Manchester United vs Southampton: Nothing other than victory will suffice

FANS' VIEW: Supporters of the sides involved at Stanford Bridge this weekend offer their thoughts

Wayne Rooney celebrates his goal against Liverpool (GETTY IMAGES)

Ahead of the Premier League meeting between Manchester United and Southampton, we caught up with a couple of fans for their take on the match...

Manchester United - Matt Gault

This fixture last season was one of our worst performances under Louis van Gaal, when he foolishly tried to deploy Angel Di Maria up front.

However, Southampton haven't been in the greatest form lately and we should be boosted by the smash-and-grab win over Liverpool. Nothing other than a victory will suffice here, especially given that Spurs could potentially pull five points clear of us in fourth place if we lose.

The main thing is that Rooney continues his recent form and hopefully Smalling recovers from a couple of shaky performances in the last couple of weeks to handle the Saints' fast attacking contingent. The pressure hasn't really left Van Gaal, even with the victory over Liverpool and there'll be demands for entertaining football, give that we're at home against a side who haven't been operating to their full potential. Expect the 'sacking' rumours to resurface if he fails to deliver three points here.

I think we will edge it though 2-1.

Southampton - Dane Emery

Just a week ago, things were looking bleak for us Saints fans with the team appearing to be sleepwalking into a relegation battle, but comfortable back to back wins against Watford and West Brom have seen Southampton propelled into the top half.

The return of Fraser Forster between the sticks seems to have rejuvenated the dressing room, while Graziano Pelle is also back from injury and Charlie Austin has been added to our attacking options. Shane Long is likely to keep his place up front due to his good form, while Ronald Koeman may opt to start Dusan Tadic after the Serbian scored two in two substitute appearances.

We may have found our form again, but Manchester United look to be improving in recent weeks as well, which might force Koeman to be less attacking than some fans would like. I can see a cagey game with few chances for either side and I'm going to optimistically predict a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford.

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