Southampton vs Manchester United. Premier League.
St. Mary's StadiumAttendance30,499.
Watch match highlights from 5.15pm on skysports.com and Sky Sports app
Thursday 29 August 2019 16:01, UK
Team news, stats and prediction ahead of Southampton vs Man Utd in the Premier League.
There are a few injury worries for Southampton. Both Nathan Redmond (ankle) and Michael Obafemi (hamstring) picked up knocks against Fulham in midweek, while Moussa Djenepo has a muscle problem.
Manager Ralph Hasenhuttl confirmed that all three are likely to miss the weekend's clash with Manchester United.
Manchester United will be without Luke Shaw and Anthony Martial. Both were injured in the 2-1 defeat to Crystal Palace last weekend.
Diogo Dalot will also miss out through injury, although should be back after the international break, while Eric Bailly and Timothy Fosu-Mensah remain unavailable, with both players still recovering from knee operations.
Follow the action with our dedicated live blog. Highlights of the game will be published at 5.15pm on the Sky Sports website and app plus the Sky Sports Football YouTube channel.
I had the Manchester United game last week. Everyone was saying it was a terrible result. When you first see them at the start of the season, you have to ask who they are keeping. They always have the talented Marcus Rashford, the energy of Jesse Lingard, alongside Anthony Martial too. I don't know whether Martial will be fit as he was carrying a knock in the last 10 minutes.
With that, they are down to the bare bones, especially with Romelu Lukaku out of the door. Not one of those forward players played well last week. You cannot get a rhythm with Paul Pogba and Scott McTominay in midfield. McTominay is a throwback to Darren Fletcher, who was a much better passer of the ball. He is young and rash, but his physical presence has got him there, which is not a bad thing and where I see the balance.
Pogba has started playing deep again and forgotten where he wants to play. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is allowing him to do that and he says that he will be the main player if he does. He will have his good days and will have his bad ones. He gives the ball away cheaply.
The balance at the back is unusual. Harry Maguire never covered Victor Lindelof for the first goal last week. Is he the type to do that? The full-backs are worrying and they could always have faith in David de Gea in the past. Now they don't have that reliability.
They could be too hot to trot one weekend and then poor the next two. Southampton have the energy, belief and confidence after their win at Brighton, and will get at Pogba and McTominay and see if they can hurt their defence. It will be an open game which may suit Southampton. This will be an entertaining and expansive match.
CHARLIE PREDICTS: 2-2 (12/1 with Sky Bet)
