Match Preview: Southampton vs Man United
- Match Preview
- May 16, 2017
- 5 min read
It's the second last game of the season, our last away game in the league at St Mary's against Southampton.
The match kicks off at 9:45 PM East African Time and will be live on Sky Sports which you can stream live using this link http://cricfree.sc/football-live-stream
The Reds will be aiming to bounce back from two consecutive defeats in North London y Arsenal and then Tottenham Hotspurs who effectively ended our top four hopes.
Many believe this game against Southampton is the last one Mourinho will field a strong lineup so expect the team that plays to be virtually the same for the final.
We famously beat Southampton in the EFL Cup final at Wembley courtesy of Zlatan's late header winning the match 3-2.
Latest team news?...
Well, it has all been chopping and changing in the past few games in order to keep key players fresh for Stockholm.
The boss confirmed in his pre-match conference that Daley Blind would be rested as well as Pogba who is away due to the death of his dad.
“I have to build some teams with the minimum of conditions to fight for a result,” Mourinho said. “We lost against Arsenal 2-0 and we fought for the result. We lost 2-1 [at Spurs] and we fought for the result.
“We always want to fight for the result. I don’t want to field a team where people think we aren’t fighting for the result – we are fighting for the result.
“What I want from the players is a positive attitude, good team spirit and the understanding that some guys have to sacrifice themselves for the good of others.
“So I’m going to rotate some people. Blind will not play against Southampton but Fellaini will, because he has not played the last three matches.
"These are examples of trying not to accumulate [matches] but people have to play because we don’t have other players. I cannot put four or five other kids all together in the fire; I cannot do that to the kids.
“I don’t think Paul has the conditions to play; we will let him be completely free to come back when he thinks he is ready to be back.
We could yet see some more youngsters involved especially the impressive Axel Tuanzebe, Scott McTominay and Demetri Mitchell who didn't play for the Reserves against Spurs on Monday.
Anthony Martial, Juan Mata, Phil Jones and Chris Smalling are all likely to start.
“[Martial] didn’t play against Celta because the options were different but he is fine and he is one of the guys that it is very important for him to play 90 minutes. Smalling, Jones, Mata – it is very important for them to play 90 minutes.”
The boss is managing his depleted squad handing out rest days to various players who have accumulated many minutes recently.
“I am giving one-day holiday ‘a la carte’, if you understand – Blind one day off, [Henrikh] Mkhitaryan one day off, [Ander] Herrera one day off,” he said.
“But the guys who played 90 minutes [v Spurs], I cannot give them one day off if I want them to play versus Southampton because they need two recovery days.
“I’m trying to get people to be the best they can be. This is a period in one week where I have to give one day off, give [Antonio] Valencia a day off. And, against Crystal Palace, two or three more [players], and against Southampton, two or three more. And that’s to try to arrive in the final in the best possible condition.”
One person who needs no rest is defender Eric Bailly who is suspended for the final, so there's no point resting him.
Marouane Fellaini is also set to feature having served his three match ban and could replace Paul Pogba in midfield.
There was some good news from the boss regarding Tim Fosuh-Mensah who still has an outside chance of playing the Europa Final against his former club.
"Fosu-Mensah has a little chance to be ready [for the final]," declared Mourinho. "But even this kid is trying everything because the others [who are out injured] are impossible."
If he proves his fitness, he's definitely a good defensive option to go to Sweden with.
What's our history with Southampton like?
Besides beating them at Wembley, we also beat them earlier in the league at Old Trafford courtesy of an Ibrahimovic double in a match where Paul Pogba made his home debut in a 2-0 win.
Well, we have the edge when it comes to the head to head stats. We have won 63, drawn 29 and lost 28 of the last 120 meetings.
What are the players and managers saying?
Well, Chris Smalling is fired up and keen to impress if selected knowing that a place in the Europa Final squad is still up for grabs.
"Southampton have been a consistently good team over the last few years, home and away," he added. "Despite their managerial changes or player changes, they’ve been able to stay solid.
"We know it's not going to be easy. But we're all aware that our away form has been generally very good and our record is right up there with the top teams."
The defender is keen to build some momentum ahead of the trip to Sweden.
"I think momentum is crucial," he said. "The beauty of having these two games, with the preparation we’ve got, means we can go into the final firing on all cylinders and with everyone completely up to speed. We’re ready for everything.
Smalling will be given another run out by the boss against the Saints.
"I think everyone knows about the big carrot that comes with our final game, the Europa League final, but it’s all about that preparation now and making sure that in training and in each game, we’re as prepared as we can be.
Southampton manager Claude Puel says they've overcome their EFL Cup final heartbreak against United and will be ready for the Reds.
"It's just another game," Puel said. "It's been a long time since the (EFL Cup) final against United.
"The game is not a revenge because it's important to keep a good energy and to enjoy our football and just to focus about this, not anything else."
Any match facts and stats from Opta? Yeah many...
Southampton are winless in their last five home Premier League games against United, losing four of those by a single goal margin (D1).
United's last away defeat in the Premier League to Southampton came in August 2003, with James Beattie scoring the only goal of the game.
Four of United's five goals against Southampton in all competitions this season have been scored by Ibrahimovic, who has been ruled out for the season.
Manolo Gabbiadini netted both of Southampton's goals in the EFL Cup Final in February.
Gabbiadini scored twice against United at Wembley
United have come from behind to beat Southampton on eight occasions in the Premier League (including in this exact fixture last season) - the most any team has done so against another in the competition's history.
Southampton have failed to score in their last three home league games, with their goalless drought at St Mary's currently standing at four hours and 35 minutes. They've never gone four top-flight home games without a goal.
United haven't lost three successive Premier League games in a row (or in a single month) since December 2015 under Louis van Gaal.
Mourinho's side have won more points away from home this season in the Premier League (34 in 18 games) than they have at Old Trafford (31 in 18 games).
Even if Southampton win their remaining two Premier League matches of the season, the maximum points tally that they can achieve is 51 points - this will be lower than in 2015/16 (63), 2014/15 (60) and 2013/14 (56).
United (17 wins) need to win both of their remaining Premier League games in 2016/17 to avoid it being their lowest tally of wins in a single Premier League season. They won 19 in both 2013/14 and 2015/16.
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