PREVIEW: SOUTHAMPTON V MANCHESTER UNITED
When and where can I watch it? United make the 225-mile journey to Southampton on Wednesday 17 May, with kick-off scheduled for 19:45 BST. The game will be broadcast live in the UK on Sky Sports and fans can also follow the action in ManUtd.com's live match blog and via the club's official Twitter account, @ManUtd. MUTV subscribers in the UK & Ireland and worldwide users of the MUTV App on iOS and Android can tune in to Match Day Live from 18:45 BST for all the build-up and then listen to live radio commentary, before watching the 90 minutes in full from midnight.
Scene-setter… Following back-to-back defeats in North London against Arsenal and Tottenham respectively, the Reds will be looking to claim a positive result from this midweek trip, the club's final Premier League away game of the season. Sunday's setback at White Hart Lane means a top-four finish is no longer achievable, leaving the Europa League as a clear priority ahead of next week's final against Ajax in Stockholm. As for Southampton, victory at Middlesbrough on Saturday ended a run of five games without a win and means the Saints are wedged between West Bromwich Albion and south-coast rivals Bournemouth going into the next round of fixtures. United and Southampton have met on 120 previous occasions, most recently in February's dramatic EFL Cup final at Wembley, which the Reds won 3-2, courtesy of Zlatan Ibrahimovic's late header.
So, who's available to play? Good question! Despite the defeat at Spurs, the good news is that the Reds came away from the trip unscathed in terms of new injuries. Of course, United are still without Ibrahimovic, Marcos Rojo, Luke Shaw, Tim Fosu-Mensah and Ashley Young, all of whom have been ruled out for the rest of the season. Mourinho could opt to give more minutes to the likes of Chris Smalling and Phil Jones at centre-back, having revealed that Daley Blind will be rested for Wednesday's clash. United skipper Wayne Rooney scored his third goal in five appearances at the weekend and could also feature again. Meanwhile, Southampton duo Virgil van Dijk and Alex McCarthy won't be available, despite returning to training this week, while Charlie Austin could push for a place up front.
League table… Here’s the current state of play, going into this week’s fixtures*…
What happened between the sides earlier in the season? Well, other than the EFL Cup triumph we mentioned earlier, August's reverse fixture saw the Reds run out comfortable 2-0 winners, thanks to a double from Ibrahimovic on his home debut. There was also a full league debut for Paul Pogba that evening, following his summer transfer from Juventus.
Head to head... Historically, United have fared well against the Saints down the years. The Reds have won 63 and drawn 29 of the 120 previous meetings between the sides, with the record win - a 6-1 victory at Old Trafford in December 2001 - featuring a hat-trick from Ruud van Nistelrooy. It's almost 14 years since United's last Premier League defeat at St Mary's, an unbeaten run which Mourinho's men will undoubtedly be keen to extend.
Did you know? February's victory over Southampton at Wembley meant Mourinho draw level with Sir Alex Ferguson and Brian Clough as the most successful manager in League Cup history with four triumphs each.
Who else is playing in midweek? There are three other top-flight matches taking place during the week, as follows…
Tuesday 16 May
Arsenal v Sunderland (19:45)
Manchester City v West Bromwich Albion (20:00)
Thursday 18 May
Tottenham Hotspur v Leicester City (19:45)
*Table correct as at 19:45 BST on Tuesday 16 May 2017.
www.manutd.com