Predicted Manchester United XI vs Southampton: Harry Maguire starts

Manchester United are looking to get back to winning ways in the Premier League again.

We just can’t seem to get a consistent run wins under our belt, which is the reason why we are playing with fire in the race for top four, yet Tottenham and Arsenal are in the same boat. It’s like none of them want to finish in the Champions League spots.

United, once again, failed to win what looked like a winnable affair away at Burnley last time out, while Sunderland came from behind to beat Tottenham Hotspur 3-2.

Ralf Rangick has confirmed that Alex Telles is back in training and could return on Saturday, and we think he will be the only chance for United in defence. It may surprise a few that I’ve gone with Harry Maguire but only because of what Rangnick said in his pre-match press conference (via Manchester Evening News):

“I think he had an outstanding game vs West Ham. We could have defended transitional moment better at Burnley but the rest of our defence was not really good. We should not have allowed the counter-attack to happen.

“Harry was injured, ccame back, had a very good game vs West Ham and sure he can perform like that tomorrow.”

The midfield will remain the same — Scott McTominay, Paul Pogba and Bruno Fernandes — since Fred is still self-isolating after testing positive for COVID-19. On top of that, Nemanja Matic has shin issues and Eric Bailly is complaining about a swollen ankle.

Cristiano Ronaldo is widely expected to return to the starting XI after being benched on Tuesday night. I reckon Anthony Elanga will come in for Marcus Rashford, while Jadon Sancho keeps his place.

That’s three changes predicted from the draw at Turf Moor.

SN’s predicted XI: De Gea; Dalot, Varane, Maguire, Telles; McTominay, Pogba, Fernandes; Sancho, Ronaldo, Elanga.

More Stories Alex Telles Anthony Elanga Bruno Fernandes Cristiano Ronaldo David de Gea Diogo Dalot Harry Maguire Jadon Sancho Manchester United Paul Pogba Raphael Varane Scott McTominay Southampton