?Southampton host Manchester United at St Mary’s on Wednesday night in their penultimate game of the 2016/17 Premier League season.
Despite reaching the EFL Cup final earlier this year, Claude Puel’s Saints have ultimately fallen short of the standards set in recent campaigns and will be hoping for a strong finish after recently ending a run of five games without a victory.
Here’s a look at the starting XI the manager is expected to pick…
Goalkeeper
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Forster1
No Southampton player has played more Premier League minutes than starting goalkeeper Fraser Forster this season (3,240).
Defence
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Soares2
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Stephens24
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Yoshida3
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Bertrand21
?Puel opted for a reshuffled back four against Middlesbrough that saw Jeremy Pied and Martin Caceres finally make their first starts for the club. But the more familiar unit of Cedric Soares, Jack Stephens, Maya Yoshida and Ryan Bertrand could be called back into action.
Matt Targett could be in the frame to feature at some point after making his return to the bench on Saturday having been out of action since October.
Midfield
Changes are thought to be coming in midfield as well. That could mean returns to the starting XI for Steven Davis, James Ward-Prowse and Nathan Redmond.
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Dusan Tadic scored a Premier League winner from the penalty spot against United just over two years ago and is also expected to return after a weekend rest.
Forwards
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Gabbiadini20
?Jay Rodriguez played 90 minutes and scored at the weekend, but Manolo Gabbiadini is likely to return to the starting line-up for this one. The Italian famously scored twice against United at Wembley back in February and should take confidence from that after netting only once since.
Charlie Austin is also in contention to play a part after returning from injury on Saturday. He of course scored the winner for the Saints at Old Trafford last season.
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