Simon Stone
BBC Sport at Old Trafford

Big news for the visitors at Old Trafford this afternoon.

England keeper Fraser Forster is on the bench.

Forster received a lot of criticism after the Boxing Day hammering at Tottenham.

He has played 76 consecutive Premier League games for Saints.

Alex McCarthy starts his first top flight game since March 2016, when he was at Crystal Palace.

Image source, Getty

But Jose Mourinho is a more ruthless operator.

So far this festive period he has complained about the fixture schedule, external and Manchester City's relative riches, external and swallowed draws against Burnley and Leicester in the wake of the League Cup defeat by Bristol City.

Nobody in the home line-up with want to give any more ammunition to the Scrooge of Salford.

Image source, Reuters

A mid-winter trip to Old Trafford?

It might not sound that promising a fixture, but Southampton have made hay before here.

11 January 2015: Dusan Tadic scores the only goal as Louis van Gaal says the Saints were "lucky".

Image source, Getty Images

23 January 2016: Poor old Louis admits United's fans were "right to boo" as Charlie Austin does the damage this time around.

Image source, Getty Images

Simon Stone
BBC Sport at Old Trafford

Interesting to see Henrikh Mkhitaryan get his first Premier League start since 5 November.

The word was Jose Mourinho has lost trust in the Armenian, with Borussia Dortmund and Inter Milan both keen to take him for the right price.

Is this the last chance for Mkhitrayan to prove he can cut it at Old Trafford or has trust been restored?

Romelu Lukaku doesn't get his rest

Henrikh Mkhitaryan – linked with a move away from Manchester United in January – starts in the Red Devils’ midfield at the expense of Marcus Rashford.

Jesse Lingard comes in with Zlatan Ibrahimovic left out of the matchday squad entirely after he was removed at half-time of the Boxing Day draw against Burnley.

Victor Lindelof comes into the defence for Marcos Rojo, who drops to the bench.

The big news in the Southampton line-up is Fraser Forster’s demotion to the bench with Alex McCarthy coming in to make his first Premier League appearance for the club since his arrival from Crystal Palace.

Mario Lemina and Nathan Redmond drop to the bench with James Ward-Prowse and Dusan Tadic picking up midfield roles. Sam McQueen replaces Matt Targett at left-back