Manchester United have a risky selection they have to make vs Southampton

Manchester United head to Southampton for their second successive Saturday 12.30pm away kick-off south of the M25 thanks to inconsiderate rights holders.

United are unbeaten in 15 against Southampton and have not lost at St Mary's since their third visit there in August 2003. Southampton are pointless and last won a top-flight match in March 2023.

Strange but true: United have never lost three consecutive Premier League matches under Erik ten Hag. The last time they lost three league games in a row in the same season was on Boxing Day 2015 at Stoke.

Here are five things to look out for at Southampton:

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Alejandro Garnacho is only 20 but he has been at United for four years and is a father, so should be mature enough to know how to control his idle thumbs on social media. He undermined Ten Hag for the second time this year by pointlessly liking a post detailing Cristiano Ronaldo's criticism of the United manager.

Garnacho is United's best winger but the manager has to remain authoritative. Amad, wrongly dropped against Liverpool, was bright when he came on and Marcus Rashford created two clear-cut chances for Joshua Zirkzee. Garnacho got no change out of Andy Robertson.

Zirkzee is not a great goalscorer and that has been apparent since, ironically, he scored on his United debut. He daftly denied them a 2-1 advantage at Brighton and wasted two fine opportunities against Liverpool.

His second-half performance was at least an improvement on the first 45 minutes. For one Garnacho cross, Zirkzee was as close to the halfway line as he was the goal line.

Some have branded Zirkzee a "nine-and-a-half", another