Manchester United vs Southampton: Opposing fan’s view from the Red Devils

After a disheartening 1-0 loss to Aston Villa on Saturday, the Saints will look to rebound against a Manchester United squad coming off an unlucky two-game stretch.

With the number of injuries for Southampton seemingly growing every match of late, this matchup looks to be quite the test of Ralph Hasenhuttl’s squad depth.

The side lost Theo Walcott, Ibrahima Diallo and Oriol Romeu in their shock loss to Aston Villa on Saturday, a match the Saints could have clearly won if not for some unfortunate refereeing decisions, and will likely be without each of the three against United. These injuries come on top of the ones the club has been dealing with already in Kyle Walker-Peters, Jannik Vestergaard, Mohammed Salisu and Nathan Tella.

Despite injury woes, it’s sure that Saints will still put up a fight against a tough Manchester United club that got the best of them earlier in the season when Edinson Cavani subbed on to score two second-half goals.

United fans have endured a mixed campaign so far

Manchester United fan Ash Diggs expressed with us at Saints Marching his anticipation for what should make for quite the chess match between Ralph and Ole Gunnar Solskjær, first summarizing his side’s campaign thus far ahead of the clash:

"Manchester United have had a rollercoaster of a season. They sit at number 2 on the table, have better results this far into a season than they have in a few seasons, and yet as a spectator, it doesn’t quite feel that way. This team wins games, yet rarely does it seem they are fully in control. Often times this season United seem to need to grow into games- they start slow and find themselves throughout. Teams are figuring them out- though not quite beating them yet as evidenced by United’s draw with Arsenal this past Saturday."

The side have turned into a real title contender of late after a slow start to the campaign under Ole, scoring a second-most 37 goals in league play thus far to help push themselves up the table. An obvious massive part of their success has been leading goalscorer Bruno Fernandes, but Ash thinks the true key player for United this week could be someone else:

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• Grading the Southampton Transfer Window Part 1: Departures
• It’s time to talk about Gavin Bazunu
• Rain clouds on the horizon? Southampton beat Plymouth Argyle
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"Perhaps energized by his Team’s success, Paul Pogba has again found world class form over the last couple of months. However, we know how good Pogba is at football, consistency is always the catch. After a few stumbles and losing some ground to City in the title race with their recent draw, Pogba’s performance against Southampton may reveal how much fight he, and this team, has in them."

After rumours swirled earlier in the campaign and over the summer at Pogba’s discontent at Old Trafford and a potential move away, he has settled back into form recently, proving he is still a top-tier talent. He missed the last match between the two sides coming off of an ankle injury and absolutely could provide a problem for a depleted Saints defense tomorrow. Aside from Pogba’s return, Ash expressed how he sees this match being different from that previous clash in late November:

"Man United’s last match against Southampton was a classic Sir Alex Ferguson win- when hope seemed lost super sub Edinson Cavani came in and scored 2 goals in the final 15 minutes to give United the win, 3-2. The November match up turned into a shootout, but I expect, with Southampton’s injuries and recent form there may be less dramatics this time around. Southampton is in rough shape and United has show this season they tend to play down to opponents at times when they should dominate. I suspect this time Southampton will put up quite a fight, and this match could turn into a hard fought, if less exciting, grind. I predict this match will be a manager showcase, with a fairly evenly played first half with second half adjustments being the key. Lookout for a single Cavani goal to be the difference maker, for a final score of 1-0 United."

While this could very well be a manager’s duel, Saints fans will have to hope Ralph can out-plot United with the lack of depth available to him, and that some Saints youngsters can shine through for the side. When looking past Tuesday’s match, Ash shared his predictions for the remainder of United’s 2021 campaign:

"My heart wants to tell you that recent struggles will light a fire under this team and they’ll retake the top of the table and win their first title since Sir Alec Ferguson’s retirement. But in reality, I predict this team will be just a bit too inconsistent to win the title, and they’ll settle for number 2 in the league."