Manchester United visit St. Mary’s Stadium as they take on Southampton in the Premier League fixture.
Manchester United come into the match after a disappointing 2-1 defeat to Tottenham three days ago, which left them struggling in the sixth place. They’re now 7 points behind Arsenal and are doomed to finish at best sixth in the league, which would be a downgrade from last year’s fifth place finish under Van Gaal, and that too after spending £150m in the summer.
Southampton’s previous action came just four days back, as they beat already relegated Middlesbrough 2-1. They are now eighth in the league, and have an upper hand over West Brom who have played a match more, and could possibly end their season in this position only.
United remain without Ibrahimovic, Rojo, Shaw, Young and Fosu-Mensah, however, Mensah could make a return from his injury before the Europa League Final. Mourinho is expected to start Romero in goal, and Pogba has been exempted from the match due to his father passing away. Rashford, Herrera and Mkhitaryan could make a return to the starting line-up, as they’ll be fielding a new-look team against Crystal Palace at the weekend.
Southampton remain without long-term absentees van Djik and McCarthy, but Targett will be in contention having recently returned from a long-term injury sustained in October. Ward-Prowse and Redmond could both return as Southampton are expected to play a full-strength side after they had made seven changes for the last match.
I personally feel that this match would be evenly fought, but United would still remain favourites to take home all three points, as they are expected to play a stronger side than the team that faced Tottenham at the weekend.