Southampton vs. Manchester United: Team News, Preview, Live Stream, TV Info

Ronald Koeman and Louis van Gaal resume old acquaintances for Southampton vs. Manchester United this Sunday. Neither team have had the start to the season they would have liked, although Van Gaal's United had the tonic of a good win over arch-rivals Liverpool in the Premier League. 

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Koeman's side have just one win so far, and although have only lost once, they have drawn games they would have expected to win after last season's impressive form. There have been some positive signs of late, though, and they have conceded just one goal in their past four games, which included a comfortable 3-0 win over Norwich City. 

United will be reeling from their midweek loss to PSV Eindhoven, and more importantly from their midweek loss of former Southampton man Luke Shaw to a serious injury.

United's other former Southampton player—Morgan Schneiderlin—has not started since the 2-1 defeat to Swansea. It will be interesting to see if Van Gaal bows to sentiment and recalls him for this one. 

Date: Sunday, 20 September

Time: 4 p.m. BST/11 a.m. ET

Venue: St Mary's Stadium, Southampton

TV Info:  Sky Sports 1 (UK only)/NBCSN and NBC Universo (U.S. only)

Live Stream: Sky Sports Go (UK only)/NBC Live Extra (U.S. only)

Form Lines

Southampton: LDDLWD

Manchester United: WDWLWL

Team News

Southampton's official website reported "Saints will once again be without long-term absentees Florin Gardos and Fraser Forster, while Jordy Clasie will miss the game against [United]. Ryan Bertrand has been back in full training this week, but [he] is not expected to be involved on Sunday."

United will, of course, be missing Luke Shaw, but Wayne Rooney is fit to start and Phil Jones is "not match fit, but he’s fit to train" according to Van Gaal's interview with MUTV (h/t the club's website). The rest of the squad are available, with Van Gaal saying only Shaw is injured.

Predicted Lineups

With Southampton showing plenty of defensive stability of late, there seems little need for a major shake-up, particularly given the injuries the Saints are dealing with. Sadio Mane should return to the starting lineup after missing out on a start against West Bromwich Albion after returning late from international duty, per Jamie Anderson of the Daily Star.

There are lots of questions over the United starting XI. With Shaw injured, Van Gaal cited Daley Blind, Marcos Rojo and Ashley Young as potential replacements at left-back in his pre-match press conference. With the partnership of Blind and Chris Smalling working well—for the most part—at centre-half so far this season, perhaps using Young or Rojo would be preferable given it would minimise disruption.

Elsewhere, following the surprising pairing of Ander Herrera and Bastian Schweinsteiger in the centre of United's midfield against PSV, one or both of Michael Carrick and Schneiderlin should return to the starting XI. 

The predicted lineup below contains several hedged bets, but going out on a limb, the prediction for United's attacking lineup would be Anthony Martial at No. 9 and Rooney at No. 10. Van Gaal often rewards good form—as Young and Marouane Fellaini found out last season, and Martial has given his manager no cause to drop him over the past couple of games.

Players to Watch 

For Southampton, Sadio Mane's return could be important. A summer target for United, per James Orr of the Independent, he has been a creator for Southampton so far this season with two assists to his name.

The form man for the Saints, though, is Dusan Tadic, who has scored twice in the league already and is averaging an impressive 3.8 key passes per league game. Deeper-lying midfielder Steven Davis has been almost as important although his average of 3.2 key passes per league game has not resulted in an assist yet. 

For United, seeing the new-look back four in action will be intriguing.

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Elsewhere in the side, all eyes will be on the returning Rooney, who plays for the club for the first time since breaking his country's goalscoring record during the international break. He is yet to hit much in the way of form for either club or country this season—he needed penalties to break the record, and his only goals for United came against a weakened Club Brugge. This will be an important test for him. 

Martial has caught the eye in both of his appearances for United so far. Of course, he did so in spectacular fashion on his debut against Liverpool, but his more understated performance against PSV was also impressive. He led the line well, and linked effectively with Juan Mata and Memphis Depay. 

Key Battle

United have continually struggled to break down deep-lying defences. PSV appeared happy to cede possession to the Red Devils and look to hit them on the counter-attack. To do so against the Saints would apply a great deal of pressure to their back four, but as mentioned previously, they have been in excellent form defensively.

Thus the battle between United's attack and Southampton's counter-attack could be the order of the day. With the incisive passing of Davis and Tadic, and the speed of Mane to call upon, United's back four will have to work hard to ensure they are not left vulnerable when their full-backs join in with attacks—something they need to do to provide width given United's wide forwards' proclivities to cut inside.

Odds

The odds for the game, at the time of writing, per Odds Shark are: 

Southampton Win: 11/5

Draw: 231/100

Manchester United Win: 149/100

All advanced statistics per WhoScored.com.