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Southampton manager Ivan Jurić speaks to TNT. “We played well [against Swansea] … we can repeat and play well again … we have to be perfect against Manchester United … press well, play forward, have personality to play from the back … they are a great team with great players and it will be very tough.”
Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim talks to TNT. “The feeling is a little bit different [after the results against Liverpool and Arsenal] … it is going to be a tough match at home … our fans expect more from us and that is extra pressure … but we are ready to face the game in the right way … we have to be better with the ball … control the game … last game we were not better with the ball … we try to improve … Harry [Maguire] is tired … he had a tough week and was ill but still played … I think Southampton will play without a striker but more speed … Leny [Yoro] is quick and a top talent … he is ready to play … in this stadium [Southampton] don’t have the pressure … the pressure is on our team … they have very good players … I want to see my team play very good football for the fans to enjoy.”
Manchester United have lost their last three games at home: 2-3 v Nottingham Forest, 0-3 v Bournemouth and 0-2 v Newcastle United. If they lose tonight to extend that run to four, it’ll be their worst league sequence at Old Trafford in the top flight since 1930, when they lost the final game of the 1929-30 season 1-5 v Sheffield Wednesday, then started their 1930-31 home campaign thus …
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3-4 v Aston Villa
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0-6 v Huddersfield Town
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4-7 v Newcastle United
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0-2 v Grimsby Town
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1-2 v Arsenal
… so they’ve still got a way to go if they’re to break new ground there. Pressure’s off. Incidentally, that 1930-31 season was by far the most risible in United’s history – they lost their first dozen matches straight – and there’s a bit more about it in the second entry of this.
Going into tonight’s fixtures, the Premier League table looks like this. Not particularly great reading for Manchester United supporters; thoroughly painful viewing for Southampton fans. The other game this evening is Ipswich Town v Brighton & Hove Albion (7.30pm) which we’ll keep you posted about.
Manchester United make three changes to their starting XI after the FA Cup win at Arsenal. André Onana reclaims his place in goal at Emirates hero Altay Bayındır’s expense, while Leny Yoro and Amad Diallo step up, Harry Maguire drops to the bench, and Diogo Dalot misses out through suspension after his red card last weekend.
Southampton make one change to the team that swatted aside Swansea City 3-0 in the Cup. Yukinari Sugawara comes in for Ryan Manning, who drops to the bench.
The teams
Manchester United: Onana, Mazraoui, De Ligt, Martinez, Yoro, Diallo, Ugarte, Mainoo, Garnacho, Fernandes, Hojlund.
Subs: Bayindir, Kukonki, Maguire, Malacia, Casemiro, Collyer, Eriksen, Antony, Zirkzee.
Southampton: Ramsdale, Sugawara, Bree, Bednarek, Harwood-Bellis, Ugochukwu, Fernandes, Aribo, Walker-Peters, Dibling, Sulemana.
Subs: McCarthy, Manning, Wood, Smallbone, Downes, Lallana, Armstrong, Archer, Onuachu.
Preamble
Yes, yes, all the humorists are calling it a relegation battle. But let’s be serious, so never mind them. Not that Manchester United are doing well, exactly, down in the not-recently-charted waters of 15th spot. But a win tonight over the doomed Saints would spring them up to 12th, and within swinging distance of the top half of the table. Thin gruel for a club of United’s stature and history, but this is where they are right now, though a couple of street-fighting results against big rivals in Liverpool and Arsenal have got Ruben Amorim and his men looking upwards towards the light once more. Rock-bottom Southampton, who have lost 12 of their last 15 Premier League matches, winning just one, and were beaten 3-0 by United on their own turf back in September, will most likely settle for a dignified defeat. Then again, football being what it is, you never know, and the Saints have given the Red Devils an unexpected bloody nose more than once before, as this retro edition of the Joy of Six illustrates. Kick-off at Old Trafford is at 8pm GMT. It’s on!
