Tactical Preview vs Southampton: Wing-back selection holds key to Man United victory | OneFootball

Manchester United will host Southampton tonight in a must-win game at Old Trafford.

The Red Devils find themselves in 15th position after this week’s set of fixtures and embarrassingly only seven points above the relegation zone.

Ruben Amorim’s men have started 2025 quite well, drawing 2-2 at Anfield versus Liverpool and knocking Arsenal out of the FA Cup at the Emirates on penalties despite playing well over an hour with ten men.

The United boss has claimed before the match that games like tonight “will build the club’s future identity” more than the results versus Liverpool and Arsenal.

The Red Devils will likely have a lot of the ball and will need patience to break down a Southampton team that are unlikely to be too adventurous.

United have struggled to score goals this season as they only have 23 in 20 matches and have rarely looked comfortable trying to unlock a low block.

It is clear that United miss attack minded wing-backs that are so essential to Amorim’s system, but until signings are made, someone will need to take on the responsibility of providing attacking width to help overload the Saints’ defence.

Amorim will most likely heavily rely on both Amad Diallo and Bruno Fernandes to carve out spaces in the away side’s defence and carry the creative burden that they so often do.

With Diogo Dalot missing the match due to his red card picked up against Arsenal, it will be interesting to see if the Portuguese coach will select Amad as a much more attacking wing-back option and this could be a key to victory.

The away side are hardly free-flowing themselves, having only scored 12 goals all season in the league, the lowest tally in the top five tiers of English football.

Nonetheless, before scoring two quick goals in the first half at St Mary’s in September, United were well under the cosh and Andre Onana had to make a penalty save as Southampton caused the Red Devils’ a host of problems.

It is hard to imagine the opposition being so attack minded tonight but they could be a threat from set pieces.

“Nine of United’s 28 Premier League goals conceded this season have been headers, while nine have also come from corners; both league-high ratios of 32%.”

Amorim’s side have shown improvement in this regard at both Liverpool and particularly Arsenal, but they will need this to continue tonight to avoid giving up easy chances to threaten their goal.

Featured Image Carl Recine via Getty Images

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