Performance wise these two teams had good opening weekends, however, whilst Manchester United managed to take all three points home from Bournemouth, Southampton could only manage a draw at home to Watford.
United were impressive going forward against Bournemouth and managed to net three goals, however, despite the presence of the pragmatic Jose Mourinho on the sidelines, they still conceded a goal against their weaker opponents. This proves that there are still question marks surrounding the Red Devils’ defence.
Mourinho’s first game at Old Trafford is likely to be a vibrant affair which the players will take confidence from. Additionally, they will now have Paul Pogba available after his suspension from last weekend’s match along with Chris Smalling.
Southampton had numerous chances against Watford last weekend and were guilty of being unable to convert them, all in all leaving them with just a point from the match against the Hornets. However, one incredibly huge positive was new signing Nathan Redmond. The former Norwich City winger has been converted into a striker by new Saints manager Claude Puel and managed to score a good goal at the weekend to open his account for his new club.
It will be interesting to see whether Portuguese centre back and Euro 2016 winner Jose Fonte will be involved at Old Trafford as speculation about a move to United keeps appearing.
I cannot see anything other than a win for Jose Mourinho’s side in his first match at Old Trafford. I managed to predict three winners in United’s previous match against Bournemouth and, once more, similar bets are the way to go here.
Unfortunately, unlike last weekend, there is no value in the Manchester United win, however, with Southampton’s strong attack and United’s weak defence, I am expecting the Saints to find the back of the net at some point. Both Teams to Score can be back at the decent price of 23/20.
As previously mentioned, Nathan Redmond had a good game against Watford when deployed up front. After that success I expect Puel to utilise the England U21 international in a similar position and would back him to score a goal on Friday. The former Birmingham City academy graduate will be flying in confidence at the moment and you can get him to score anytime at 5/1. Oddly the same odds are given for United’s Bastian Schweinsteiger to score, despite the fact he is currently training with the youth team.
For United you can never discount Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The Swede has made a fine start to his United career, netting in the Community Shield against Leicester City and then last weekend on his Premier League debut against Bournemouth.
The former PSG forward can often go missing for most of the game but will end up making the headlines with a spark of magic that usually sees him putting the ball in the net. You can get Ibra to score at 11/10.
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