Manchester United vs Southampton

Premier League basement boys Southampton head to Old Trafford to take on top-four hopefuls Manchester United in a lopsided contest.

Manchester United picked themselves up from a humiliating 7-0 defeat to arch-rivals Liverpool last weekend by ousting Real Betis 3-1 at home in midweek Europa League action. Despite falling down from a four-game undefeated run in the Premier League (W3, D1), Erik ten Hag’s men must be confident of returning to winning ways at Old Trafford, where they’ve gone unbeaten in their last 20 competitive outings (W18, D2). Adding to this sentiment, the ‘Red Devils’ have had Southampton’s number of late, holding the ‘Saints’ winless in 14 consecutive H2Hs in all competitions (W7, D7) since a 1-0 home loss in 2016. They’re likely to paint the continuation of that impressive streak with flying colors after netting 2+ goals in all but two of their matches in 2023 (W14, D3, L2).

In the meantime, visiting Southampton may have found the formula to secure Premier League survival under new boss Ruben Selles, who has led them to two victories in three top-flight games at the helm (L1). But Selles has been an ‘entertainment killer,’ as each of those three matches (won/lost) featured an identical 1-0 scoreline, highlighting the importance of breaking the deadlock. That may not necessarily be the case at Old Trafford, considering the ‘Saints’ have lost more points from winning positions (36) against Man Utd than any other side in Premier League history. But it’s not all lost for the visitors yet, as they come into proceedings as the only side in the league to have won over 50% of their Premier League points on the road this season (12/21).