Southampton were one of only two Premier League clubs, along with Everton, who entered the international break without a single point on the board after losing their opening three matches of the new season to Newcastle United, Nottingham Forest and Brentford.
Back-to-back 1-0 defeats to Newcastle and Forest were followed by a 3-1 away loss to Brentford in their most recent fixture a fortnight ago; Bryan Mbeumo (2) and Yoane Wissa got their names on the scoresheet before summer signing Yukinari Sugawara netted a consolation strike for the Saints in the fifth minute of stoppage time.
Southampton boss Russell Martin, who steered the club to Championship promotion via the playoffs last season, now finds himself under pressure to turn the club’s fortunes around, with recent reports claiming that the 38-year-old could lose his job if results do not improve by the end of September.
The Saints have four games to prepare for this month and Martin will be targeting positive results from each of those, with Saturday’s clash at home to Man United – who have been far from convincing at the start of this term – followed by fixtures against basement club Everton, newly-promoted Ipswich Town and South Coast rivals Bournemouth.
Southampton are seeking to avoid becoming the first Premier League team to lose each of their opening four matches in three different campaigns in the division (previously doing so in 1998-99 and 2012-13). That could prove challenging on Saturday, though, as they are winless in their last 14 top-flight meetings with Man United since a 1-0 away win in January 2016.
After suffering two disappointing defeats in their opening three Premier League matches, it is fair to say that Man United have shown no signs of a major revival under the tutelage of manager Erik ten Hag since he was spared the axe by Sir Jim Ratcliffe and co in the summer.
The Red Devils followed up an unconvincing 1-0 opening win at home to Fulham with a last-gasp 2-1 defeat at Brighton & Hove Albion, before suffering a 3-0 defeat to bitter rivals Liverpool at Old Trafford in their most recent match prior to the international break.
With pressure beginning to mount on Ten Hag once again, the Dutchman has insisted that the outside noise “doesn’t impact” him and that Man United’s season should be ‘judged in May next year’ and not after just three league games in August.
Ten Hag will hope that his Red Devils side can put things right in Saturday’s favourable-looking fixture at St Mary’s where they are unbeaten in their last 12 Premier League visits since a narrow 1-0 loss back in August 2003.
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Man United have only lost one of their last 30 Premier League games against newly-promoted sides (W22 D7), including 15 wins in their last 17 such matches, but a run of just one win in six away league games – conceding 16 goals in the process – leaves a little to be desired.
Summer signing Manuel Ugarte recently admitted that he was feeling slightly under the weather prior to playing the full 90 minutes for Uruguay on Monday. Ten Hag has, however, since confirmed that the midfielder is available to make his debut against the Saints.
