Drop Harry Maguire
Maguire was one of Manchester United’s most consistent performers last season and put in solid displays at the back throughout the course of the season. They seemed to struggle whenever he was not playing. And he had a great EURO 2020 campaign with the England national team as well.
This season has gone very differently for the Manchester United captain though. He has struggled for form and questions have been raised about whether he should even be starting anymore, with Victor Lindelof looking like the club’s most consistent centre-back this season.
Yes, Raphael Varane has not had the impact that one would have expected when the club signed him from Real Madrid, but he has been much more solid than his partner at the back.
Mistakes have crept into Maguire’s game to the point where he might need a run out of the team in order to get things right once again. The game against Southampton must be a good chance to give the defender some rest.
Keep up the intensity in the second half
Despite the fact that Manchester United were knocked out of the FA Cup at the hands of Middlesbrough and drew 1-1 with bottom-placed Burnley over their previous two games, it must be said that their performances did show signs of improvement and they were pretty dominant in the first half both times.
They did not manage to match the performance in the second half though and allowed the opposition back into the mix, and score equalisers on both occasions.
If Manchester United are to finish in the top four of the Premier League this season, they will need to put in good performances over the course of the 90 minutes and not just in spurts. Hopefully, that will start in the game against Southampton at Old Trafford.