Manchester United have won 26 of the previous 41 Premier League meetings against Southampton FC, with Saints claiming seven victories to go along with eight draws. In the all-time series between the two sides, there have certainly been some memorable meetings. and the new Saints mobile game, which launched this past week to promote the new kit, celebrates a couple of them.
The video game pokes fun at United by including their team bus from the 1976 FA Cup Final, and the infamous grey uniforms from a 1996 meeting between the two sides.
Both sides have improved massively since they last met at the end of August. United are no longer beating the big boys and losing to the low table teams. They’re getting results against everyone, period.
“We play more as a team than we did before, we enjoy it even more, we defend together, we attack together, and this team is stronger as well,” said Paul Pogba, one of the three main heroes in their last outing, which ran the unbeaten streak to 17.
“The players who are on the bench or who don’t play every time, when they come on they help the team so the mentality is good and is right. All this together has put us where we are today.”
As for Saints, they are nothing at all like the team that lost 9-0 to Leicester City earlier this season, and that point is punctuated by their win over Manchester City in the restart period.
“We want to be braver, but that can sometimes cause you problems, like against Arsenal when we make some mistakes,” said Ralph Hasenhuttl.”
“We need this decision making, because then we learn. If you don’t demand this, you cannot improve in this way. …In every regard you must get better. In this moment it looks like we can make this step, and the players are open-minded to go this way. This is important, otherwise you will always stay on the same level.”
In terms of what kind of team United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer may field in this one, will he go with the same exact side for the fifth time in a row? Maybe not, but we’re going to pick that way anyway.
Manchester United Starting XI Prediction (4-2-3-1) vs Southampton FC
De Gea; Wan-Bissaka, Lindelof, Maguire, Shaw; Pogba, Matic; Greenwood, Fernandes, Rashford; Martial.
Manchester United vs Southampton FC FYIs
Kickoff: Mon July 13, 8:15 pm, Old Trafford
Team news for both sides: go to this link
TV Coverage: NBCSN
Odds: Southampton win +1050 Man United win -375
Form Guide: Southampton DWWLW United WWWWW
Position: Man United 5th, 58 points Southampton 12th, 44 points
Prediction: United 3, Southampton 0
With United undefeated in their last 17, across all competitions, you’d have to be really bold to pick against them in this one.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly contributes to WGN TV, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Now and SB Nation.
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