Abhranil Roy
Manchester United will take on Southampton in the Premier League on Saturday the 23rd of January at Old Trafford. The Red Devils will look to keep their unbeaten streak going, as a victory for the home side could be enough to lift them back into the top four depending on results elsewhere, while Southampton could climb as high as seventh if they were to make it three wins on the bounce.
With Wayne Rooney back in form having scored 5 goals in 4 games, van Gaal will hope his side will gain the 3 points and impress the audience as well. His team struggled in the FA Cup win over Sheffield United, was involved in a six goal thriller versus Newcastle United at St. James’s Park and then did a smash-and-grab job at Anfield last Sunday.
On the other hand, things have also been going better for Southampton recently following a poor spell of form that saw that drop into the bottom half of the table. However, they have also only scored nine goals away from home all season, one of the worst tallies in the league, although Ronald Koeman will be hoping that the arrival of Charlie Austin from Queens Park Rangers for a knock down price of £4m helps in that regard. The 26-year-old scored an impressive 18 goals during his season in the top flight with QPR, and with Shane Long of reported interest to Liverpool and Graziano Pelle currently out of favour, the chance could be there for him to make the centre-forward position his own at the club.
TEAM NEWS
Koeman has confirmed that Austin will be in the squad for this match, although he could be forced to wait for his debut off the bench. Pelle has three goals in his three league appearances against United, but he too may miss out to Long once again as Koeman keeps faith with a winning formula. Tadic will be hopeful of earning a starting berth having scored off the bench in both of Southampton’s last two games, and he could come in for Matt Targett this weekend. Maarten Stekelenburg is a doubt with a hamstring injury, but probably wouldn’t displace the fit-again Fraser Forster in the side anyway. Jay Rodriguez and Florin Gardos remain longer-term absentees.
Van Gaal has a number of doubts to deal with as he prepares to go up against his rival Koeman once again. Bastian Schweinsteiger, Michael Carrick and Adnan Januzaj all have question marks over their fitness, which could see a similar side named to the one that beat Liverpool. Ashley Young has been removed from that XI due to a knee injury that requires operation, though, while Phil Jones, Marcos Rojo, Antonio Valencia and Luke Shaw are definitely sidelined.
STAT ATTACK:
– Manchester United have won seven and lost just one of the last 10 Barclays Premier League matches against Southampton, but that defeat came in Saints’ last visit to Old Trafford.
– Graziano Pelle has scored three goals in as many appearances against the Red Devils.
– Wayne Rooney has currently scored 98 BPL goals at Old Trafford. He has not scored in five successive matches across all competitions for Man Utd since March 2010 (six matches).
– Louis van Gaal’s side have won just two of their last six league outings at Old Trafford (W2 D3 L1).
– Man Utd have not kept a clean sheet in any oftheir last eight top-flight matches against Southampton.
– David De Gea will make his 150th BPL appearance should he feature on Saturday.
– Southampton have scored a league-high 13 goals from crosses this season and have also netted a joint league-high nine headed goals (alongside West Bromwich Albion).
– Manchester United have won 10 and lost just one of their last 13 meetings with the Saints in all competitions, although that solitary defeat did come on Southampton’s last trip to Old Trafford just over a year ago.
– United have not kept a clean sheet against Southampton in the Premier League since 2004, when Rooney,Paul Scholes andCristianoRonaldowere all on the scoresheet in a 3-0 win at Old Trafford.
Facts via Premierleague.com
TEAM LINEUPS:
Man Utd possible starting lineup:De Gea; Varela, Smalling, Blind, Darmian; Schneiderlin, Fellaini, Lingard, Mata, Martial; Rooney
Southampton possible starting lineup:Forster; Cedric, Van Dijk, Fonte, Bertrand; Ward-Prowse, Wanyama, Davis, Mane, Tadic; Long
PREDICTION:
Very hard to call this one, we go for a 2-1 win in favour of United.
