Yahoo Sports Manchester United vs Southampton – Match preview and team news
Manchester United’s first game at Old Trafford in 2025 sees them host bottom-of-the-table Southampton tonight.
United fought hard, at a numerical disadvantage, to eventually beat Arsenal on penalties in the FA Cup third round.
Diogo Dalot is suspended against the Saints after his red card in North London. Luke Shaw, Victor Lindelof and Mason Mount remain unavailable but Marcus Rashford is ready to feature after recovering from illness.
Matchday at the Theatre of Dreams 🏟️✨#MUFC || #MUNSOU
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) January 16, 2025
Southampton also progressed into the fourth round of the FA Cup at the weekend. Ivan Juric’s team eased past Championship side Swansea in a 3-0 win on the South Coast.
Flynn Downes will be assessed as he recently returned to training following a thigh injury. Forward Ross Stewart and defender Jack Stephens are long-term absentees.
Manchester United vs Southampton – Match preview and team news
Form
Manchester United: LLLDD
Ruben Amorim’s players’ last two performances have shown plenty of endeavour and desire.
At the weekend, they succeeded in the face of adversity to book a fourth-round FA Cup tie at home to Leicester City.
United took the lead at Arsenal through Bruno Fernandes, but their fortunes quickly changed. Diogo Dalot received a second yellow card before Gabriel equalised from the resulting free-kick.
Turkish goalkeeper Altay Bayindir produced heroics to keep his side in the tie. The 26-year-old saved Martin Odegaard’s penalty before thwarting several other Arsenal chances.
Bayindir then saved Kai Havertz’s penalty in the shootout to give the Red Devils an unlikely win. That result came off the back of a spirited 2-2 draw away to league leaders Liverpool.
Despite the optimism, United have only won one of their last seven league games and reside in 14th position.
Southampton: DLLLW
Southampton triumphed for only the fourth time this campaign on Sunday as they comfortably beat Swansea City in the FA Cup.
Kamaldeen Sulemana opened the scoring before highly-rated youngster Tyler Dibling recorded a brace to seal their progression.
It was the Saints’ first victory under new boss Ivan Juric in what was the Croatian’s fifth game in charge. Their reward is a home tie against Championship side Burnley at the start of February.
Southampton’s league position still looks bleak, with ten points between them and safety. The root of their problems lies in offence. They have only scored 12 in 20 league matches.
Last Meeting: Southampton 0-3 Manchester United, Premier League, 14th September 2024.
Manchester United’s first away win of the campaign came against the Saints after a 3-0 success at St Mary’s in September.
Their afternoon might have gone in a different direction had it not been for the expertise of goalkeeper Andre Onana. Just past the half-hour mark, Tyler Dibling burst past Diogo Dalot before being scythed down by the defender. Without hesitation, referee Stuart Attwell pointed to the spot. Cameron Archer stepped up to take the spot-kick, but Onana guessed the right way before reacting well to save the rebound.
That save proved pivotal as Erik ten Hag’s side capitalised almost immediately. Following a short corner, Bruno Fernandes crossed into the middle and found Matthijs de Ligt, who stooped low to score his first goal for the club.
Marcus Rashford then compounded the misery on his opposition four minutes before the interval. The Englishman cut inside off the left before shooting through a sea of bodies and finding the bottom corner.
Southampton’s afternoon went from bad to worse in the 70th minute when Jack Stephens was awarded a straight red card. The skipper was late and high on Alejandro Garnacho which left the referee with no choice.
Garnacho recovered well from the tackle to score United’s third. Dalot cut the ball back to the Argentine who rifled into the roof of Aaron Ramsdale’s net. Since that triumph on the South Coast, the Red Devils have only won once away from Old Trafford in the league.
Predicted lineups
Manchester United: Onana, De Ligt, Maguire, Martinez; Amad, Mainoo, Ugarte, Mazraoui; Fernandes, Garnacho, Hojlund.
Southampton: Ramsdale; Walker-Peters, Bree, Bednarek, Harwood-Bellis, Manning; Ugochukwu, Aribo, Fernandes; Dibling, Sulemana.
Who is the referee?
John Brooks will be the match official. He will be assisted by Simon Bennett and Dan Robathan while Tom Bramall will be the fourth official. The VAR will be Paul Tierney and he will be assisted by Con Hatzidakis.
What channel is Manchester United vs Southampton on?
Manchester United vs Southampton will be available to watch on TNT Sports 1, TNT Sports Ultimate and Discovery+.
What time is kick-off?
Kick-off at Old Trafford will be at 20:00 GMT on Thursday 16th January 2025.
Odds
Manchester United: 3/10
Draw: 5/1
Southampton: 17/2
Read – Amorin uninterested in Rashford transfer talk
See more – Amorim says Southampton test an important gauge for Man United
