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Man United vs Southampton Preview: Can Saints end goal drought?

By Edward Waugh

SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 29: Che Adams and Moussa Djenepo of Southampton close down Aaron Wan-Bissaka of Manchester United during the Premier League match between Southampton and Manchester United at St Mary's Stadium on November 29, 2020 in Southampton, England. Sporting stadiums around the UK remain under strict restrictions due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in games being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Robin Jones/Getty Images)
SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 29: Che Adams and Moussa Djenepo of Southampton close down Aaron Wan-Bissaka of Manchester United during the Premier League match between Southampton and Manchester United at St Mary's Stadium on November 29, 2020 in Southampton, England. Sporting stadiums around the UK remain under strict restrictions due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in games being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Robin Jones/Getty Images) /
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Following a frustrating result on Saturday night, Southampton take an injury-ridden squad to Old Trafford on Tuesday; in the hopes of picking up their first Premier League win since the beginning of January.

Manager Ralph Hasenhuttl has not had the easiest of months on the south-coast, with results in the FA Cup being the only shining light of what has proven to be a very costly January for the Austrian. The likes of Theo Walcott, Kyle Walker-Peters, Oriol Romeu and Jannik Vestergaard are most likely sidelined for the game against The Red Devils; all big pieces of the first-team squad that will be sorely missed.

On top of that even injuries to fringe players, most notably Ibrahima Diallo won’t be able to plug the gaps that currently exist. One big talking point that being of how Alexandre Jankewitz will perform given that the youth-levelled Swiss international is likely to be handed his first Premier League start on Tuesday despite brief cameo roles off the bench against Aston Villa and Shrewsbury in the FA Cup.

Taking on second-placed Manchester United won’t be an easy task for obvious reasons, but with their two recent results of drawing to Arsenal and especially that of losing to 20th placed Sheffield United 2-1 at home, will have hurt Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men and therefore they’ll be looking to respond to keep the pressure on Manchester City at the top of the Premier League.

Bruno Fernandes of Manchester United and Moussa Djenepo of Southampton (Photo by Robin Jones/Getty Images)
Bruno Fernandes of Manchester United and Moussa Djenepo of Southampton (Photo by Robin Jones/Getty Images) /

Both Saints and United toothless in recent weeks

It’s been a running theme for Southampton since their 3-0 drumming of Sheffield United all the way back in the middle of December; that attacking wise, the team is struggling to create chances from open-play – the last goal not being from a set-piece against Arsenal on the 16th of December.

Granted on Saturday, Stuart Armstrong and Danny Ings were denied goal-scoring opportunities from what could be described as ludicrous decisions by the officials, the former more so with Aston Villa’s Matty Cash deliberately using his arm to block the Scotsman’s shot which looked goal-bound; saying that the latter decision was just as ridiculous.

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Overall Saints rank 14th for shots in the Premier League this season, meaning that if not clinical, the opportunity to not pick up points presents itself at a higher-chance. In the same breath, United rank 4th in the league for shots; however they have not been beating teams with more than a one-goal margin since their 6-2 demolition of northern-rivals Leeds United.

Victories against Burnley (1-0) and Fulham (2-1) took for midfielder Paul Pogba to hit wonder-strikes, and shooting blanks against Arsenal and Liverpool, despite being the conventional top six clubs have struggled defensively this season; especially the Merseyside club who have key injuries to defenders Virgil Van Dijk and Joe Gomez.

How Southampton Will Win

The south-coast club boast one of the better defensive records this campaign, sitting on eight clean sheets at the time of writing. Giving a similar performance to that of the win against Liverpool at the beginning of January could be the way to navigate what has become an extremely difficult away fixture with the injuries. Using James Ward-Prowse’s set-piece taking ability and feeding the ball into Danny Ings more effectively are Ralph Hasenhuttl’s best options for nicking a goal.

How Manchester United Will Win

Edison Cavani has a good match-up against Southampton’s defensive partnership of Jan Bednarek and Jack Stephens, the latter’s disadvantage of aerial prowess will be an area that Solskjaer should be looking to take advantage of. Utilising Marcus Rashford on the left-wing will also be a smart move by the Norwegian manager due to the injury of Kyle Walker-Peters who is doubtful for the game, with that back-up full-back Van Valery (linked with a move away form Southampton at the time of writing), being complacent defensively.

Score Prediction: Southampton 1-1 Manchester United

dark. Next. Extent of Saints' injury problems revealed

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