Southampton vs Man United Prediction, Odds and Betting Tips: 8/1 Bet Builder for Saturday's lunchtime clash

Southampton host Manchester United in Saturday’s early kick-off as we welcome back the Premier League after an international break.

Scott Thornton is on hand to deliver his best two bets at St Mary's...

Southampton vs Man United Preview

The Saints have lost all three of their matches since being promoted from the Championship. They were beaten 3-1 away at Brentford in their last outing but have had time to dust themselves off and regroup.

Manchester United also needed time to recover. They were hammered 3-0 at Old Trafford by Liverpool in their last match. Erik Ten Hag could find himself under pressure once again if he is unable to arrest the slump.

Manchester United continue to be committed to pressing high up the pitch. The approach left large gaps in their midfield last season. While there are still issues with their setup, the press is now followed up by the defensive unit and the team makes plenty of tackles as a result.  

So far this season, the Red Devils’ matches have seen 46 tackles on average, the joint most in the Premier League and well above the average of 37.77 in an English top-flight match. There have been 35 tackles or more in all three of their matches thus far.  

Southampton’s matches have seen 34.33 tackles on average. This is on the lower side but it is still above the required line for this bet to land. There were 36 tackles the last time they squared off against Manchester United.

The other betting angle for this main bet is under 32.5 shots in the match. United matches saw the most shots in the league last season with an average of 32.03. Their shortcomings without the ball came under heavy scrutiny and they appear to have addressed some of those problems in the early stages of this campaign. 

Erik Ten Hag’s side’s matches in this campaign have seen an average of just 22.67 shots. Only Ipswich’s and Aston Villa’s opening three matches have seen fewer attempts.  

Southampton rank at the other end of the scale. Their matches have seen an average of 29.33 shots, the third most in the Premier League. However, the Saints only managed five attempts in their only home game of the season thus far and it seems unlikely that the visitors will have a boatload of opportunities here.  

The last five matches between Manchester United and Southampton have seen an average of just 26 shots per game.

For my longer odds bet builder, I'm backing over 38.5 tackles and under 26.5 shots in the match at 17/2 with bet365. Manchester United’s last match saw a whopping 57 tackles and just 19 shots so these lines are more than achievable. 

The additional betting angle is Manuel Ugarte to make at least three tackles in the match. The Uruguayan should replace Casemiro in the starting eleven after the former Real Madrid midfielder made some errors that led to goals. 

Ugarte is tenacious without the ball and will be keen to get stuck in here. His average of 4.18 tackles per 90 minutes played over the course of the last year means he ranks in the top 1% of midfielders across Europe’s top five leagues. He could easily hit the three tackle mark even if he doesn’t feature for the full 90 minutes.  

Southampton vs Man United Bet Boosts