Manchester United will travel to the South-coast of England to take on Southampton at the St. Mary’s Stadium on the back of a scrappy 1-0 win over Young Boys midweek. The Red Devils have looked far from convincing in recent weeks but this match against the Saints could serve as the perfect opportunity for them to return to winning ways in the league.
However, Mark Hughes’ side are fighting for their Premier League lives and won’t be easy to beat in front of their home supporters this weekend. Jose Mourinho could opt for a 4-3-3 formation and might reward Marouane Fellaini with a rare start in his first-team following his injury-time winner in midweek.
4-3-3 Manchester United Predicted Lineup To Face Southampton
Defence
David De Gea will lineup in between the sticks following his heroics against Young Boys in the Champions League which helped United seal a passage through to the knockout phases of the competition. The Spaniard has kept two clean sheets in his last two outings, but he had to do it the hard way as both Crystal Palace and Young Boys managed to test him quite a few times in goal for United.
The defensive duo of Chris Smalling and Victor Lindelof have developed a keen understanding in central defence and are growing in confidence with each match. Ashley Young will fill in as a makeshift right-back as Matteo Darmian is a significant doubt for this clash. Luke Shaw will play on the other side as a left-back and would look to use his pace and power to get behind the Saints’ defence.
Midfield
Mourinho might opt to start with the midfield trio of Paul Pogba, Nemanja Matic and Marouane Fellaini to establish more dominance at the centre of the park. Fellaini ended up being the hero at Old Trafford when he scored a late winner in injury-time against Young Boys on Tuesday night which helped United qualify from their group.
Attack
The Red Devils front three will consist of Anthony Martial, Romelu Lukaku and Jesse Lingard who will all look to be productive in the attacking third of the pitch. Martial has been highly prolific in front of goal over the past few weeks. However, his purple patch seems to have ended as he has not registered his name on the scoresheet in his last two starts for United.
Both Juan Mata and Alexis Sanchez could be available on the bench for this weekend’s encounter at St. Mary’s Stadium.
