Manchester United vs. Southampton: Tactical Preview of Premier League Game

Third meets fourth in the Premier League this weekend as Manchester United host Southampton. The Red Devils somehow stole a victory from St. Mary's Stadium in December during a poor run for the Saints, and Ronald Koeman's men will be looking to exact revenge.

Let's take a look at how this one might play out tactically.

Manchester United Setup

Crippling injuries have left Louis van Gaal, frankly, rather short on options. With Rafael, Antonio Valencia, Luke Shaw and Ashley Young likely out of the contest, we could see one or two very uninspiring selections.

Either Jonny Evans and Phil Jones could play at full-back or Angel Di Maria and Jesse Lingard play wing-back. Louis van Gaal's men really are that short of options. Per the Daily Star, Di Maria is fit to start after a goalscoring cameo against Yeovil Town.

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Radamel Falcao has been disappointing of late so a 4-3-3 is workable, with Robin van Persie heading the formation, Wayne Rooney and Di Maria wide and Michael Carrick returning to midfield.

Whatever the choice, there's a weak spot to be found.

Southampton Setup

Ronald Koeman will hope to welcome back Nathaniel Clyne from injury, per WhoScored, and play him on the opposite flank to Ryan Bertrand in a repaired defensive line.

Clyne's return is pivotal; it means Toby Alderweireld can come back inside to partner Jose Fonte. Maya Yoshida, who has been deputising, is on Asia Cup duty with Japan.

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Morgan Schneiderlin and Victor Wanyama look set to shield the defence in typically sturdy fashion, and fans will be hoping the two can replicate the 2013-14 performance in which they nullified United as an attacking force.

Graziano Pelle will provide good test for the physically unsure United back line, but Koeman must figure out how he wants to replace the injured Sadio Mane: Shane Long or James Ward-Prowse?

Key Point 1: Clyne and Bertrand's Big Day Out

Old Trafford should be a happy hunting ground for Clyne and Bertrand on Sunday. If they play well and Koeman maximises their efficiency, they can wreak havoc on an ailing United back line.

Sadio Mane is out after picking up a calf injury (despite that, he has also been included in Senegal's Africa Cup of Nations squad), so Southampton must switch strategies and find a way to circumvent his absence. He'd recently grown into a devastating free role that saw him popping up all over the pitch, breaking between the lines, beating markers and scoring one versus ones.

A strong bet when seeking a new game plan would be to revert to the width-based tactics on which they founded their successful start to the season. The chance to push Clyne and Bertrand high up and have them run at awkward wing-backs or even more more awkward stand-in centre-backs is too good to pass up.

There's no way Evans, Jones or Lingard—and likely not Di Maria, either—can keep up with and shut down either of Koeman's speedsters. If Saints can get the ball wide early and ask them to carry it, a whole world of options will open up once they've beaten their man.

This is the most obvious and easy route to victory for the away side at Old Trafford on Sunday.

Key Point 2: One vs. One, Can Fonte Keep His Cool?

Jose Fonte has emerged from Dejan Lovren's shadow this season, with many finally handing over the credit the Portugal international deserves.

But while he's been consistently excellent as Southampton have consistently beaten the "lesser" teams, he's also developed a habit of dropping clangers against "bigger" sides.

Whether he gets nervous, freaked out or it's simply a massive coincidence, we're not sure, but against the better sides in the bigger games, he's committed errors. The Sergio Aguero penalty incident and two recent horror backpasses—one of which resulted in a goal—are prime examples.

Should they continue with a two-striker formation, Manchester United will be playing Fonte one versus one against either Radamel Falcao or Robin van Persie. That means no cover, no extra man and no scope for error.

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A prime example of how manning up like this, and how it can be hugely successful, arrived last weekend in the form of Valencia's 2-1 victory over Real Madrid, chronicled by the excellent Zonal Marking. It was a high-risk strategy to let Lucas Orban mark Gareth Bale, Nicolas Otamendi mark Karim Benzema and Shkodran Mustafi mark Cristiano Ronaldo, as Los Che went three versus three (and one versus one individually) at the back. 

There are some coaches, such as Marcelo Bielsa, who always retain a spare man to sweep up. He will always play three at the back versus two strikers and bring on a defender if an opponent switches from one to two during a game. Koeman will retain a back four no matter what; Fonte must buck the current trend and remain watertight against a world-class striker if Southampton are to win this one.

There'll be no saving grace if he makes another mistake.

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