It’s a battle of fourth against fifth with the Saints seating above the Red Devils in the standings. Last weekend wasn’t a good one for most big teams; Chelsea’s unbeaten run ended away to Newcastle United, Liverpool stumbled to a goalless draw at home to Sunderland and Arsenal went down 3-2 in Stoke, leading to Gooners tearing manager Arsene Wenger apart.
Only Manchester City escaped with a positive result – a 1-0 win against Everton at the Etihad. Then again, there was bad news as they lost prolific striker Aguero to injury in the early moments of the game.
Today, local rivals Manchester United could emulate the Citizens by claiming victory away to Southampton to eventually jump from fifth to third in the Premier League. Easier said than done, though; the Saints are not a team to underestimate this year.
While they have scored as many goals as the Red Devils (24), they have a better defence, having conceded only 10 times in 14 matches so far. However, they have struggled to keep up with their difficult fixtures list, lately.
Games against champions Man City, Big Four side Arsenal and giants Man United – all within eight days. Two matches and two defeats out of these three encounters. They were so close to getting a point at the Emirates until Alexis Sanchez scored in injury time. Will the Saints be condemned to a third consecutive defeat?
With Wayne Rooney’s return boosting the squad in the absence of injured winger Angel di Maria, fans of the Red Devils will want to answer this question with a big ‘YES’. And Ashley Young approves of that, as he told his club’s official website:
“Everybody is pulling in the right direction and feeling good and we will take that into the game against Southampton. It is going to be a big game and there are definitely no easy games in the Premier League.
“Southampton have started the season very well and are third in the league, so we know it is going to be tough. But if we can go there and produce displays like we have shown, especially in the last four matches, then I'm sure we can get the three points.”
Match details, result and original broadcast info
Southampton 1 - 2 Manchester United
December 8, 2014 3:00pmSt. Mary's Stadium (Southampton, Hampshire)This match has ended. Below are the original Live broadcast details for this match.
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