Southampton face their sternest test of the season when Man Utd roll into town on Saturday and it will be a great chance to assess Mauricio Pellegrino’s tactical nous. The Saints have blown hot and cold so far in this campaign, but they moved into the top half of the table with victory over Crystal Palace last weekend. Eight points from five games is a decent haul, but Southampton have only played teams destined to finish in the bottom half of the table thus far. Man Utd are an entirely different kettle of fish and are joint top of the league, unbeaten, with 13 points from a possible 15, and they will make life very difficult for the Saints on Saturday.
Southampton won two of their five games so far this season, but they came against 16th placed West Ham and bottom club Crystal Palace. Draws with newly promoted Huddersfield and a poor Swansea side have hardly set the world alight, while defeat to Watford was disappointing, as was the loss to Wolves in the league cup. The jury is still very much out on Pellegrino, and this game against Man Utd could be the making of him. Win and it will kick-start Southamton’s season, giving them confidence and a fantastic platform on which to build. But if they take a hiding – and Swansea, Everton and West Ham have all lost by four goals to Utd so far this season – it could leave them dejected and demoralised ahead of the trip to Stoke for their next game.
It really comes at a crucial time of the season, and it is imperative that Pellegrino fires his players up, while the crowd also has a large role to play. Saints held Utd to a 0-0 draw at home in May, and a similar result would be welcome here. “We want some big scalps this season,” said Southampton captain Steven Davis. “We’ve managed to do that in previous seasons and there’s no reason why we can’t do it again. ‘It’s going to be a hugely difficult game for us but we believe we’ve got the quality to beat any team in the league. We need to show it now. Every game in the Premier League, whether it’s against one of the top six or any position in the league, it always has its difficulties. You need to be at your best.”
Stoke are the only team to take points from Utd this season and the 2-2 draw they secured came as Potters fans created a bubbling cauldron of animosity within the Bet365 Stadium. Davis hopes Saints fans can channel a similar level of passion and inspire their team to a positive result against the Red Devils. “It’s great if you can create that hostile atmosphere,” he said. “It gives the home team such a backing as well, and really pushes them on. Not only when you’re winning or when you’re hanging on to the result, but whenever you’re trying to get that energy from the crowd. You need that.”
Southampton are underdogs and well priced to win this game. Examine a review of YouWager and check out Premiership odds to make sure you can find the best available price. You can get 4/1 on Southampton here, while Man Utd are 5/6, and that 4/1 looks a tempting set of odds. Meanwhile, Southampton +1 on the Asian handicap is 11/10 and that could be a really good bet, provided Southampton are highly motivated and the crowd is fired up. Saints have only lost once this season and they have a pretty tight defence, so they could well get a positive result at St Mary’s on Saturday, or at the very worst slump to a narrow defeat.
