Southampton vs Man Utd Preview, Team News, Line-Ups, Betting Tips & Prediction

Manchester United will look to avoid picking up any further injuries when they take on Southampton at St Mary’s tonight.

Last Sunday’s defeat at Tottenham ended any slim hopes of finishing in the top four for United so they have nothing left to play for in the league as they know they’ll finish sixth no matter what happens in their final two games.

Therefore, Jose Mourinho’s aim is to navigate the matches against Southampton and Crystal Palace without picking up any further injuries and get his squad in the best possible shape for their Europa League final next week.

Southampton will be out for revenge tonight after losing 3-2 to United in the EFL Cup final back in February and Claude Puel’s men will also want to tighten their grip on eighth place.

Team News

Mourinho is expected to field a weakened side as he looks to protect his players for the Europa League final with Paul Pogba among those absent as he’s still in France following the death of his father.

David De Gea hasn’t travelled to the south coast so Sergio Romero will start in goal while Daley Blind and Antonio Valencia have also been left behind to rest.

Marouane Fellaini will return to the starting eleven after completing his domestic ban while Mourinho has also suggested Chris Smalling, Phil Jones, Juan Mata and Anthony Martial will start the game.

Southampton will continue to be without Virgil van Dijk as he’s out for the rest of the season with a foot injury while Alex McCarthy is still working his way back to full fitness following a hamstring problem.

Likely Line-Ups

Predicted Score

Southampton 2-1 Man Utd: Southampton haven’t won any of their previous five home games against United but they have a good chance to end that run tonight. United’s priority is clearly on the Ajax game so they are there for the taking. I’m still expecting a United team packed with quality so it should be a decent game, but fancy the Saints to edge it.

Betting Tips

United are best priced at 15/8 to win this game with the bookmakers but we can get new customers enhanced odds of 8/1 on the Reds – just click here or above to take advantage of these crazy odds [winnings as free bet, T&C’s apply].

We nailed our prediction of 2-1 and both teams to score in the Tottenham game, so here are some other bets I like the look of for this match:

• Both teams to score at: 10/11 – a £10 bet would return £19
• Exact score of 2-1 Southampton at: 9/1 – a £10 bet would return £100
• Redmond to score first in a 2-1 Southampton win at: 40/1 – a £10 bet would return £410