Manchester United prepare to face Southampton this evening with their top four destiny in their own hands after the results at the weekend.
Heavy defeats for Chelsea and Leicester mean that United now know if they win their remaining games, they will not only get into the top four, they’ll finish in third place.
Southampton have had a decent time of it since the restart and won against Manchester City last week – with the visitors in form, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer hinted he might keep an unchanged team for the fifth league game in a row.
“There’s so many things you have to consider when you manage a team,” Ole said in his pre-match press conference. “We’ve got players here champing at the bit, but also those that are in the rhythm. There are loads of decisions to be made, but they make it easier by playing and performing well. If we don’t get too many injuries, there’s no reason to change too much when you’re doing well.”
Meanwhile, Paul Pogba has spoken about the possibility of a strong end to the season which could yet make it a memorable campaign for the club.
“United is about trophies, we know that. And there are trophies we know we can get and we can win,” the midfielder told United Review. “We don’t want to let this opportunity go away. We’re going to do our best to go and get those two trophies by giving everything. We feel great. That is the mentality now – you have a positive mentality when you have a good result, but you also have to have the ability to get through the games like we did in the last few games.
“Every game is a final and we have to get the result that we need, that’s the mindset. It’s never enough for us, we have to carry on and keep fighting and keep pushing yourself to get better and better.
“We have to think about us, to be honest,” Pogba said about the top four race. “If we win all our games I don’t think we have something to worry about. You have to win. We don’t think about other teams or other results, we have to focus on ourselves.”
With Crystal Palace coming up on Thursday ahead of a trip to Wembley to play Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-final on Sunday, it is probable Solskjaer will take as few chances as possible.
Predicted team :
De Gea
Wan-Bissaka Lindelof Maguire Shaw
Matic Pogba
Fernandes
Greenwood Rashford Martial
