Southampton v Man Utd preview

Ferdinand: Back injury

PREDICTIONS:
Skysports.com prediction: Southampton 0 Man Utd 3
Sky Bet odds: Southampton 12/1 Draw 9/2 Man Utd 1/4
One to Watch: Paul Scholes

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Southampton welcome Premier League and European champions Manchester United to St Mary's on Sunday for their FA Cup third round tie.

The Saints, currently second bottom in the Championship, will be hoping for a similar result to when they defeated United 1-0 and last lifted the FA Cup in 1976.

Southampton will have to hope that Sir Alex Ferguson's men have an off day for there to be a repeat performance with 40 places separating the two teams.

The Championship side will be boosted by the possible return of defender Morgan Schneiderlin.

The 19-year-old suffered a hamstring injury at the end of November against Charlton and was out for two weeks.

But his comeback against Burnley at Turf Moor was cut short after the injury flared up again and the medical team at St Mary's will be more cautious over his return this time round.

On-loan defender Alex Pearce will not feature in the game. The Reading man had extended his loan with the Saints until the end of the month but Royals boss Steve Coppell had a change of heart and recalled the 20-year-old.

Winger Ryan Smith could make his first start since signing permanently for the club after he was offered a six-month contract.

The former Arsenal man had initially joined on loan from Millwall in October but arrives on a free transfer.

Full-back Lee Molyneux has also signed permanently on a free transfer from Everton after impressing during his loan spell this season and is also in line to start.

United team news

Defender Rio Ferdinand could miss out again after a recurrence of a back injury kept him out of the Red Devils' last Premier League game against Middlesbrough.

The England international is pencilled in for a comeback in the semi-final of the Carling Cup against Derby County on Wednesday so Jonny Evans is likely to continue to partner Nemanja Vidic on Sunday.

Gary Neville could start and captain the side after replacing Rafael in the win over Middlesbrough, while midfielder Paul Scholes could start after he impressed after coming off the bench on Monday.

Carlos Tevez missed the win over Boro as he was given permission to return to Argentina to deal with a personal matter and he looks set to miss the clash with the Saints.

Sir Alex Ferguson's men are unbeaten in 13 games in all competitions and are hot favourites to progress to the fourth round.