Southampton v Man United: Back Red Devils to make it five wins in a row at expense of Koeman's men

Ronald Koeman's Southampton are in a difficult run of fixtures

Luke Moore previews Manchester United's visit to St Mary's to face a Southampton side whose season is in danger of going south...

Southampton v Man United
Monday, 20:00
Live on Sky Sports 1

Southampton

After being held up as the early season success story of the Premier League, Southampton are now without a win in three games and have struggled to keep the pace with Manchester City and Arsenal after a disappointing draw with struggling Aston Villa.

This period of the season was always going to be tough for Ronald Koeman's men, ever since the fixture list was published in the summer. What's making it even tougher for Saints though is that several key midfield players are missing. Morgan Schniederlin, Jack Cork and James Ward-Prowse are all out for the visit of Manchester United.

Manchester United

In many ways, Manchester United's season so far is the reverse of Southampton's - they started pretty poorly but are now in great form after four wins in a row, and if Louis van Gaal's men are to win on Monday night they'll leapfrog their opponents into third place.

United aren't without personnel problems of their own however; Luke Shaw, Phil Jones, Rafael, Danny Blind and Angel Di Maria are all out of this game, which could make life tough for the Red Devils at what is generally a pretty tough place to visit.

That said, momentum and confidence is everything in football and Van Gaal's men certainly have that in abundance at the moment.

Match Odds

The Match Odds market for this game is beautifully poised. United are slight favourites at 2.77/4, Southampton sit at 2.8615/8 at time of writing, and The Draw is 3.55/2.

Given the run Southampton are currently on, and the confidence United have, I would rate the visitors as firm favourites here also. Even without the players I've listed, I still think Wayne Rooney, himself in superb form, along with Robin van Persie who scored a lovely one against Hull last week can make the difference here.

Both Van Persie (five in his last six) and Rooney (five in his last five) have great records against this opposition, and while Koeman's side have built their success so far on a solid defence, I feel like that's starting to go awry. United is the call.

Over/Under 2.5 Goals

The last two meetings between these two sides ended 1-1, but the eight before that all went Overs, and Unders is currently priced at 1.9420/21, with Overs odds-against at 2.0421/20. United are in rude form and importantly their main strikers have hit form as well.

I think this comes down to whether Southampton can keep United out, and I'm not sure they can without the midfield personnel they've got missing. United aren't amazing at the back themselves either, and so Overs is the call.

To Score

As previously mentioned, Wayne Rooney is in great form at the moment. He's scored four goals in his last seven and his overall record against Southampton is fantastic. He'll be available to be backed to score at any time at around 2.89/5 between now and kick off, and that for me is a must back.

Recommended Bets
Back Manchester United to win at 2.77/4
Back Over 2.5 Goals at 2.0421/20
Back Wayne Rooney to score at any time at 2.89/5 or better

Luke Moore Premier League P/L 2014-15

Staked: 34pts
Returned: 29.69pts
P/L: -4.31pts