Manchester United

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Former Premier League midfielder Nigel Reo-Coker hopes Marcus Rashford's goal against Southampton on Saturday, his first since March, will "be the catalyst" to him re-gaining his confidence.

"We can only speculate about what has gone on because we don't know whether it has been something at the club or in his personal life, but he has not been the Rashford we have known and seen for a long time," Reo-Coker said on the BBC Radio 5 Live Football Daily Podcast.

"There has been a huge loss in confidence from the way he has been playing and the chances he has missed. Hopefully, this can be the catalyst he needs to kick-on and get to that level we are used to seeing him at.

"I want to see him back to that week-in and week-out."

Listen to the discussion on the Football Daily Podcast on BBC Sounds

We asked for your thoughts after Saturday's Premier League game between Southampton and Manchester United.

Here are some of your comments:

Southampton fans

Malc: Same old Southampton - good start then fade away. They fail to take advantage of good passages of play. The lack of goals will be our downfall as the defence isn’t good enough.

Daz: Russell Martin is kidding himself with what he says. If you lose four straight games in the Premier League it's an uphill struggle. I'm afraid Saints will be relegated. The style of football Martin plays is not suited for the Premier League - certainly the formation he plays. I'm sorry but it's not looking good for Saints.

Cliff: We had some great positives in the first half - Dibling's performance being the standout. Lots of possession and two or three great chances, but the game turned on the penalty, and not investing in proven Premier league quality has again been our undoing. Based on the teams we have played so far. I just can't see were we will pick up points.

Manchester United fans

Danyal: We played much better after the 35 minutes of the first half. The penalty save by Onana gave everyone a boost - and it's amazing to see De Ligt getting his first goal and Rashford also being on the scoresheet. We need consistency now as the next couple of weeks are so important as we are playing in three different competitions.

Nick: Good to get a win. However, with all that talent they are boring and pedestrian a lot of the time. At the end of the season, goal difference might count and if they upped the tempo in these sort of games they might be in a stronger position. They could possibly have scored four or five.

Philip: Very, very poor at the beginning. They can’t allow weak opposition to have the upper hand for the first 30 minutes. 0-3 was flattering. I didn’t feel United imposed their superiority in the second half. Must dominate and push for more goals. Against better opponents they will fall behind if they don’t exit the traps much quicker.

Chris Collinson
BBC Sport statistician

The game between Manchester United and Southampton was pretty even before the penalty, with four shots each and Saints enjoying more of the ball.

However, after Andre Onana saved Cameron Archer's spot-kick and then the follow-up header in the 33rd minute, Southampton did not have a shot.

The away side had 16 shots without reply and dominated the ball from then on.

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Former Premier League midfielder Danny Murphy spoke on Match of the Day about Marcus Rashford's performance against Southampton:

"I thought Manchester United and himself started the game poorly but he grew into the game and looked more like the Rashford we know - causing teams problems with his pace and dynamism. It's his best performance this season.

"When he doesn't think and he's just confident and direct, it makes such a difference. He was using his power and pace to get in behind and scare them.

"In this position [where he scored his goal from], recently we've seen him cross the ball or take too many touches. He wasn't thinking about it, he just got the ball out of his feet and shot.

"He also loves spaces to run into and as soon as he's got that he's a problem to play against."

Manchester United were turned down in their approach to sign 20-year-old Senegal defender Mikayil Faye before he joined Rennes from Barcelona. (Inkubator podcast, via Teamtalk), external

Bayern Munich director of sport Max Eberl has defended the sale of Matthijs de Ligt to Manchester United, saying the club's current centre-backs are more capable of defending higher up the pitch. (Mirror), external

Want more transfer news? Read Monday's full gossip column

Gary Linker brings you highlights and analysis from Saturday's eight Premier League fixtures.

If you missed Match of the Day, you can catch up now on BBC iPlayer.

Listen back to full match commentaries on BBC Sounds:

• Liverpool 0-1 Nottingham Forest

• Aston Villa 3-2 Everton

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Erik ten Hag spoke to BBC Match Day after Manchester United's victory against Southampton: "The start was not easy. I think the penalty was the turnaround in the game and not so far after we scored and that was very important. From that moment on, the game was all ours."

On how Matthijs de Ligt has done: "I'm not surprised. At this moment he is not fit, he's not 100% speed. He needs the games to go up to it. We see glimpses now and once he's there he will do much better. We are happy with him and especially today with his game."

On what Marcus Rashford's goal: "It's very important. For every striker, they want to be on the scoring list. Once the first is in, more is coming. Once a striker was talking about a ketchup bottle, once it's going, it's coming more."

On Manuel Ugarte: "He didn't work with the team, it was two sessions, one before the break and yesterday. He was the only one later into the team training so only yesterday he had 20 minutes training with the team. We were happy we could bring him today and show what he could deliver to our team."

Were you at the game or following from elsewhere?

Have your say on Southampton’s performance, external

What did you make of Man Utd’s display?, external

Come back to this page on Monday to find a selection of your replies

Read the match report and follow reaction

Gary Rose
BBC Sport journalist

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Manchester United bolstered their defence in the summer by bringing in Matthijs de Ligt from Bayern Munich, and this performance was just what the player and the Red Devils will have wanted to see.

During the international break he was taken off at half-time while playing for the Netherlands against Germany in the Nations League.

Initially, his struggles continued into this game as he found it difficult to cope with Southampton's dynamic forward line.

But his headed goal to give Manchester United the lead at Southampton appeared to do him the world of good as he became more assured in defence as the game wore on.

Finishing with a clean sheet provides a decent platform for both him and Manchester United to build on as they look to put a mixed start to the season behind them.

There are eight Premier League games on Saturday and BBC Sport will bring you all the action and reaction throughout the day.

All time are BST

Follow live here

BBC Radio 5 Live match commentaries:

• Liverpool v Nottingham Forest

• Aston Villa v Everton

Chris Sutton is making predictions for all 380 Premier League matches this season, against a variety of guests.

For week four, he takes on Femi Koleoso and Ife Ogunjobi from jazz band Ezra Collective, the 2023 Mercury Music Prize winners.

Sutton's prediction: 0-2

With three defeats out of three, Southampton have obviously not made a great start in terms of results.

There has been a lot of scrutiny of the way they play too, and of Saints boss Russell Martin's principles in playing out from the back, with people comparing them to what Burnley were like last season.

Martin has to have a philosophy of how he wants his team to play though, so I do have sympathy for him. I don't believe there is a narrative against him either - it is just that, in their last game, Brentford pressed them high and they made mistakes and conceded some poor goals.

It is going to be difficult for them against Manchester United too. Erik ten Hag's side have their own issues, which means people don't predict United's results, they guess them. But they should - should - have too much quality for Saints.

Southampton will try to be bold but that probably means they will give up chances and, because I've seen Marcus Rashford has been having extra training sessions, I am going to back him and United to take them.

Femi's prediction: 1-1

I still think United are suffering from a Sir Alex Ferguson hangover. They have not sorted the club out upstairs, even though it is more than 10 years since he left. I think they will drop more points here.

Ife's prediction: 1-2

I am going with Manchester United to edge it.

Read the full predictions and have your say here

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Earlier, we asked you who has made the most Premier League appearances for Manchester United.

The correct answer is Ryan Giggs, who played 632 times in the competition for the Red Devils.

Giggs' tally is a record number of Premier League appearances made for a single club and it puts him third on the all-time list, behind Gareth Barry and James Milner.

Image source, Getty Images

Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag has confidence that his side are "in a good direction" despite recent poor performances in the league.

United won their opening match against Fulham but suffered back-to-back defeats against Brighton and Liverpool.

Ten Hag was asked about right-back Diogo Dalot voicing his exasperation that the club have improved in recent times regardless of their setbacks and he agreed.

"Of course when you see the scores, no-one is happy," he said.

"But also players have a very good sense of the process, of the quality of the process. Yeah, and I agree with him.

"Also, when you analyse the games - all the games - so far, we are in a good direction.

"But also - as is normal in a transition period and in a period where you have to build a team - we have to improve. We have to step up."

The Dutchman is in his third season at the club and will be looking for a marked improvement from the previous campaign when they recorded their worst ever position in the league as they finished eighth - eight points behind fourth-placed Aston Villa.

Ten Hag was keen to praise his players and highlighted the belief he has in his squad: "We have good characters. You feel the team spirit and now it's about getting the patterns and the routines in.

"Once we have that, everyone sees the quality we have on the training pitch."

On the latest episode of The Devils' Advocate podcast, BBC Radio Manchester's Gaz Drinkwater discussed Manchester United's next match against Southampton on Saturday:

"Southampton play this stupid style of football which worked in the Championship. They try and be really positive on the ball with the defence and it isn't going to work in the Premier League.

"This is where we see a good example of the things that we have improved on, like pressing from the front. We are playing a team whose players are substantially weaker than ours, so we should be getting at them.

"If we don't win, Erik ten Hag is in big trouble."

Joe McGrath added: "I think we will do well, but I struggle to say where the goals come from. I think we'll have a really controlled game and win 2-0."

Listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds

Who has made the most Premier League appearances for Manchester United?

Answer will be revealed at 17:00 BST

Manchester United have been handed a boost in their pursuit of Paris St-Germain winger Xavi Simons with the 21-year-old Dutch international - currently on loan at RB Leipzig - unable to see a future with the Ligue 1 club. (Teamtalk, external)

Manchester United and Arsenal have been put off signing France midfielder Adrien Rabiot, 29, who is a free agent, because of his wage demands of £220,000 a week. (GiveMeSport, external)

Manchester United shortlisted Lille's Canadian forward Jonathan David, 24, and Al-Ahli and England striker Ivan Toney, 28, as alternatives to Joshua Zirkzee if they were unable to sign the 23-year-old Dutchman from Bologna. (ESPN, external)

Want more transfer stories? Read Friday's full gossip column