Manchester United can build on fine displays against Liverpool and Arsenal by beating Southampton
Today at 08:57 AM
Did you listen to the amazing sounds produced by solar flares and explosions from the sun which featured in the fascinating Metro Online story? Amazing stuff which was remarkably akin to the music record by psychedelic mega band Pink Floyd.
Think of Set The Controls for the Heart of the Sun, the only song to feature all the members of their line-up, including Syd Barrett, from their second album A Saucerful of Secrets. Alternatively, it could have been an outtake from their epic Dark Side of The Moon.
The crash, bangs and wallops from the sun, however, will be nothing compared to the emptiness from the black hole felt by the losers in the Premier League match between Manchester United and Southampton at Old Trafford.
Ruben Amorim's side will be expected to use the 2-2 draw at Liverpool and the FA Cup penalty shoot-out victory at Arsenal, when they were reduced to ten men, as the launchpad to rocket up the table and they should enjoy lift-off against a Saints side which ranks as one of the worst to ever play in the top flight.
The south coast club have won just once at home this season and have yet to triumph on the road where they have suffered eight defeats and two draws.
Their defence has been slightly better on their travels as they have only conceded 17 times compared to 27 at St Mary's and five of just 12 league goals have been scored at opposition territory.
Hitting the back of the net has also been a problem for United as they have only scored 13 times on home soil in the league, firing blanks in defeats at Old Trafford to Bournemouth and Newcastle either side of a 2-0 reversal at Wolves before putting in that improved display at Anfield.
This is a huge test for Amorim’s players, who have only taken an abysmal 13 points from 30 against visiting teams, and they should make the most of the soft opposition, even though Southampton’s confidence will have increased a tad following Sunday's 3-0 FA Cup victory over Swansea.
United are 19/20 to lead HT/FT and a 2-0 success is 7/1 with bet365 while Bruno Fernandes, who scored for the first time in five games at the Emirates, is 11/2 with Paddy Power, Betfair and bet365 to break the deadlock.
• Brighton, who won 4-0 at Norwich in the FA Cup at the weekend are 11/10 with Ladbrokes, Coral and Betfred to celebrate a quickfire East Anglian double by winning at Ipswich.
• The PGA Tour returns to mainland America after staging the first two events of the year in Hawaii with the American Express taking centre stage at La Quinta and course-record holder Adam Hadwin, who has five top-six finishes in nine visits, is each-way gold at 60/1 with Betfair and Paddy Power. Cornwall's Harry Hall cashed for us at the Sony Open on Sunday with a tied eighth and is 40/1 with the same two firms, and they have Kurt Kitayama, who is worth another flutter at 33/1. Our final bet this week is for Hadwin to be top Canadian at 13/5 with several firms.
• Kansas City Chiefs -8.5 points, Detroit Lions minus the same margin, Philadelphia Eagles -4.5 points to win at home and Baltimore Ravens, -1.5 to prevail in Buffalo against the Bills, are the picks for this weekend's NFL playoff action.
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