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Soccer-No backward steps for Koeman's attacking Saints

By Ossian Shine SOUTHAMPTON, England, Nov 21 (Reuters) - Second-placed Southampton will adopt a St Mary's mindset when they travel to Aston Villa on Monday, and will take the game to the hosts as they look to continue their impressive start to the Premier League season. Southampton have won their last five games in league and cup, and the 25 points they have is the most amassed from an opening 11 top-flight matches in their 129-year history. But with Manchester City, Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea all looming in coming weeks, Ronald Koeman knows his side will need to maintain their stunning form to stay ahead of the pack. First up, though, are Villa and Koeman told reporters his team would look to dominate Villa Park. "I think the most important thing is no difference in playing home or away. We like to dominate and we like to have the ball," Koeman said. "Of course it is more easy at home with the crowd, with the fans to have the support, but the way of playing is the same. "We like to play attractive football and to score goals, if you score goals the possibility to win is more." Southampton have 11 matches between now and Jan. 11, including two against both Arsenal and Manchester United. "Everybody knows from now until the beginning of January we will play a lot of games, a lot of difficult ones, and we play in the quarter-finals of the Capital One Cup, it is a tough programme, but I'm ready for it," the Dutchman said. "We know about our programme but everybody knows about the Premier League, it is not easy. All of them are difficult and playing Manchester City or Burnley for me is no different. "We would like to keep going on what we did in the past this season, that means we have to focus on the next one and that is Aston Villa, after that we will see." Southampton trail league leaders Chelsea by four points. Struggling Aston Villa lie 16th in the 20-team league, with 11 points. (Editing by Ed Osmond)