How Manchester United can line up against Southampton | Premier League 2018-19
Manchester United will try to continue their unbeaten record in the Premier League under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer when they welcome Southampton on Saturday. They produced a solid away performance against Crystal Palace in the mid-week fixture, winning 1-3 on the night. Romelu Lukaku scored a brace and will look forward to continuing his form against Southampton. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will still be without key first-team players for Saturday's game. Only Marcus Rashford is expected to be back from injury.
Manchester United's injury list
- Nemanja Matic
- Ander Herrera
- Juan Mata
- Anthony Martial
- Mateo Darmian
- Antonio Valencia
- Jesse Lingard
- Phil Jones
Southampton defeated Fulham 2-0 in mid-week, their first victory in last 5 Premier League games. They are fighting to survive against relegation and find themselves 17th in the table, 2 points clear of 18th place Cardiff City. They will be determined to get a result at Old Trafford but will face a difficult task of beating high-flying Manchester United side on their own turf.
The last time these 2 sides met at Saint Mary's Stadium, it ended in a draw. Southampton were struggling under the previous management of Mark Hughes and found themselves in the relegation zone. Goals from Armstrong and Cedric gave Southampton a 2-goal advantage inside 15 minutes.
But Manchester United showed some character and produced a comeback, thanks to the goals from Romelu Lukaku and Ander Herrera in the same half. It ended 2-2 in the end and was a very disappointing result for Manchester United, who were expected to beat struggling Southampton side comfortably.
Form Guide
Manchester United - Last 5 games
Premier League
Crystal Palace 1-3 Manchester United (27th February)
Premier League
Manchester United 0-0 Liverpool (24th February)
The FA Cup
Chelsea 0-2 Manchester United (18th February)
UEFA Champions League
Manchester United 0-2 Paris Saint-Germain (12th February)
Premier League
Fulham 0-3 Manchester United (9th February)
Manchester United have lost just once in their last 5 games in all competition, winning thrice and drawing once against Liverpool. They scored 8 times and conceded just 3 times during these games. Paris Saint-Germain are the only side to beat United in more than 2 months, and they did look the better side both on paper and field. Draw against Liverpool was considered a good result, given that they lost three first-team players to injury in the first half. They also outclassed Maurizio Sarri's Chelsea in the FA Cup during these run of games.
Southampton - Last 5 games
Premier League
Southampton 2-0 Fulham (27th February)
Premier League
Arsenal 2-0 Southampton (24th February)
Premier League
Southampton 1-2 Cardiff City (9th February)
Premier League
Burnley 1-1 Southampton (2nd February)
Premier League
Southampton 1-1 Crystal Palace (30th January)
Southampton have won just once in their last 5 games. They scored 5 and conceded 6 in these games. Goals from Oriol Romeu and James Ward-Prowse won them the game against Fulham. They also managed to get draws against Crystal Palace and Burnley. James Ward-Prowse has been in inspiring form recently and will be the one who can hurt Manchester United on Saturday.
Predicted Line-up
Marcus Rashford is expected to be fit to face Southampton on Saturday. Fred had a decent game against Crystal Palace but did lose the ball a lot and misplaced lot of the long passes he attempted. He is expected to be replaced by Andreas Periera, who had a decent game against Liverpool. Chris Smalling and Victor Lindelof are forming a formidable partnership at the back and are expected to be in the 11.
Scott McTominay has done a tremendous job of replacing the injured Nemanja Matic and will be in the line-up too. Lukaku scored a brace against Crystal Palace and will be given another opportunity to cement his place permanently in the starting line-up. Alexis Sanchez is yet to rediscover his form, but due to lack of attacking options, he'll be in the starting line-up.