Manchester United vs. Southampton: Key Takeaways from Louis van Gaal Presser

An injury reprieve has given Manchester United manager cause for comfort at the beginning of 2015, with the club easing out of their fitness plague ahead of Sunday's clash against Southampton.

The Red Devils have been among the most unfortunate sides in Europe this season regarding player absences. However, the club's Twitter account posted footage of Van Gaal's disbelief in beginning 2015 with brighter fortunes:

Per the Mirror's David McDonnell, Van Gaal confirmed Ashley Young as that one, who is at this point the only definite to miss this weekend's fixture:

The manager is clearly overjoyed to announce his cleaner bill of squad health, which would seemingly give United every chance of extending their league unbeaten streak, currently standing at 10 games.

However, that still doesn't mean every player will be in the frame to feature this week, with Marcos Rojo, Daley Blind and Rafael still easing back to full strength:

Nooruddean Choudry of the Guardian attests that "fit" and "available" aren't interchangeable terms in football:

The club also received a boost this past week after announcing the free capture of Victor Valdes, who signed for Manchester United after completing his recovery from a serious knee injury almost nine months ago.

Van Gaal spoke of why he decided to sign the ex-Barcelona No. 1, with McDonnell providing further quotes regarding Valdes' plans to displace incumbent David de Gea, arguably the best player in United's season thus far:

Valdes brings a wealth of experience as a reserve option and should immediately push Anders Lindegaard out of the No. 2 role.

Samuel Luckhurst provided comment from Van Gaal, noting the club's ability to get deals done swiftly when they want to, supporting the notion that Lindegaard will be demoted:

It makes for bad news as far as Southampton are concerned, who despite enjoying a resurgence to form of late, are travelling to Old Trafford with nothing but positives running in the hosts' favour.

Nevertheless, an away result for Saints would see their top-four hopes receive a dramatic boost, Ronald Koeman's men hoping to overcome a United team closer to full strength than it has been for some months.