Manchester United vs Southampton...CONTINUE READING
Manchester United will be encouraged by how well they played in Monday’s 2-1 loss to Liverpool, but they will also know that Southampton will be a different kind of challenge.
The Saints’ back line is much deeper, so Erik ten Hag’s team should have more of the ball and put more pressure on the final third. United is the favourite to win, even though they haven’t won a league game on the road since beating Leeds 4-2 in February.
On Saturday, though, things will be very different because they will have a world-class defensive midfielder in their team. Casemiro is going to play his first game at St. Mary’s, and Ten Hag says he is ready.
Anthony Martial is still not fit to play despite the fact that he played for 45 minutes against Liverpool and contributed an assist to Marcus Rashford’s game-winning goal during that time. This is not very encouraging news.
After going out wide on the left, Rashford was able to score his goal. Rashford may start the game against Southampton on the left wing, with Jadon Sancho playing on the right.
Cristiano Ronaldo is still a player of Manchester United’s lineup and has the possibility of making a comeback with only six days left before the transfer window closes. On Monday, when Rashford was selected to lead the line, the team showed significant growth while he was sitting on the bench instead of leading the line.
Chelsea vs Leicester City
After last week’s humiliating loss to Leeds United, Chelsea will be back at Stamford Bridge on Saturday afternoon. The Blues are eager to get back to winning after that loss. Thomas Tuchel’s team was no match for Leeds at Elland Road, and Chelsea’s head coach was understandably upset after the game.
Given Kante’s absence and Kovacic’s lack of match fitness, I would go with Jorginho and Conor Gallagher again and back the academy product to show his actual level of performance following a poor game at Elland Road last Saturday.
No attacker has scored in three games. Armando Broja would replace Mason Mount and Raheem Sterling. The Albanian hasn’t had a preseason, so he won’t be totally ready to replace Kai Havertz.
EPL Table
