At 0:00 on January 12 Chinese capital time and 16:00 London time on January 11, the 21st round of the English Premier League launched a battle for the spotlight, with the Red Devils Manchester United facing Saints Southampton at home at Old Trafford. It was the final fixture of the Premier League round and a conversation between third and fourth places in the Premier League table.

The Red Devils have struggled for the past two years since the retirement of veteran manager Alex Ferguson. Last season, Manchester United, led by Scotsman David Moyes, who was chosen by Alex Ferguson as his successor, stumbled throughout the season and ended up finishing seventh in the league with the worst record in Premier League history, not only missing out on the Champions League, but also failing to qualify for the Europa League.

This result made all the Red Devils fans can't believe their eyes, you know, in the Ferguson era, Manchester United has 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 haven't been too many changes to the team this season.

Under such a premise, Moyes did not stay at Manchester United for a full season before leaving in embarrassment. The last few rounds were played part-time by Red Devils player Ryan Giggs.

In the new season, the vast majority of Red Devils fans thought that Ryan Giggs would become a coach of Manchester United, but the Manchester United management eventually chose a more experienced manager, Dutchman Louis van Gaal. However, Manchester United's record has not improved significantly, and after 20 rounds of league games, they are in third place with only 37 points.

In terms of numbers alone, this position is barely reasonable, but Manchester United have basically said goodbye to the title race, because the top two teams have already left Manchester United far behind.

Before the start of this round, the Blues Chelsea led by the magic bird of the second palace, and Manchester United led by Manuel Pellegrini were tied for the top spot in the standings, with 14 wins, 4 draws and 2 losses, scoring 44 goals and conceding 19 goals and accumulating 46 points in 20 rounds.

After yesterday's round of fixtures, the victorious Chelsea temporarily left Manchester City behind and moved to the top of the table, with a double-digit lead over Manchester United: 12 points.

It's not just Manchester United left far behind the top team, the teams behind are also chasing after them. Earlier, after the Gunners Arsenal won the game, they also reached 36 points, just one point away from Manchester United.

Even more dangerous is Manchester United's opponents in this round, Saints Southampton, who now have 36 points. A win away from home to Manchester United in this round would give them their place and take third place in the league table.

In such a situation, 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 confident about the team against Southampton, which has to do with Manchester United's all-time record against Southampton.

The two teams have met 115 times in history, Manchester United has a clear advantage of 60 wins, 30 draws and 25 losses, including the last 11 games against the "Saints" 2 draws and 9 defeats without a win, about a month ago Manchester United won 2-1 on the road, after Southampton only had a pitiful 7 wins in 55 visits to the Theatre of Dreams, and in the Premier League era away to Manchester United 15 games have not yet won a win, the last time the Saints beat the Red Devils away in the league was back in 1988. Since then, United have won 18 and drawn four of their 22 home games against Southampton.

In addition, Manchester United's recent record is good, with 7 wins and 3 draws in the last 10 rounds, and the momentum is good.

In addition, after the Christmas Devils fixtures, Manchester United's injury situation has improved considerably, with the exception of Ashley Young returning to the team, with Di Maria and Blind returning to the starting line-up.

For these reasons, when Zeng Zhi entered Old Trafford accompanied by Lingard and Wang Yan and Melina's mother and daughter as hostages, the surrounding Manchester United fans were in high spirits and were very optimistic about Manchester United winning the opponent at home.

It's not just Red Devils fans who are optimistic about their team winning, but even major European bookmakers are also betting on Manchester United, such as William Hill, who offered odds for this game to win 1.81, draw 3.58, lose 4.44.

This is still due to Southampton's equally good record over the same period, otherwise the odds of Manchester United winning would have been much lower.

………………

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

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

"Naturally, the preparation is very good, this time the boss is trying his best to send the main force to fight." Jesse Lingard said with a little excitement.

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

Lingard replied: "The goalkeeper is David De Gea, the three central defenders from left to right, Blind, Chris Smalling and Phil Jones, the midfield three are Carrick, Wayne Rooney and Juan Mata, the two wing-backs are Luke Shaw and Valencia, and the front line is partnered by Di Maria and Robin van Persie. ”

When Zeng Zhi heard this starting list, he was full of confidence, not much else, just pick it out, it is all a bullish role, even the least famous Blind and others, they are all international-level players.

No wonder the surrounding Manchester United fans are full of confidence in this game, such a set of lineups, if they can't do Southampton, Zeng Zhidu feels that Van Gaal can really leave.

But in the eyes of others, it is not seen that way.

Wayne Rooney, Robin van Persie, Juan Mata, Michael Carrick and David De Gea are undoubtedly the best players, but Smalling, Phil Jones, Valencia, Luke Shaw and others are not well-known, and Blind has only played in the Eredivisie before. He came to Manchester United only because of the relationship with manager Louis van Gaal, and he did not have much performance after coming to the Premier League.

Although Manchester United is unbeaten in the last ten Premier League games and is in good form, it is precisely because of this that Manchester United's players may lack fighting spirit. Although the British did not say that the end of the strong crossbow could not wear Lu Min, everyone understood this truth.

What's more, Manchester United's opponent is Southampton, who are also in good form and are only one point behind Manchester United in fourth place in the standings!

As for Manchester United and Southampton's historical record, many people don't think it says anything. After all, today's Manchester United is no longer the Manchester United led by Sir Alex Ferguson, and in the last year and a half, I don't know how many teams have rewritten the history of Manchester United, and no one can deny that Southampton can also rewrite this history.

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

'I dare say right now that Ronald Koeman's side will end United's 10-game unbeaten run today, and with Pelle here, we will win them by at least two goals today.'

"If you don't believe me, who would dare to bet with me?"