Everything you need to know ahead of the Premier League clash at St Mary’s Stadium on Saturday
Manchester United progressed to the knockout stage of the Champions League on Tuesday when Marouane Fellaini’s 91st-minute goal took them past Young Boys and put them beyond Valencia’s reach in second spot in Group H.
But on Saturday they go about the job of returning to winning ways in the Premier League having lost to Manchester City and then drawn with Crystal Palace in their last two domestic fixtures.
Their trip to Southampton could provide a good omen, as United’s last league win came just down the south coast at Bournemouth and former Red Devils striker Mark Hughes is currently struggling to get a tune out of the Saints.
Having left Paul Pogba and Romelu Lukaku out of the starting lineup in midweek, and Alexis Sanchez out of the squad completely, it will be interesting to see what side Jose Mourinho puts out for the trip to St Mary’s.
Victor Lindelof is expected to be out until the busy festive period after Jose Mourinho confirmed this week that he is set to miss a number of weels’ action.
“I hope he can play Christmas time when we have that accumulation of matches, so I would say three weeks something like that,” said the United manager of his centre-back.
Other than the Swede, United have received the blow of a hamstring injury for Alexis Sanchez in training which is highly likely to see him miss the trip to Southampton. Mourinho should give an update in his Friday press conference regarding the Chilean’s status.
After sitting out his one-match ban against Crystal Palace last week, Luke Shaw is back available for United. While there are no players who will miss the trip south due to discipline issues, Ashley Young will be ruled out of the match against Arsenal if he is booked on Saturday.
Phil Jones is likely to continue after returning to the side for the first time in two months for the win against Young Boys.
Sanchez will be an unlikely addition after his hamstring problem in training, while Pogba and Lukaku will be pushing for recalls after playing the final 30 minutes in midweek. One of Fred and Fellaini could miss out, while Juan Mata will be in Mourinho’s thoughts when it comes to forward options.
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Southampton boss Hughes is desperate to pick up a result against his former club having overseen just three wins in 22 league matches since becoming Saints manager in the spring.
The Saints were beaten by struggling Fulham in their last league game and were also knocked out of the Carabao Cup by Leicester City in midweek, stacking further pressure on Hughes.
The one-time United number 10 will be hoping that on-loan Liverpool striker Danny Ings can overcome a hamstring injury which kept him out of their latest two setbacks in time to take the field on Saturday.
Ings’ four goals in 11 league games so far this term have him sitting top of an anaemic Saints side’s scoring charts so far this term, and any hope they have of taking something off United may depend on the former Burnley and Bournemouth man being okay to play.
The match at St Mary’s kicks off at 5:30pm GMT on Saturday, with live coverage available on BT Sport in the UK. In the US the game will be shown on NBC Sports at 12:30pm ET.
