of a turning point for Villa. It was also the point at which Bent stopped being an automatic choice.

Since that afternoon, the teams have actually more or less kept pace with one another. Villa have picked up 15 points, Southampton 16 (with the Saints playing a game less). And while Southampton are no great shakes away from home - Nigel Adkins' team has won just once on its travels, at QPR, and lost six times, conceding 24 goals in the process - Villa are far from red hot at home.

Lambert's team have only won twice (Swansea, Reading) on home turf and scored a paltry eight goals. Saints hate travelling as much as Villa detest entertaining.

Southampton can score; 12 away goals in the league to date, which isn't bad. And their centre-forward, Rickie Lambert, will be rubbing his hands in particular at the prospect of getting at Villa's vulnerable back four. He's an old-fashioned type, Lambert, which means he'll relish crosses into the box and good set-piece delivery - almost exactly what Villa cannot seem to deal with.

With eight league goals in 20 games, Lambert is the obvious danger, though Jason Puncheon is a lively, explosive winger, and Jay Rodriguez is beginning to find his feet at this level.

In terms of weakness, Saints are similar to Villa, with defensive frailties exposed often this season and Adkins seemingly unable to settle on a designated No.1 goalkeeper. Kelvin Davis and Paulo Gazzaniga have more or less split the duties evenly, though Artur Boric, the former Celtic stopper, has also come into the equation recently. He started Southampton's last league game, the 1-1 draw with Arsenal.

With no transfer activity at Villa at the time of writing - another source of supporter annoyance, more on that next week - it's again a case of Lambert being limited in his options in defence and midfield. Having opted for a four-man defence against Ipswich and Bradford, it's unlikely the Villa boss will revert to a five, though he may well bring in an extra midfielder.

He should consider it strongly, especially after Bradford exploited midfield space on Tuesday. The two Australians, Chris Herd and Brett Holman, may be in line for recalls. Villa could use their industry.

Saturday's match is as big for Southampton as it is for Villa, but there's no question which club will be feeling the pressure more, where the weight of expectation will fall. How Lambert's players cope with that could be decisive.

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