Predicted Man United XI vs Southampton: Big decisions through the spine of the team | OneFootball

Manchester United are still without six first team stars as they travel to the south coast to play Southampton in the Premier League tomorrow.

Leny Yoro, Victor Lindelof, Luke Shaw, Tyrell Malacia, Mason Mount and Rasmus Hojlund are all still under the care of the physios as they battle to regain fitness following injuries.

There is a new addition to the squad, though, with new signing Manuel Ugarte available for the first time according to manager Erik ten Hag.

The question is whether Ten Hag will throw the Uruguayan straight into the starting XI. He has not trained much with his teammates and only travelled back from South America yesterday (Thursday) after two gruelling matches for Uruguay.

He is also reportedly under the weather.

On the other hand, those two international appearances will have got him match fit and Casemiro’s horror show against Liverpool must be tempting Ten Hag into bringing in the cavalry.

We think Ugarte will get the nod, but it’s a close call.

Kobbie Mainoo will surely keep his place alongside whichever one is selected.

Elsewhere, with the above injuries yet to resolve, the defence is likely to stay the same as the one that shipped three goals against Arne Slot’s men.

This means Andre Onana in goal, Noussair Mazraoui at right back, Matthijs de Ligt and Lisandro Martinez at centre back and Diogo Dalot at left back.

The only real doubt is De Ligt, having struggled badly in his two outings for the Netherlands last week. Two big mistakes in the first game against Bosnia and Herzegovina were followed by another shaky performance against Germany, which saw him pulled off at half time.

Meanwhile, Harry Maguire kept a clean sheet for England and it could be that he is brought back in for the Dutchman, but we think Ten Hag will keep faith with his compatriot.

Further up the pitch, the only near certainty is that Bruno Fernandes will play in the number 10 role. The two wing positions and centre forward spot will be contested by Marcus Rashford, Amad Diallo, Alejandro Garnacho and Joshua Zirkzee.

Amad was dropped for the Liverpool game despite having arguably been the most in-form forward so far this season. He should surely be recalled against the Saints.

Garnacho on the left and Zirkzee, who scored and assisted for the Netherlands, up front is the most logical choice. But Ten Hag does keep plugging away with Rashford despite persistently poor form.

Also, notwithstanding the good international performance, Zirkzee did look out of his depth against Liverpool as he struggles to adapt to the pace of the Premier League, so we have a hunch that Ten Hag could play Rashford up top and bring the Dutchman off the bench if things are not working out.

With all that in mind, here is our predicted XI for tomorrow’s 12.30pm kick off:

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