Manchester United v Southampton
Friday 19th August 2016 Kickoff 2000hrs
Football – Premier League – England
One of the new additions to this season’s Premier League season is the prospect of playing on Friday nights. The bulk of football will remain on Saturday and Sunday’s but it’s certainly a new dimension to watching live football in England’s top flight. The first screening takes place at Old Trafford in what will be Jose Mourinho’s first home game in charge of Manchester United as the very early pacesetters meet another team with a new manager –Claude Puel’s Southampton.
Having won the Community Shield against Leicester City a fortnight ago, before following up with an emphatic 3-1 away to Bournemouth on the opening weekend of the league, Mourinho’s reign at United could barely have got off to a better start. It’s certainly not unexpected considering the track record Mourinho has of improving teams in a short space of time, but it also has to be put in some context. The Community Shield is nothing more than a glorified friendly whilst Bournemouth were incredibly generous in defence. Despite there being much harder challenges that away United, the supporters will just be happy that there is just some optimism around the club again – something that has been missing for a long time. The bookmakers firmly believe that Mourinho will have the Midas touch and get his new charges challenging at the top of the table, going by the betting markets, and last week’s performance against the Cherries would have done nothing to dispel that. A debut goal for Zlatan Ibrahimovic as well as one for Wayne Rooney – whose role has been under intense scrutiny – was the perfect tonic for the new manager as he bids to become the first manager to win Premier League titles with two different clubs.
As ever with Southampton, it has been a summer of change with a number of key personnel coming and going. At the top of that list was Ronald Koeman, of course, who ended his two year stint as head coach by moving to Everton. Whilst no players have followed the Dutchman to Goodison, Grazianno Pelle, Victor Wanyama and Saido Mane have all departed – all of whom were integral to the recent successes of the club. Puel – who has coached all his days in France – was the man appointed to replace Koeman, and he has several new players at his disposal including Nathan Redmond and Jeremy Pied – the latter he brought with him from Nice. His first game in charge of the club ended in a 1-1 draw at home to Watford. The manager will probably be a touch disappointed that his team were unable to make home advantage count but, on the other hand, pleased that the Saints responded from going a goal down and were very dominant in all aspects of the game. A trip to Old Trafford to face a resurgent United team , coached by Mourinho, was probably not high up on Puel’s list of opponents in his second game but it will be a good test of where his team are currently at.
In addition to Ibrahimovic’s debut, Mourinho also gave Eric Bailly a start whilst Henrikh Mkhitaryan came off the bench for the last 15 minutes. With Paul Pogba now free of suspension, it’s likely the most expensive player in the world will make his second debut for the club tomorrow evening. Those four signings alone have obviously added some much needed quality to the team but their personalities will also be important. The successful teams under Sir Alex Ferguson all had massive characters in their ranks but those were few and far between under the last two managers. If United are to mount a serious title challenge then those four new faces will be critical both on and off the field.
Southampton have been come to known for their attractive style of play under both Koeman and Mauricio Pochettino, and the early signs under the new man are also positive. The club itself are have excellent foundations and the infrastructure – from the academy right through to their first team – has an identity and it breeds through from top to bottom. I would still expect Puel to strengthen the squad with at least one more player, possibly a striker, as he bids to restore some of the quality that left during the summer. Before that happens, the onus for goals and leading the line will be on Shane Long who has improved immensely over the last couple of seasons.
Manchester United v Southampton Betting Tips
One of the teams to benefit most from United’s recent underwhelming campaigns has been Southampton. The Saints have enjoyed their last three trips to Old Trafford by winning on their last two visits and drawing the one before that. They will of course be facing a completely different beast in Mourinho’s United but it’s further evidence of the strides Southampton have taken during that time.
With Pogba very likely to come into the team it will add a further dimension to United’s midfield that has been lacking for some time now. His athleticism alone will be a welcome addition and if he can replicate his performances from Juventus with his new club then that £100m spent on him will not seem as ridiculous as it once did. His presence, along with the home debuts of the other big signings, will only increase the buzz amongst the supporters and we all know how strong a Mourinho coached team is at home. Southampton are too good a team to be embarrassed, in my opinion, but I think they are going to be under the cosh for long spells on Friday and expect to see a comfortable home win. With the absence of Pelle and Mane there are a lot of goals missing from the Southampton team of last season and they may struggle to make an impression in the attacking third so take United to win and keep a clean sheet.
Manchester United to win to ‘nil’ 22/19 @ Unibet
