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Sports

Southampton, United battle for third place

By Sports Network
Published | Updated

Southampton, England (SportsNetwork.com) - Southampton and Manchester United will battle for third place in the Premier league table on Monday when the two sides square off at St. Mary's.

Manchester United enters the contest on a bit of a roll, having won its last four Premier League matches to improve to 25 points, but the club's recent resurgence could be the result of simply facing inferior opposition - United has claimed just seven points from five matches against teams in the top-half of the table.

The Red Devils escaped with a 2-1 win over Stoke City on Tuesday thanks to some late heroics from David De Gea, who made a couple of last-stitch stops on the goal line to deny the Potters a late equalizer.

It was an otherwise drab performance from Louis van Gaal's men, though the United boss continues to contend with a nightmare injury situation.

Angel Di Maria and Wayne Rooney were absent from Tuesday's affair, but Marcos Rojo was welcomed back to the fold in the center of defense.

Van Gaal confirmed Friday that Rooney will be available for Monday's clash, but Di Maria will miss the game as he continues his recovery from a hamstring injury.

Southampton also has had to contend with a couple of untimely injuries.

Morgan Schneiderlin left Sunday's battle with Manchester City at halftime, an exit that saw the Saints concede three second-half goals en route to a disappointing defeat.

Southampton returned to action on Wednesday and held Arsenal in check at the Emirates, but Toby Alderweireld had to be withdrawn to due injury. Manager Ronald Koeman had used his three allotted substitutions, and 10-man Southampton ultimately leaked a late goal to come away from north London empty-handed.

The Saints enter the weekend in third place, but a loss to United, paired with other results from the weekend, could drop them to fifth.

Saturday's action will commence with Chelsea looking to extend its lead atop the table. The Blues will travel to St. James' park to face a Newcastle side that has managed just one point from its last two league games.

Manchester City will hope to keep pace with Chelsea when it welcomes Everton to the Etihad on Saturday. City sits in second place in the table, six points adrift of the Blues, while Everton's solitary win from its last three outings leaves the club in 11th place.

Arsenal claimed a dramatic win over Southampton last time out and will aim to keep the momentum going on Saturday when it heads to the Britannia to face Stoke City, and Liverpool will hope to secure a third straight league win when it hosts Sunderland at Anfield.

Rounding out Saturday's action, Hull City will play host to West Bromwich Albion, Crystal Palace will travel to White Hart Lane to face Tottenham and Burnley will battle QPR at Loftus Road.

On Sunday, seventh-place Swansea City will travel to Upton Park to face fifth- place West Ham United while Aston Villa will host last-place Leicester City.