Manchester United travel to Southampton in the early kick-off on Saturday as the Premier League returns after the international break.
Erik ten Hag’s side are already under plenty of pressure after just three matches of the new season, with a bruising 3-0 loss to Liverpool last time out increasing the speculation over the manager’s future.
And the Dutchman needs a convincing result to lift the mood following back-to-back defeats to Brighton and Liverpool, amid stinging criticism from former Manchester United forward Cristiano Ronaldo this week.
Southampton boss Russell Martin is hoping to avoid a fourth league defeat in a row, with the newly promoted Saints yet to pick up any points so far on the return to the top flight, but the home crowd will be up for the occasion.
Follow all the latest build-up, score updates and reaction from Southampton vs Manchester United and across the Premier League below:
Manchester United visit Southampton in the Premier League, with kick-off at 12.30pm | Live on TNT
United lost 3-0 to Liverpool last time out with the pressure mounting on Erik ten Hag
Newly promoted Southampton have lost all of their Premier League games so far this season
Southampton XI: Ramsdale; Sugawara, Bednarek, Stephens, Walker-Peters; Ugochukwu, Downes, Fernandes, Dibling, Archer, Brereton Díaz.
Man Utd XI: Onana; Mazraoui, de Ligt, Martinez, Dalot; Eriksen, Mainoo; Diallo, Fernandes, Rashford; Zirkzee.
Casemiro and Maneul Ugarte on the bench as Christian Eriksen starts
11:25 , Jamie Braidwood
Erik ten Hag out on the St Mary’s pitch for an early walk before kick-off.
11:20 , Jamie Braidwood
Casemiro or Ugarte? Neither! A big call from Erik ten Hag as he drops the Brazilian and recalls Christian Eriksen into midfield. Alejandro Garnacho is also on the bench, as Amad Diallo and Marcus Rashford start.
Russell Martin has also made some interesting changes to his team after three defeats. He hands a Premier League debut to 18-year-old Tyler Dibling, and also hands a start to new signing Cameron Archer up front.
11:17 , Jamie Braidwood
Southampton XI: Ramsdale; Sugawara, Bednarek, Stephens, Walker-Peters; Ugochukwu, Downes, Fernandes, Dibling, Archer, Brereton Díaz.
Man Utd XI: Onana; Mazraoui, de Ligt, Martinez, Dalot; Eriksen, Mainoo; Diallo, Fernandes, Rashford; Zirkzee.
11:12 , Jamie Braidwood
We’ll have the team news and line-ups from St Mary’s in the next few minutes.
Casemiro or Ugarte?
11:00 , Jamie Braidwood
Erik ten Hag also backed Casemiro following the former Real Madrid midfielder’s poor performance in the defeat to Liverpool, in which he was hooked at half-time after being responsible for the Reds’ first two goals.
“[We] definitely need him, for sure,” Ten Hag said. “And of course I speak with him about the situation, but everyone can have a bad at the office, or do you never have a bad day at the office?
“He is experienced and it’s not the first time, I guess, he has dealt with a bad game and now he has to overcome this one as well.
But that is normal in life. You have highs and you have lows. That is in your life and also in the life of a football player, only for a football player of course that is obvious. There are many observing this and have an opinion about this and also you have to deal with this.
“But he knows how to deal with it and nobody’s career goes only up, no team level, team pattern is only going up.
“You have to deal with it but then it’s about what is the end result.”
10:45 , Jamie Braidwood
Manchester United could hand a debut to Manuel Ugarte following the midfielder’s arrival from Paris Saint-Germain on deadline day.
Ugarte was signed too late to be in United’s squad against Liverpool but is set to be included ahead of the trip to Southampton, despite only returning from international duty with Uruguay on Thursday.
Ugarte, who was signed for an intital £41.1m, caught Ten Hag’s eye when his Ajax side faced Sporting Lisbon in the Champions League three years ago.
“I played him already as manager of Ajax when we faced Sporting Lisbon,” Ten Hag said. “He’s quite a long time on my radar.
“He’s coming in, a late transfer coming in, but he’s playing in a very important position. You have to connect defending with attacking, and attacking with defending.
“Communication is very important there to guide the team, to lead the team, to make the connection between attacking and defence, defence and attacking.”
10:30 , Jamie Braidwood
Erik ten Hag shrugged off the criticism from Cristiano Ronaldo by saying that the Portuguese star is far away from Manchester and implying he is out of touch with events at his old club.
“He is far away in Saudi [Arabia], far away from Manchester. Everyone can have an opinion and is entitled to an opinion, it is OK,” Ten Hag said.
While Ten Hag insisted Ronaldo was allowed to have his view, he argued the Portuguese, who claimed United needed to rebuild from the bottom up, was dismissing United’s chances.
“No, he said that, that Manchester United can’t win the Premier League, if you read the article very well,” he said.
10:15 , Jamie Braidwood
Erik ten Hag this week came under attack from former Manchester United great Cristiano Ronaldo, who revived his fued with his former manager by criticising his mentality.
Ronaldo’s second spell at Old Trafford was ended in 2022 when his contract was terminated following an explosive and unauthorised interview in which he said he felt “betrayed” by United and had “no respect” for Ten Hag.
He told his former teammate Rio Ferdinand, for the latter’s podcast: “The coach … they say they cannot compete to win the [Premier] League and Champions League. [If you are] Manchester United coach, you cannot say that you’re not going to fight to win the league or Champions League.
“You have to be, to mentally say, ‘listen, maybe we don’t have that potential, but I cannot say that. We’re going to try.’ You have to try.”
Cristiano Ronaldo attacks Ten Hag’s losers mentality at Man United
10:00 , Jamie Braidwood
Manchester United insisted before the international break that Erik ten Hag retains the backing of the club’s new owners.
Chief executive Omar Berrada and sporting director Dan Ashworth believe Ten Hag is the “right coach” for United, though he took them to their lowest ever Premier League finish, in eighth, and has started the current campaign with two defeats in three games.
Berrada and Ashworth took up their new posts in July, after Ten Hag won the FA Cup but United spoke to other managers and then opted not to replace him.
09:45 , Jamie Braidwood
Manchester United have lost two of their opening three games of the season – the last time they lost three of their opening four was in 1986 under Ron Atkinson.
Erik ten Hag’s side could lose three consecutive Premier League gmes for the first time in nine years if they lost at Southampton today.
The pressure is already on the Dutchman, as United look to avoid their worst start to a league season in 38 years.
09:31 , Jamie Braidwood
Southampton XI: Ramsdale; Harwood-Bellis, Bednarek, Stephens; Sugawara, Smallbone, Downes, Aribo, Walker-Peters; Armstrong, Brereton Díaz.
Man Utd XI: Onana; Mazraoui, de Ligt, Martinez, Dalot; Ugarte, Mainoo; Diallo, Fernandes, Rashford; Zirkzee.
09:30 , Jamie Braidwood
Manuel Ugarte is available for selection despite only coming back from South America on Thursday but Luke Shaw and Rasmus Hojlund will miss out again. Victor Lindelof, Tyrell Malacia, Leny Yoro and Mason Mount remain on the sidelines but Bruno Fernandes is fit despite picking up a minor knock in Portugal’s Nations League win over Scotland.
09:29 , Jamie Braidwood
Southampton are without keeper Gavin Bazunu and forward Kamaldeen Sulemana but Ben Brereton Diaz is available having come out of international duty relatively unscathed. After a long spell on the sidelines Scotland striker Ross Stewart is close to a return and could make the matchday squad, along with new arrivals Maxwel Cornet and Ryan Fraser.
09:29 , Jamie Braidwood
Viewers in the United Kingdom can watch the match live on TNT Sports 1, with coverage starting at 11am. Subscribers will also be able to watch via Discovery+ online and on the app.
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09:29 , Jamie Braidwood
Southampton vs Manchester United kicks off at 12.30pm BST on Saturday 14 September at St. Mary’s Stadium in Southampton.
09:28 , Jamie Braidwood
Manchester United travel down to Southampton in the early kick-off on Saturday as the Premier League returns after the autumn international break.
Erik ten Hag’s side are under plenty of pressure as the league campaign resumes, with the Dutchman’s future called into question after a 3-0 loss to Liverpool last time out.
A convincing win over the Saints would ease some of the pressure on ten Hag, though a loss would likely see him face perhaps the most intense pressure of his tenure to date.
And while the result is the most important thing, the performance will be viewed with almost equal interest among fans and the United hierarchy as questions continue over the Dutchman’s style of play.
Russell Martin is already under some pressure after three straight losses to open the season, though a loss to United is unlikely to be viewed as a deal-breaker this early into the season.
