by Ian S. Palmer
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Manchester United returns home to Old Trafford this Saturday, January 23 when they host Southampton. Both clubs haven’t lived up to their potential as of yet this season and it appears realistically that the league title will be out of their reach. On the bright side though, one or both of the teams could land a top-four spot and a berth in the 2016/17 European Champions League, with United having the edge in that scenario. United is coming off of a big 1-0 win at Anfield over Liverpool last weekend while Southampton took down West Bromwich Albion at home by a score of 3-0.
Manchester United vs Southampton – bet365 Soccer BETTING LINE:
- bet365 currently lists Man United as the favorites at 5/6 with Southampton 3/1 and a draw at 5/2
Manchester United vs Southampton – Head to Head:
- The teams met earlier this season with Man United winning a 3-2 thriller in Southampton. United won 2-1 on the south coast last season with Southampton winning 1-0 at Old Trafford. It was Southampton’s only win in their last 14 meetings in all competitions and they have just four victories in the past 25 encounters. Overall, they’ve met 117 times with United winning, 61, losing 27 and drawing 29.
Man United has just two wins in their past nine league contests and enters the weekend in fifth place with 37 points from 10 wins, seven draws and five losses. The team has 28 goals for and 20 against. They have five wins at home along with for draws and a loss with 12 goals scored and just four against. United has seven clean sheets at Old Trafford and has failed to score there on four occasions. Overall, they have 11 clean sheets and have been shut out seven times. They have two wins, a loss and three draws in their past six home outings.
Southampton occupies 10th place with 30 points from eight wins, six draws and eight losses with 31 goals scored and 24 against. The Saints have just two wins on the road with four draws and four defeats. They’ve scored just nine away goals and conceded 11. They have three clean sheets on the road and have been shut out four times. Overall, they have eight clean sheets and have failed to score seven times. Southampton has a win, a draw and four defeats in their past half dozen road fixtures. United heads into the game just a pair of points behind fourth place while the Saints are eight back of United.
Southampton has won two games in a row, but struggle away from home. They’ve lost four straight road trips and will need to stop the bleeding if they have any chance of a top-four finish. It looks like United will be without forward Ashley Young who was injured last week at Liverpool. They’ll also be without the services of defenders Marcos Rojo, Michael Carrick, Phil Jones, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Antonio Valencia and Luke Shaw. However, midfielder Adnan Januzaj should be back in the squad after returning from a loan spell.
Southampton is expected to be missing Gaston Ramirez and Florin Gardos while Charlie Austin is expected to make his Saints debut after the 26-year-old striker was recently signed from Championship League team Queen’s Park Rangers in the transfer window. Austin had 18 goals in the Premier League last campaign and cost Southampton four million pounds.