At 0:00 on January 12, and 16:00 on January 11, London time, the 21st round of the Premier League started a focus battle. The Red Devils and Manchester United played against Saints Southampton at the home court at Old Trafford Stadium. This was the last game of the Premier League in this round, and it was also a dialogue between third and fourth in the Premier League standings.

After the retirement of the old coach Ferguson, Manchester United has been struggling in the past two years. Last season, Manchester United, led by Scotsman Moyes, who was selected as the successor by Ferguson, stumbled throughout the season, and eventually ranked seventh in the Premier League in history. Not only did they miss the Champions League, but they also did not even have the qualification to be the Europa League.

This result made all Red Devils fans unable to believe their eyes. You should know that in the Ferguson era, Manchester United had never fallen out of the top three in the Premier League.

You know, this team is still the Premier League champion team last season, and there have not been many players on the team this season.

Under such circumstances, Moyes left in awkwardly without spending a whole season at Manchester United. The last few rounds of the game were played by the Red Devils meritorious player Giggs.

In the new season, most Red Devils fans think that Giggs will become Manchester United's coach, but Manchester United's management finally chose a more experienced coach, Dutchman Van Gaal. However, Manchester United's record has not improved significantly. After 20 rounds of the league, they ranked third with only 37 points.

Just in terms of numbers, this ranking is barely reasonable, but Manchester United has basically bid farewell to the championship competition, because the teams ranked in the top two have already left Manchester United far behind.

Before the start of this round, Chelsea, the Blues led by the Magic Birds, who entered the palace, and Manchester United's arch rival Blue Moon Manchester City, led by Pellegrini, tied for the top spot in the standings. Their results were 14 wins, 4 draws, 2 losses in 20 rounds, 44 goals and 19 goals and 46 points.

After yesterday's round of matches, Chelsea, who won, temporarily left Manchester City and ranked first, and the score ahead of Manchester United also increased to double digits: 12 points.

The situation was not good, not only was Manchester United far behind the top team, but the team behind them also chased them very tightly. Earlier, after the Gunners Arsenal won, their points also reached 36 points, only 1 point away from Manchester United.

What's even more dangerous is that Manchester United's opponent in this round, Saints Southampton, now has 36 points. As long as they defeat Manchester United away in this round, they can replace them and occupy the third place in the league standings.

Under such circumstances, the anxiety in the hearts of Red Devils fans can be imagined.

The only thing that comforts the Red Devils fans is that they are very confident about the team's match against Southampton, which is related to Manchester United's historical record against Southampton.

The two teams have had a total of 115 matches in history, with Manchester United having a clear advantage of 60 wins, 30 draws and 25 losses. Among them, the Saints have 2 draws and 9 losses in the last 11 games. About a month ago, Manchester United won 2-1 away games. Previously, Southampton had only pitiful 7 wins when they were away at Dream Theater 55 times, and in the Premier League era, there were no results in 15 away games against Manchester United. The Saints won the Red Devils away in the league date back to 1988. After that, Manchester United won 18 wins and 4 draws against Southampton in 22 home games.

In addition, Manchester United has had a good record recently. They have remained unbeaten in 7 wins and 3 draws in the past 10 rounds, and their momentum is good.

In addition, after the Christmas Devils schedule ended, Manchester United's injury situation improved a lot. Except for Ashley Young, the rest of the injured were all recovered and returned to the team, among which Di Maria and Blind even returned to the start.

For these reasons, when Zeng Zhi, accompanied by Lingard, entered the Old Trafford Stadium with Wang Yan and Melina, who were hostages, the surrounding Manchester United fans were in a high mood and were very optimistic that Manchester United would win the opponent at home.

Not only are the Red Devils fans optimistic about their team's victory, but even major European bookmakers are optimistic about Manchester United. For example, William Hill's odds for this game are 1.81 draws, 3.58 losses, and 4.44.

This is due to the fact that Southampton has a good record in the same period, otherwise the odds for Manchester United to win will be much lower.

……………………

After security check, Zeng Zhi and others walked into the elevator leading to the rostrum. The ticket he bought was VIP ticket.

On the way, Zeng Zhi asked Lingard: "Jesse, how are our team preparing for this game?"

"Of course, I'm very prepared. This time the boss will send all the main players to fight." Jesse Lingard said with some excitement.

"Oh? The starting lineup is out?" Zeng Zhi asked with a smile.

Lingard replied: "The goalkeeper is De Gea, the three central defenders are from left to right, Blind, Smalling and Phil Jones, the three midfielders are Carrick, Rooney and Mata, the two wingbacks are Luke Shaw and Valencia, and the forward line is partnered by Di Maria and Van Persie."

Zeng Zhi was very confident when he heard this starting list. If he didn't say much, he would pick out any of them, and he would be awesome characters. Even the least famous Blinder and others were all international players.

No wonder Manchester United fans around him are full of confidence in this game. If such a lineup cannot beat Southampton, Zeng Zhi even thinks that Van Gaal can really leave.

But in the eyes of others, this is not what it sees.

Rooney, Van Persie, Mata, Carrick and De Gea are undoubtedly outstanding stars, but Smalling, Phil Jones, Valencia, Luke Shaw and others are not very famous. Blinder was just a player who played in the Dutch Eredivisie before. He came to Manchester United because of coach Van Gaal, and he had no prettier performance after coming to the Premier League.

Although Manchester United has not defeated the Premier League in the last ten rounds and is in a good state, it is precisely because of this that Manchester United players may lack fighting spirit. Although the British do not have the saying that they cannot wear Lu Bai at the end of their strength, everyone understands this principle.

What's more, Manchester United's opponent is also in good condition recently, Southampton, who is only one point behind Manchester United in the standings, ranked fourth!

Many people don’t think this can explain anything about the historical record of Manchester United and Southampton. After all, Manchester United is no longer the Manchester United led by Sir Ferguson. In the past year and a half, I don’t know how many teams have rewritten the history against Manchester United. No one can deny that Southampton can also rewritten this history.

When Zeng Zhi led a group of people out of the elevator and appeared in the chairman's stands at Old Trafford Stadium, he heard a familiar voice, stepping on Manchester United there.

"I dare say now that Ronald Koeman's team will definitely end Manchester United's ten unbeaten games today. As long as Pelle is here, we will win at least two of them today."

"If you don't believe me, who dares to gamble with me?"
Chapter completed!