Image Source: Alamy Stock Photo
2024/25 English Premier League
Matchday 4
Southampton v Manchester United
St Mary's
Southampton, England
Saturday, 14 September 2024
Kick-off is at 13h30
Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag will be demanding an improved performance from his team when they take on newly-promoted Southampton at St Mary's on Saturday, September 14 in the lunchtime kick-off.
The Red Devils were beaten 3-0 by Liverpool at Old Trafford prior to the international break on September 1, having not been as clinical in front of goal as their fierce rivals.
Ten Hag's side have now suffered back-to-back defeats in the
Premier League since opening their campaign with a 1-0 home victory over Fulham, and they're already six points adrift of joint-leaders Manchester City and the Reds in 14th place.
The Saints are still looking to put their first points on the board in 2024-25 following three successive losses against Newcastle (1-0), Nottingham Forest (1-0) and Brentford (3-1).
Only Everton have fared worse than them after three matches, with the Toffees shipping 10 goals to leave them rooted to the foot of the table on goal difference behind Russell Martin's side.
United have found the south coast club hard to beat in recent times, winning just six of their last 14 encounters, the other eight ending in draws, making it 15 games since they were defeated.
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Ten Hag remains optimistic for the season as he continues to rebuild at Old Trafford after the arrivals of Noussair Mazraoui, Matthijs de Ligt, Joshua Zirkzee, Leny Yoro and Manuel Ugarte during the European summer transfer window.
"Again, we have to build a new team," the Dutchman said. "We will build this new team. We have young players. Also, now, we have players to build in, in the season.
"Today I think we had two players, three players, first start of the season, and they didn't play 90 minutes.
"We will be fine, but it's clear we have to improve. But in the end of the season, I'm quite confident, again, we will have a big chance to lift another trophy."
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Martin saw a marked improvement from the Forest game to give him hope, but acknowledged mistakes proved costly against the Bees which was a point of frustration for him.
"It's so frustrating the goals we concede, a couple of mistakes and the long throw. It's really frustrating," he said.
"At the time they scored we were so on top, we had them camped in and we created some chances, and we have created enough chances to score two or three goals at least today and that's the frustrating thing. We score a goal of real quality, but we give away really poor goals and we have to change that.
"But I feel so much better about what we are doing today than I did in the Forest game and hopefully the guys have felt that enough, because we are so close, but in the Premier League it feels like it's so far as well."
Head-to-Head (Last Five Premier League Meetings)
Matches - 5
Southampton wins - 0
Man United wins - 2
Draws - 3
Premier League Matchday 4 fixtures:
Saturday, September 14
13h30: Southampton v Manchester United
16h00: Brighton & Hove Albion v Ipswich Town
16h00: Crystal Palace v Leicester City
16h00: Fulham v West Ham United
16h00: Liverpool v Nottingham Forest
16h00: Manchester City v Brentford
18h30: Aston Villa v Everton
21h00: Bournemouth v Chelsea
Sunday, September 15
14h30: Tottenham Hotspur v Arsenal
14h30: Wolverhampton Wanderers v Newcastle United
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