“A display so concerning it was surreal.” That’s Jamie Jackson on tonight’s match; here’s his report. Thanks for reading this MBM. Nighty night.
Ivan Jurić gives TNT his verdict … and it’s a no-nonsense salvo at his players. “We did 75 minutes really good … playing much better that Manchester United … the last 15 we were like innocent kids … not a good mentality … the last 15 minutes you have to be much more malicious … more evil to win the game … it’s not physicality … you have to earn some fouls … throws … lose some time, be much more clever … a lot of situations we were naive … we have to work even more on the training, to not go down in the last 15 minutes … it was really good but not for 90 minutes … I am sorry and angry … we had lots of chances … we didn’t score … we did a really good game until 75 … I want the same performance against Nottingham Forest and to have the type of mentality to win games.”
Ruben Amorim speaks to TNT Sports. “In the end it is good … very difficult game … Southampton did a very good job creating space between the lines … we had some difficulties stopping [Kamaldeen Sulemana] … when they lost physicality in the last 30 minutes, we found the space to use … then we could change the game … we have so much to do … the team were really tired after Liverpool and Arsenal … not just physical but mental … it was a win, that’s good, let’s continue … we didn’t do a very good game, but in this moment, winning is the most important thing … playing in this stadium … the pressure is different … we have difficulties pressing high … today was not a lack of enthusiasm … it was a lack of speed and sometimes control … the players are not used to playing like that … you have to cover a lot of space … we don’t have the training [sessions] … it’s a different system … the profiles sometimes is not the right ones, but we have to improve players … we know the situation of the group and we have to continue.”
Poor Southampton, who were the better team for the best part of an hour and could easily have been two or three goals in front. A combination of profligate finishing and Andre Onana’s heroics kept the score down, and after Ruben Amorim replaced the toiling Rasmus Hojlund with Joshua Zirkzee, the tide turned. United started doing what they used to do during the Fergie Glory Years, grinding the opponents down before applying the killer touch late on. And what a killer touch: a 12-minute hat-trick by Amad Diallo, who is fast turning into United’s new superstar. Amorim won’t be fooled by the result, because United were dismal for the majority of the game. But that’s for another day, and this result relieves so much pressure on his team, who snap their losing run at home and rise to 12th spot. They welcome Brighton on Sunday, when they can move one step closer to the top half with a win, providing Liverpool see of Brentford the day before. United fans will be keeping their fingers crossed for all of that, right?
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liverpool | 20 | 28 | 47 |
| 2 | Arsenal | 21 | 22 | 43 |
| 3 | Nottm Forest | 21 | 10 | 41 |
| 4 | Newcastle | 21 | 15 | 38 |
| 5 | Chelsea | 21 | 15 | 37 |
| 6 | Man City | 21 | 9 | 35 |
| 7 | Aston Villa | 21 | -1 | 35 |
| 8 | AFC Bournemouth | 21 | 7 | 34 |
| 9 | Brighton | 21 | 3 | 31 |
| 10 | Fulham | 21 | 2 | 30 |
| 11 | Brentford | 21 | 3 | 28 |
| 12 | Man Utd | 21 | -3 | 26 |
| 13 | West Ham | 21 | -14 | 26 |
| 14 | Tottenham Hotspur | 21 | 11 | 24 |
| 15 | Crystal Palace | 21 | -5 | 24 |
| 16 | Everton | 20 | -11 | 17 |
| 17 | Wolverhampton | 21 | -17 | 16 |
| 18 | Ipswich | 21 | -17 | 16 |
| 19 | Leicester | 21 | -23 | 14 |
| 20 | Southampton | 21 | -34 | 6 |
Hat-trick hero Amad Diallo takes his deserved ovation from all four corners of Old Trafford, and saunters off with the match-ball tucked under his arm. “In football you have to believe,” he tells TNT as the crowd continue to serenade him. “We are very happy to win this game. After drawing with Liverpool and Arsenal the confidence was there. This team deserved to win this game so I am very happy. We were the best team on the pitch.”
FULL TIME: Manchester United 3-1 Southampton
The referee takes pity on Saints and blows his whistle before the corner can be taken. What a comeback victory by Manchester United Amad Diallo! A superstar is emerging here.
90 min +6: Garnacho has a whack from a tight angle on the right. Ramsdale turns over the bar for a corner. Four would be absurdly cruel on Saints.
90 min +5: Poor Southampton, who could have been two or three up. They’ve been hit by a textbook smash-and-smash-and-smash and grab! A 12-minute hat-trick for Diallo.
GOAL! Manchester United 3-1 Southampton (Diallo 90+4)
Well this has gone south quickly for Southampton. Ramsdale plays out from the back. Harwood-Bellis, facing his own goal, takes a heavy touch. Diallo nips in from behind to steal, and whistles the ball into the unguarded net. That’s his first hat-trick in professional football!
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90 min +3: No, but nearly! Harwood-Bellis wins a header and sends it goalwards, only for Downes to get in the road and deflect it inches wide of the right-hand post. Onana was rooted to the spot.
90 min +2: … but Southampton win a corner down the right. They couldn’t, could they?
90 min +1: Poor Aaron Ramsdale, so close to a first clean sheet in the Premier League looks like crying. There will be five additional minutes.
GOAL! Manchester United 2-1 Southampton (Diallo 90)
It’s that man again! Diallo tiptoes down the right touchline and rolls infield for Eriksen, who wedges a return down the inside-right channel. Diallo extends a leg and whip-cracks a glorious first-time effort into the bottom right. What a finish! What an escape for Manchester United!
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89 min: It’s all United in terms of possession now. Saints struggling to string anything together. And then …
87 min: Diallo diddles his way down the right and thinks he’s won a corner but the referee points for a goal kick. Much finger-wagging.
86 min: Old Trafford is bouncing now, for the first time this evening. Diallo the late-scoring hero yet again, but Zirkzee has made an impression since coming on, too. Clapped off ironically the last time he played here, tonight he’s got an assist to his name. It’s a great feelgood comeback story, registering a full 10 on the Bryce Young-o-meter™.
84 min: Both teams respond with a double change, albeit one they were making anyway. Eriksen and Maguire come on for Yoro and Mazraoui. Meanwhile Bednarek and Ugochukwu are replaced by Wood and Onuachu.
GOAL! Manchester United 1-1 Southampton (Diallo 82)
Diallo, fed by Zirkzee, drives down the inside-right channel. He tries to beat Walker-Peters but the ball’s blocked. He gets the break of the ball, though, off his shin. He takes advantage by slotting into the bottom right, Ramsdale with no chance. It had been coming!
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80 min: Downes is booked for fouling an in-flight Antony. When the game restarts, Bruno Fernandes is found in space to the right of the six-yard box. He attempts to dink Ramsdale but the keeper spreads himself and blocks. Bree completes the clearance.
78 min: Zirkzee drives down the left. Bree comes in from behind and nicks the ball off him. It’s sailing out for a corner. Ramsdale hooks clear, albeit from a couple of yards behind the line. Weirdly, and preposterously, no corner is awarded. United livid.
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77 min: United with the sterile possession. They need more as the clock ticks on. “Man U fans will be hoping Collyer can mine a rich seam of form,” quips Russell Brady. He’s here all week, try the Cornish pasty.
75 min: United have enjoyed 79 percent of possession during the last five minutes. Ruben Amorim still pacing up and down the technical area in the agitated style.
73 min: Mateus Fernandes and Aribo are replaced by Armstrong and Downes.
72 min: Garnacho advances down the left, reaches the byline, and cuts back for Diallo, whose first-time drive is spectacularly blocked by Harwood-Bellis. Saints aren’t quite hanging onto their lead by their fingernails, but United are beginning to dominate territorially for the first time tonight.
71 min: Collyer dinks a cute pass down the inside-right channel to release Diallo, who has options in the middle but blooters a wild cross over everyone’s head and out for a goal kick.
70 min: A couple of runs by Diallo down the right. Full of effort and ambition, but both heading down a dead end.
68 min: It’s finished at Portman Road. FULL TIME: Ipswich Town 0-2 Brighton & Hove Albion. A good result for Everton, Wolves, Ipswich, Leicester and Southampton. [MBM hack opts against obvious cheap shot]
66 min: United have at least regained a semblance of control. And they’ve made a couple of half-chances … plus that really big one that Antony somehow spurned. So for the first time in a while, the Old Trafford faithful are in good voice. John Denver on vibes.
64 min: Zirkzee advances dangerously towards the Saints box, and has the opportunity to shoot, but takes one touch too many so when he eventually does, it’s blocked. “If anyone should be replaced it’s Garnacho,” argues Peter Littley. “Hojland seems to take the blame for the failures elsewhere. To be honest apart from Onana you could have replaced any of the other 10.”
63 min: The excellent Dibling can’t continue, and he’s been replaced by Smallbone. “Could Paul Scholes have sounded more flat and lacking energy when he said United were flat and lacking energy?” wonders Ian Sargeant.
62 min: Dibling is down having taken a whack to the ankle. On comes the physio.
61 min: Garnacho runs across the face of the Saints box, left to right, before pearling a drive straight at Ramsdale. This is better from United, which again, isn’t saying a whole lot, but baby steps.
59 min: Garnacho diddles his way past Bree on the left. He rolls across the front of the six-yard box for Antony, who simply can’t miss with the keeper out of position. But instead of staying on his feet and tapping home, he elects to slide in, and the ball squirts straight left. Ramsdale claims, and how on earth did Antony manage to miss that?
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58 min: Sulemana has Yoro on toast. He knocks the ball past the defender and leaves him in the dust. He enters the box and United are fortunate the shot that follows isn’t all that: body open, he sidefoots lamely across Onana and wide right.
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56 min: Garnacho crosses deep from the left. Diallo’s at the far stick. He’d need Peter Crouch on his shoulders to get his head on that. Goal kick.
55 min: De Ligt heads it half-clear. Mateus Fernandes crosses again. Eventually Bree runs the ball out for a goal kick, and there are a few more boos. Meanwhile at Portman Road, it’s GOAL! Ipswich 0-2 Brighton (Rutter 81) and all three points look to be heading to the south coast.
54 min: Mateus Fernandes flicks the free kick off the wall and out for another corner. He’ll send it in from the left.
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53 min: Ugochukwu bombs down the inside-left channel and is upended by Martinez, who goes into the book. Free kick just to the left of the D. Before it can be taken, Ugarte and Hojlund are hooked, with Collyer and Zirkzee sent on in their places.
51 min: Sulemana burns off Yoro yet again down the left. He enters the box and shoots. Blocked by De Ligt. Handball? Nope, according to both referee and VAR. Then Sulemana comes bowling down the same flank again, but can’t find anyone with his low cross. The Old Trafford Pensive-o-meter™ has been cranked up to 11. Does it go one louder to 12?
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50 min: Dibling flicks this corner on as well, causing momentary bedlam in the United six-yard box. But the ball’s eventually hacked clear.
49 min: Sulemana has been a menace down the left all evening. Now he shrugs off Diallo with ease, and feeds Walker-Peters on the overlap. Walker-Peters earns a corner. Mateus Fernandes to take.
48 min: Sugawara takes an Arsenalesque time over a throw-in. The Old Trafford give him the aural bird.
47 min: … and it nearly pays dividends immediately. Ugarte sails a pass down the left for Bruno Fernandes, who slips the ball to Antony, just inside the box on the left. Antony shoots. Deflected. Over the bar. Nothing comes of the resulting corner, but that’s better from the hosts, albeit with their first-half standard not high.
46 min: A slightly surprising but interesting substitution there. Bruno Fernandes drops back into midfield.
Southampton get the second half started. It’s United’s turn to kick towards the Stretford End, and they’ve sent on Antony for Mainoo.
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Half-time postbag. “Amorim has done an incredible job of lowering expectations to such an extent that draws are celebrated as victories and doing the basics gets praised to the heaven. This scoreline – and performance – really shouldn’t be that much of a shock” – Stephen Carr
“The Saints are in heaven but the devil’s in the details: Why can defenders paid hundreds of thousands a week to play football not learn how to defend a corner? Away! Away! (In more ways than one.)” – Justin Kavanagh
“Watching Rasmus Højlund lumber around the pitch again leads me to believe that he’s not long for Old Trafford. Much like the ineffective Garnacho” – Matthew Lysaght
Select quotes from TNT pundit and United legend Paul Scholes at half-time. “Really flat … lacking energy … where’s the quality … Southampton really should be 2-0 or 3-0 up … Sulemana has given Yoro a torrid time.” He’s more disappointed than angry. Penny for the thoughts of Sky’s Roy Keane.
Meanwhile at Portman Road … GOAL! Ipswich 0-1 Brighton (Mitoma 59). Kaoru Mitoma’s shot isn’t all that, but it’s too good for Christian Walton nevertheless.
HALF TIME: Manchester United 0-1 Southampton
Saints deserve this lead. Medium-volume boos ring around Old Trafford as Ruben Amorim walks off wearing an admirable poker face.
45 min +1: Dibling is booked for clattering an in-flight Ugarte. Then Diallo goes into the book for diving as he goes over easily in the environs of Mateus Fernandes. Much frustration for United.
45 min: Diallo dribbles in from the right and has the opportunity to go over Harwood-Bellis’s outstretched leg. He stays honest, and Saints get away with one there.
44 min: That’s Southampton’s first goal from a corner all season. And they’re nearly 2-0 up in short order, Aribo barging his way down the middle and powering a rising shot straight at Onana, who does his job. Old Trafford stunned. The Saints fans en fete.
GOAL! Manchester United 0-1 Southampton (Ugarte 43 og)
There’s some faffing before the corner is taken. Then more faffing, by the United defence this time. Mateus Fernandes sends the corner from the left to the near post. Dibling eyebrows it on, and the ball pings off the back of Ugarte and into the top left, Onana flapping but unable to stop the ball crossing the line.
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41 min: Sulemana fancies it against Yoro. He breezes past his opponent and advances down the left again. Saints begin to probe. Dibling considers shooting from the right. The ball’s shifted to the left, where Aribo wedges a ball into the box down the left for Sulemana, who slips while shooting. The ball breaks off De Ligt and out for a corner. From which …
39 min: United play it long. Bednarek beats a dozing Hojlund to the ball on the penalty spot, and now the volume dial shifts to Irritated Groan.
38 min: The Old Trafford volume dial is set to Pensive again.
36 min: Ugarte sends a long pass down the left for Hojlund, who reaches the edge of the box before being surrounded and forced to turn tail. He knocks back to Bruno Fernandes, who biffs a low shot towards the bottom left. Easy for Ramsdale.
34 min: Not for the first time this evening, Sulemana wriggles clear of Yoro with elegant ease. He advances down the left and sashays infield, before curling a shot intended for the top-right corner high and wide.
33 min: They’re underway at Portman Road again.
32 min: Somewhere, in a parallel universe, it’s 2-2.
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30 min: … and now Dibling hoicks over from the edge of the D. Replays of that Onana save from Mateus Fernandes show the Saints midfielder shooting straight at the keeper, but take nothing away from Onana, who made himself as big as possible.
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29 min: Now Aribo has a whack from distance, having been teed up by Dibling. That’s blocked by De Ligt. Saints are giving as good as they’re getting.
28 min: Dibling spins around Martinez in the midfield and dribbles outrageously down the inside-right channel. He aims for the bottom left. Onana parries. The ball balloons up to Mateus Fernandes, who chests down and hammers goalwards from eight yards. You’d think he’d surely score, but Onana stick out his right arm, star-jumping like peak-era Peter Schmeichel, and makes an outrageous stop! How on earth did Southampton not score? (x2)
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26 min: Garnacho dribbles hard down the inside-left channel, enters the box and shoots. Blocked by Bednarek, then Harwood-Bellis. The ball squirts wide right towards Walker-Peters and pings off the top of his arm. Diallo claims a penalty but neither referee nor VAR shows any interest. Nothing comes of the resulting corner.
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24 min: United are beginning to make good chances. Bruno Fernandes slips a delightful pass down the inside-left channel to release Mainoo into the box. Mainoo rolls infield for Garnacho, who is on the back foot, allowing Harwood-Bellis to hammer clear.
22 min: Diallo makes good down the right and cuts back for Garnacho, who can’t get a shot away. Neither can Mainoo, and eventually the whistle goes when, amid a melee, Garnacho handles.
21 min: That’s got the home crowd going again, if nothing else. United have managed to re-establish an element of control, as well, after Southampton’s five-minute flourish.
20 min: United should be leading. Hojlund zips his way down the inside-left channel and enters the Saints box. He’s entitled to shoot, but unselfishly rolls across to Garnacho, who is alone on the penalty spot. Old Trafford waits for the net to bulge, but Garnacho pulls his shot wide right. Head-in-hands time.
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19 min: Sugawara clips Bruno Fernandes out on the left touchline, near the corner flag. Free kick. Bruno Fernandes to take it himself. He plays it short to Garnacho, whose shot is blocked bravely by Mateus Fernandes. The ball pings off his head and away for a throw on the right. Mateus Fernandes goes down clutching his head, but thankfully is up again soon.
18 min: … nothing occurs. Meanwhile at Portman Road it’s HALF TIME: Ipswich Town 0-0 Brighton & Hove Albion.
17 min: Garnacho dances in from the right and tees up Bruno Fernandes, who opens his body and aims a curler towards the top right. A deflection sends the ball off target and out for a corner. From which …
16 min: Ugochukwu spins around Ugarte in the centre circle and slips the ball to Mateus Fernandes, who barges his way down the inside-left channel before whistling a shot goalwards. Straight at Onana, who gathers.
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14 min: … and this may explain why: Southampton have enjoyed 67 percent of possession during the last five minutes.
13 min: Southampton have managed to quieten Old Trafford already. The away fans making plenty of noise at the moment; the home supporters not so much.
12 min: Sulemana shows Yoro the ball on the left before ripping past him with absurd ease. He enters the box, opens his body, and looks for the far corner with a low curler. Onana bats the shot away with a strong arm. First big chance for the Saints!
11 min: Saints are slowly growing in confidence. Sugawara dribbles down the right but can’t find anybody in the middle with his low cross.
10 min: The free kick is a non-event, Mateus Fernandes’ delivery failing to beat the first man Martinez.
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9 min: Martinez lunges in late on Mateus Fernandes, who was threatening down the right flank. He accidentally stands on his foot, and has the chutzpah to look amazed when the free kick is awarded. Everyone lines up on the edge of the box.
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8 min: Sulemana advances confidently down the left and looks to have been tugged back by Ugarte, but he doesn’t get the decision. He’s not particularly chuffed either.
6 min: It’s Bree versus Garnacho again, this time in the United half. Bree clips Garnacho late. The United winger isn’t happy but the referee makes do with a stern word.
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4 min: Bruno Fernandes drives down the left and feeds Garnacho on the overlap. Garnacho nearly gets past Bree, but just before he reaches the byline, Bree sticks out a toe and diverts the ball out for a corner. Fernandes takes it, and swings it viciously towards the near stick, where Ramsdale punches clear under pressure. United will be pleased with their lively start.
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2 min: Diallo embarks on the first positive run of the evening, down the inside-right channel. The crowd get excited … then Diallo slaps a wayward pass meant for Bruno Fernandes on the touchline out for a throw. Onwards and upwards.
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United get the ball rolling. Saints are kicking towards the Stretford End in this first half.
The teams are out! Manchester United in their red, white and black, Southampton in second-choice yellow and black. A cracking evening atmosphere at Old Trafford. We’ll be off in a couple of minutes. Incidentally it’s still goalless at Portman Road between Ipswich and Brighton.
Southampton manager Ivan Jurić speaks to TNT. “We played well [against Swansea] … we can repeat and play well again … we have to be perfect against Manchester United … press well, play forward, have personality to play from the back … they are a great team with great players and it will be very tough.”
Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim talks to TNT. “The feeling is a little bit different [after the results against Liverpool and Arsenal] … it is going to be a tough match at home … our fans expect more from us and that is extra pressure … but we are ready to face the game in the right way … we have to be better with the ball … control the game … last game we were not better with the ball … we try to improve … Harry [Maguire] is tired … he had a tough week and was ill but still played … I think Southampton will play without a striker but more speed … Leny [Yoro] is quick and a top talent … he is ready to play … in this stadium [Southampton] don’t have the pressure … the pressure is on our team … they have very good players … I want to see my team play very good football for the fans to enjoy.”
Manchester United have lost their last three games at home: 2-3 v Nottingham Forest, 0-3 v Bournemouth and 0-2 v Newcastle United. If they lose tonight to extend that run to four, it’ll be their worst league sequence at Old Trafford in the top flight since 1930, when they lost the final game of the 1929-30 season 1-5 v Sheffield Wednesday, then started their 1930-31 home campaign thus …
3-4 v Aston Villa
0-6 v Huddersfield Town
4-7 v Newcastle United
0-2 v Grimsby Town
1-2 v Arsenal
… so they’ve still got a way to go if they’re to break new ground there. Pressure’s off. Incidentally, that 1930-31 season was by far the most risible in United’s history – they lost their first dozen matches straight – and there’s a bit more about it in the second entry of this.
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Going into tonight’s fixtures, the Premier League table looks like this. Not particularly great reading for Manchester United supporters; thoroughly painful viewing for Southampton fans. The other game this evening is Ipswich Town v Brighton & Hove Albion (7.30pm) which we’ll keep you posted about.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liverpool | 20 | 28 | 47 |
| 2 | Arsenal | 21 | 22 | 43 |
| 3 | Nottm Forest | 21 | 10 | 41 |
| 4 | Newcastle | 21 | 15 | 38 |
| 5 | Chelsea | 21 | 15 | 37 |
| 6 | Man City | 21 | 9 | 35 |
| 7 | Aston Villa | 21 | -1 | 35 |
| 8 | AFC Bournemouth | 21 | 7 | 34 |
| 9 | Fulham | 21 | 2 | 30 |
| 10 | Brentford | 21 | 3 | 28 |
| 11 | Brighton | 20 | 1 | 28 |
| 12 | West Ham | 21 | -14 | 26 |
| 13 | Tottenham Hotspur | 21 | 11 | 24 |
| 14 | Crystal Palace | 21 | -5 | 24 |
| 15 | Man Utd | 20 | -5 | 23 |
| 16 | Everton | 20 | -11 | 17 |
| 17 | Ipswich | 20 | -15 | 16 |
| 18 | Wolverhampton | 21 | -17 | 16 |
| 19 | Leicester | 21 | -23 | 14 |
| 20 | Southampton | 20 | -32 | 6 |
Manchester United make three changes to their starting XI after the FA Cup win at Arsenal. André Onana reclaims his place in goal at Emirates hero Altay Bayındır’s expense, while Leny Yoro and Amad Diallo step up, Harry Maguire drops to the bench, and Diogo Dalot misses out through suspension after his red card last weekend.
Southampton make one change to the team that swatted aside Swansea City 3-0 in the Cup. Yukinari Sugawara comes in for Ryan Manning, who drops to the bench.
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The teams
Manchester United: Onana, Mazraoui, De Ligt, Martinez, Yoro, Diallo, Ugarte, Mainoo, Garnacho, Fernandes, Hojlund.
Subs: Bayindir, Kukonki, Maguire, Malacia, Casemiro, Collyer, Eriksen, Antony, Zirkzee.
Southampton: Ramsdale, Sugawara, Bree, Bednarek, Harwood-Bellis, Ugochukwu, Fernandes, Aribo, Walker-Peters, Dibling, Sulemana.
Subs: McCarthy, Manning, Wood, Smallbone, Downes, Lallana, Armstrong, Archer, Onuachu.
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Preamble
Yes, yes, all the humorists are calling it a relegation battle. But let’s be serious, so never mind them. Not that Manchester United are doing well, exactly, down in the not-recently-charted waters of 15th spot. But a win tonight over the doomed Saints would spring them up to 12th, and within swinging distance of the top half of the table. Thin gruel for a club of United’s stature and history, but this is where they are right now, though a couple of street-fighting results against big rivals in Liverpool and Arsenal have got Ruben Amorim and his men looking upwards towards the light once more. Rock-bottom Southampton, who have lost 12 of their last 15 Premier League matches, winning just one, and were beaten 3-0 by United on their own turf back in September, will most likely settle for a dignified defeat. Then again, football being what it is, you never know, and the Saints have given the Red Devils an unexpected bloody nose more than once before, as this retro edition of the Joy of Six illustrates. Kick-off at Old Trafford is at 8pm GMT. It’s on!
