Manchester United welcome Southampton to Old Trafford tonight in their penultimate Premier League match at the Theatre of Dreams this season. Of course, they will be playing at Old Trafford another time in the UEFA Europa League at the start of next month. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will be seeking his team to extend their unbeaten run to 18 matches, putting pressure on Chelsea and Leicester City, leapfrogging them into third.
Since the restart, United have drawn 1-1 with Tottenham Hotspur, beaten Sheffield United, Brighton and Hove Albion, and Aston Villa by 3-0 scorelines, also beating Bournemouth 5-2 in the Premier League, not to mention a 2-1 victory over Norwich City in the Emirates FA Cup a fortnight ago. Southampton will be a team aiming to stand in United’s way with Ralph Hasenhüttl looking to finish the season on a high.
Manchester United:
De Gea;
Wan-Bissaka, Lindelof, Maguire, Shaw;
Matic, Pogba;
Greenwood, Fernandes, Rashford;
Martial
Substitutes:
Romero; Bailly, Williams; Mata, Pereira, Fred, James, McTominay; Ighalo
Southampton:
McCarthy;
Walker-Peters, Stephens, Bednarek, Bertrand;
Armstrong, Ward-Prowse, Romeu, Redmond;
Ings, Adams
Substitutes:
Gunn; Vestergaard, Long, Obafemi, Højbjerg, Smallbone, Vokins, Danso, Ferry
United and Southampton have played 41 times in the Premier League with United winning 26, drawing eight and losing seven times. United have scored 82 goals conceding 46. United have kept 11 clean sheets with the Saints keeping six. United have been awarded three penalties, scoring one, with the Saints awarded one and missing it. In total, United have 54 yellow cards the Saints have 65 with both teams having one red card.
Back in August when the two teams met the first time this season, it was a 1-1 draw at St Mary’s with Daniel James scoring the opening goal in the tenth minute of the match, assisted by Scott McTominay. The Saints equalised through Jannik Vestergaard in the 58th minute, assisted by Kevin Danso, who was sent off with a second yellow card in the 73rd minute. At Old Trafford last season, United won 3-2.
