Southampton vs Man Utd: Premier League preview, team news, stats and prediction

Southampton against Manchester United: team news, stats, and predictions for Sunday’s Premier League match at 2 p.m.

Southampton have no new injury concerns ahead of Manchester United’s visit on Sunday.

Saints manager Ralph Hasenhuttl has a nearly completely healthy squad, but midfielder Will Smallbone will be unavailable (knee).

Romain Perraud and Tino Livramento are set to make their home debuts, while Armando Broja, on loan from Chelsea, is yet to play.

A new signing has been made. Raphael Varane is aiming to make his Manchester United debut at St Mary’s, but goalkeeper Dean Henderson is still recovering from a coronavirus infection.

The 28-year-old defender was not signed in time to play against Leeds last weekend, but he has impressed since his arrival, while striker Edinson Cavani has also returned to training after a long layoff.

Jadon Sancho is battling for a starting spot, and Jesse Lingard is returned following a positive Covid-19 test, but striker Marcus Rashford and left-back Alex Telles are still sidelined.

Amad Diallo, a winger, and Eric Bailly, a defender, have returned from the Olympics.

Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has confirmed that a new deal is being discussed with Paul Pogba’s representatives.

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Stats from Opta

• Manchester United defeated Southampton 9-0 in their most recent league match in February, the joint-largest Premier League victory in history, with the other two games between Man Utd and the Saints being Man Utd 9-0 Ipswich in March 1995 and Southampton 0-9 Leicester City in October 2019.
• Southampton have won four of their past six Premier League games against Manchester United at the Dell (L2), but have only beaten them once in 13 league encounters at St Mary’s (D4 L8), a 1-0 victory in August 2003 with James Beattie scoring the game’s only goal. Despite taking the lead in six of their ten home league games against the Red Devils (D4 L6), they are winless.
• Manchester United has recovered 35 points in Premier League games against Southampton, the most by any team against another in the competition’s history. The Red Devils’ ten comeback victories over the Saints are tied for the most by a single team against a single opponent in the competition (Man Utd also 10 vs Newcastle).
• Manchester United is unbeaten in their past 26 Premier League away games (W17 D9), and a win or draw here will tie Arsenal for the greatest away unbeaten streak in English top-flight history (27 games between April 2003 and September 2004).
• Only three of the last 30 seasons (D12 L15) have seen Southampton win their first home league match of the season, and they haven’t done so in any of their nine seasons since returning to the Premier League in 2012-13. (D5 L4).
• Manchester United scored five goals in their season opener (5-1 win) against Leeds United, tying the record for most goals scored in a Premier League season’s first two games (eight in 2017-18 under José Mourinho and 2006-07 under Sir Alex Ferguson).
• Bruno Fernandes has yet to lose in any of his 25 Premier League away matches for Manchester United (W16 D9), and avoiding defeat in this game would tie him with Gabriel Jesus for Manchester City for the longest away unbeaten run by a Premier League player from the start of their career in the competition (first 26 games between February 2017 and December 2018).

We’re gearing up for another exciting Premier League weekend, with Arsenal vs Chelsea as the main event, which will feature the Blues’ new striker Romelu Lukaku. Is Romelu Lukaku capable of leading Chelsea to the Premier League title? Is Arsenal really in trouble?

With four assists in Man United’s triumph over Leeds, how can Ole Gunnar Solskjaer keep coaxing such performances out of Paul Pogba? Do Man United now have all the pieces in place to become champions, with Raphael Varane about to make his debut?