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Preview of the match between Manchester United and Southampton
Southampton manager Ivan Juric says he is “optimistic” his new side can upset Manchester United at Old Trafford on Thursday after ending an 11-game winless run.
The Saints snapped a three-game losing streak and scored as many goals as they had scored in their previous eight games with A 3-0 home win over Championship visitors Swansea City in the third round of the FA Cup on Sunday.
“We can do it,” Juric said of the possibility of adding his first away win of the season to his first win since taking over on Dec. 21.
“It’s a good game. The boys are doing well. They have a bit more confidence after the Swansea game… playing games and training, I think they’re starting to do the things I want them to do. That’s normal.
Old Trafford is waiting 📍 pic.twitter.com/FP1AATPKFn
— Southampton FC (@SouthamptonFC) January 14, 2025
“It’s just an attitude to do the (necessary) things. If you train intensively, with pressing, with aggressiveness, then you will play like this.”
Jurić called United’s colleague Ruben Amorim’s use of a 3-4-3 formation with former club Sporting Lisbon “almost perfection”.
“He wants to do the same thing at Manchester United,” added the Croatian, whose team is 10 points from safety and 17 behind their 14th-placed rivals.
Amorim he sees the challenge as an acid test of his players’ often questioned character. Less than two months after his appointment, Amorim said United’s 2-2 draw at Liverpool on January 5, which ended a four-game losing streak, had left him “infuriated” by the unpredictable quality of the performances he had overseen.
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) January 13, 2025
United produced another surprise result and an impressive display of determination on Sunday, knocking Arsenal out of the FA Cup on penalties at the Emirates Stadium despite being reduced to 10 men when Diogo Dalot was dismissed after 61 minutes.
“We have to deliver – or try to,” Amorim added. “But the most important thing is to fight in the game and… in the end win”.
One good sign for Amor is that United are unbeaten in 16 meetings with Southampton over almost nine years, although three of the last five meetings have been drawn since the hosts’ 9-0 win at Old Trafford in February 2021.
Man United vs. Southampton team News
Dalot will be out for the first time this season as the full-back serves a one-match ban for his two bookings at Arsenal, with Tyrell Malacia, who replaced him against the Gunners, an option to start at left-back.
Amorim says the 21-year-old Toby Collyerwho played in the position in the EFL Cup this season, also caught his eye in training.
You have to want it.#MUFC pic.twitter.com/GMkXBu0qQO
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) January 13, 2025
Noussair Mazraoui could also switch sides, potentially allowing Amado Diallo, Alejandro Garnach or Antony to start on the right.
Defenders Victor Lindelof, Jonny Evans and Luke Shaw remain sidelined through injury, as does midfielder Mason Mount, while Andre Onana, a Premier League fixture since joining in 2023, is likely to replace Altay Bayindir in goal despite Turkiye’s international heroics against Arsenal.
Southampton defender Jack Stephens, who was sent off in their 3-0 home defeat to United in September, will miss the game through injury.
Striker Ross Stewart is also out, but Flynn Downes could be back following a thigh injury the defensive midfielder sustained on December 26.
“(Flynn) did his first practice (on Tuesday) and he’s fine,” Juric told reporters. “We’ll see if he can play from the start or later.”
“Scored a few touches” 👏 pic.twitter.com/p2uS2Py5VZ
— Southampton FC (@SouthamptonFC) January 13, 2025
Man United vs Southampton expected lineups
Manchester United: Onana; Yoro, De Ligt, Martinez; Amad Diallo, Mainoo, Uganda, Malacia; Fernandes, Hojlund, Garnacho
Southampton: Ramsdale; Bednarek, Harwood-Bellis, Wood; Walker-Peters, Fernandes, Aribo, Ugochukwu, Manning; Dibling, Armstrong
