Southampton and Manchester United are playing on the Barclays English Premier League match schedule from the NBC Sports Network and NBCSN Live Extra website at 2:45 pm ET on Monday to finish the week and the game from St Mary's Stadium has Man United coming in playing very well and they are right behind the Saints in the EPL table standings coming in.
Man United has been moving up over the past couple weeks and they have been playing well, while Southampton has been off to a very strong start and has remained in the top part of the league table all season. Wayne Rooney will be in action after dealing with a knee injury and he will be key for the Reds as they get back into action, as Angel Di Maria will be out while dealing with a hamstring. This will be the second straight match missed and Southampton comes in after a couple of tough matches.
Man United expects to be back in the top four this season and with the way Chelsea has played, it means there will only be three spots for them to go after. Chelsea has been the best team in the league this season and after the two matches ended in 1-1 draws last year between the teams, United will be looking to get some more points here. Manchester United had won the eight matches before that, including five at Southampton and now they will try and do that again.
Southampton has been off to a good start, but they have scuffled lately with one draw and two losses in their last three matches and they have only one goal in that span. Southampton has done their business at home this season and they have only left five points on the pitch at home and they have also done a good job of keeping clean sheets and teams from getting scoring chances. This will be a tall test on Monday and Man United is starting to get into good form.
Man United comes in having won four straight matches for the first time this year and now they have only lost once in the last nine games. The team has six wins and two draws in that time and Rooney is coming back at the right time, as he has five goals in five matches in the EPL against Southampton. The two teams will play again in the middle of January and that matchup will be at Old Trafford on a Sunday after this game on Monday.
Manchester United has not been able to get points on a consistent basis away from home, with just six coming away from Old Trafford, but they will try again on Monday. United has a busy schedule coming up with Liverpool at Old Trafford and then the team has to play Aston Villa and Newcastle before a trip to White Hart Lane. The team has 25 points this season and they are fifth in the league in the standings, just one point pack of Southampton and two behind West Ham.
Check here for the Southampton and Manchester United live coverage.
