After playing the last game of Week 3, Manchester United will feature in the opening one of Week 4 as they travel to St.Mary’s to take on Ralph Hasenhuttl’s Southampton. Victory over Saints will see United leapfrog the South Coast outfit in the league standings- the two teams are 11th and 14th respectively going into this weekend’s round of fixtures.
After a dire start to the season with losses against Brighton and Brentford, United put on their best performance of the campaign as they stunned Liverpool 2-1 at Old Trafford on Monday evening. The Red Devils fully deserved their three points as they outplayed their opponents– in fact, the only two major threats to De Gea in the United goal came from his teammates, with Bruno Fernandes and Lisandro Martinez both nearly scoring own goals.
Apart from that one near OG, it was a near flawless performance from Martinez in defence. Brought into the starting XI at the expense of regular captain Harry Maguire, the Argentine brushed aside worries regarding his height with an assured showing in central defence alongside Raphael Varane. On the basis of what we saw on Monday, Maguire is unlikely to get back into the starting lineup soon and the same could be said of Luke Shaw, with new summer signing Tyrell Malacia also having a fine game at left back against Liverpool.
Team of the Week (GW 3)
A look at the pre-game odds suggests that United will start favourites against Southampton and for good reason- the Red Devils have a fantastic recent record against their opponents. Their last defeat to Saints in the league came back in January 2016, and for their last loss at St.Mary’s, the venue for this weekend’s clash, one needs to go all the way back to 2003, when James Beattie’s late winner gave the home side all three points.
Erik Ten Hag will probably field the same XI that did the business against Liverpool, although there could be the temptation to give a start to new marquee signing Casemiro, possibly at the expense of Scott McTominay. The other change could’ve been upfront, where Anthony Martial’s fine performance off the bench against the Reds might have warranted a start, but the Frenchman’s new Achilles injury means that young Anthony Elanga should retain his place.
Southampton have under performed in recent seasons, finishing 15th or lower in four of their last five campaigns. They were drubbed 4-1 by Spurs on the opening day of the season, but bounced back to draw against Leeds and then beat Leicester on the road last weekend.
Last five games (H2H)
Man Utd 1-1 Southampton
Southampton 1-1 Man Utd
Man Utd 9-0 Southampton
Southampton 2-3 Man Utd
Man Utd 2-2 Southampton
The referee for this game is Andy Madley, and he has given a penalty in each of the two PL clashes he’s been in charge earlier this season (Fulham-Liverpool and Palace-Villa). Both of those games produced four goals each.