Summer recruits Raphael Varane and Jadon Sancho are both on the bench for Manchester United for today’s English Premier League game against Southampton at St. Mary’s Stadium. Fans in the USA can watch this game live on Peacock. The kick-off time is 9:00 am ET.
The Red Devils fans were hoping to see the two high-profile summer signings in action from the start, but manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has decided to start the game with the pair on the bench. Sancho made his debut off the bench as a late second-half substitute in the 5-1 win over Leeds United last week, while Varane was not in the matchday squad.
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The Frenchman was paraded in front of supporters before kick-off last week.
Meanwhile, Anthony Martial and Nemanja Matic come into the starting line-up for today’s game with Scott McTominay, who has a slight knock and Daniel James making way in the two changes from last week’s starting team.
“Of course we want to keep continuity but Scott is struggling with an injury, hopefully we can get half an hour out of him if needed,” Solskjaer told MUTV.
“Anthony has looked sharp and he looked sharp when he came on and he looked sharp in the game we played against Burnley in the week, and he played well against these at Old Trafford last season.”
Southampton, in the meantime, have named an unchanged side to the team that was beaten 3-1 at Everton last week.
This means that new signing Adam Armstrong continues in attack where he is partnered by Che Adams.
“It’s paramount Southampton start well because they could be in trouble this year,” Sky Sports’ football pundit Graeme Souness said.
“They’ve sold Danny Ings, their top goalscorer, they had the second-worst defensive record in the Premier League last season, that is a bad combination. I fear for Southampton, I really do.”
SOUTHAMPTON TEAM NEWS
Team to face Manchester United: McCarthy, Livramento, Stephens, Salisu, Perraud, Walcott, Ward-Prowse, Romeu, Djenepo, Adams, Armstrong. Subs: Forster, Walker-Peters, Long, Redmond, Tella, Elyounoussi, Diallo, Bednarek, Valery.
MANCHESTER UNITED TEAM NEWS
Team to face Southampton: De Gea, Wan-Bissaka, Lindelof, Maguire, Shaw, Fred, Matic, Greenwood, Fernandes, Pogba, Martial.Subs: Heaton, Mata, Lingard, Varane, Dalot, James, Sancho, Van de Beek, McTominay.
