How Manchester United can line up against Southampton | Premier League 2018-19

Manchester United will try to continue their unbeaten record in the Premier League under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer when they welcome Southampton on Saturday. They produced a solid away performance against Crystal Palace in the mid-week fixture, winning 1-3 on the night. Romelu Lukaku scored a brace and will look forward to continuing his form against Southampton. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will still be without key first-team players for Saturday's game. Only Marcus Rashford is expected to be back from injury.

Manchester United's injury list

1. Nemanja Matic
2. Ander Herrera
3. Juan Mata
4. Anthony Martial
5. Mateo Darmian
6. Antonio Valencia
7. Jesse Lingard
8. Phil Jones

Southampton defeated Fulham 2-0 in mid-week, their first victory in last 5 Premier League games. They are fighting to survive against relegation and find themselves 17th in the table, 2 points clear of 18th place Cardiff City. They will be determined to get a result at Old Trafford but will face a difficult task of beating high-flying Manchester United side on their own turf.

The last time these 2 sides met at Saint Mary's Stadium, it ended in a draw. Southampton were struggling under the previous management of Mark Hughes and found themselves in the relegation zone. Goals from Armstrong and Cedric gave Southampton a 2-goal advantage inside 15 minutes.

But Manchester United showed some character and produced a comeback, thanks to the goals from Romelu Lukaku and Ander Herrera in the same half. It ended 2-2 in the end and was a very disappointing result for Manchester United, who were expected to beat struggling Southampton side comfortably.

Form Guide

Manchester United - Last 5 games

Premier League

Crystal Palace 1-3 Manchester United (27th February)

Premier League

Manchester United 0-0 Liverpool (24th February)

The FA Cup

Chelsea 0-2 Manchester United (18th February)

UEFA Champions League

Manchester United 0-2 Paris Saint-Germain (12th February)

Premier League

Fulham 0-3 Manchester United (9th February)

Manchester United have lost just once in their last 5 games in all competition, winning thrice and drawing once against Liverpool. They scored 8 times and conceded just 3 times during these games. Paris Saint-Germain are the only side to beat United in more than 2 months, and they did look the better side both on paper and field. Draw against Liverpool was considered a good result, given that they lost three first-team players to injury in the first half. They also outclassed Maurizio Sarri's Chelsea in the FA Cup during these run of games.

Southampton - Last 5 games

Premier League

Southampton 2-0 Fulham (27th February)

Premier League

Arsenal 2-0 Southampton (24th February)

Premier League

Southampton 1-2 Cardiff City (9th February)

Premier League

Burnley 1-1 Southampton (2nd February)

Premier League

Southampton 1-1 Crystal Palace (30th January)

Southampton have won just once in their last 5 games. They scored 5 and conceded 6 in these games. Goals from Oriol Romeu and James Ward-Prowse won them the game against Fulham. They also managed to get draws against Crystal Palace and Burnley. James Ward-Prowse has been in inspiring form recently and will be the one who can hurt Manchester United on Saturday.

Predicted Line-up

Predicted-XI against Southampton

Marcus Rashford is expected to be fit to face Southampton on Saturday. Fred had a decent game against Crystal Palace but did lose the ball a lot and misplaced lot of the long passes he attempted. He is expected to be replaced by Andreas Periera, who had a decent game against Liverpool. Chris Smalling and Victor Lindelof are forming a formidable partnership at the back and are expected to be in the 11.

Scott McTominay has done a tremendous job of replacing the injured Nemanja Matic and will be in the line-up too. Lukaku scored a brace against Crystal Palace and will be given another opportunity to cement his place permanently in the starting line-up. Alexis Sanchez is yet to rediscover his form, but due to lack of attacking options, he'll be in the starting line-up.