Man Utd 0-0 Southampton LIVE: Romelu Lukaku stretchered off after clash of heads

Manchester United vs Southampton LIVE: Express Sport brings you the latest score, goals and updates from Old Trafford

MANCHESTER UNITED 0-0 SOUTHAMPTON

HT: Nothing doing folks. It’s been a largely scruffy game in all honesty with brief moments of quality. Lukaku, Lingard and Rashford have all squandered chances, while David de Gea stopped a certain goal from Ward-Prowse in the opening stages.

49: It’s been 27 matches since Shane Long scored for Southampton. Might be 28 because he’s pulled up injured. I think he’s going to see the half out.

47: Matic takes another shot from distance but it’s straight at McCarthy, who makes it stick.

SIX MINUTES ADDED TIME

45: Close! Pogba plays an effortless crossfield pass over to Mkhitaryan, whose cross is glanced wide by Lingard. Hoedt given a yellow for kicking the ball away.

43: Southampton are NOT playing like a side in 15th position, or like a side who were stuffed by Tottenham. Plenty of confidence with the ball.

40: Maybe we should run a caption competition for the Jose Mourinho picture above. Winner will receive… nothing but my respect. Naff prize, but I’m skint!

39: The decibel levels rise as Manchester United win a corner. Mata and Mkhitaryan play a quick one-two but the cross is blocked. Matic tries his luck from well outside the area, but his left-footed effort flies over McCarthy’s crossbar.

36: PENALTY SHOUT! Jesse Lingard is positive Manchester United should have a penalty after Yoshida handled his flick inside the area. I’ve just seen the replay again and it could have gone either way. Fans NOT happy with referee Craig Pawson.

33: Lovely cross from Ashley Young is JUST too high for Marcus Rashford, who guides it wide from point-blank range.

Incidentally, I’m hearing that Romelu Lukaku is being assessed by MUFC medical staff with ambulance on stand-by if required.

30: Commentators curse! Goalkeeper Alex McCarthy has now made his first save of the game, and it was a vital one. A floated ball drops for Rashford inside the six-yard box, and his shot cannons off Sam McQueen and back to the stopper.

Hojbjerg picks up the first yellow card of the game for a challenge on Shaw.

28: I’m sure Jose Mourinho will have told his players to test Southampton goalkeeper Alex McCarthy, who is starting his first top flight game since March 2016, when he was at Crystal Palace. He’s had nothing to do yet.

26: Wesley Hoedt gets on the end of a James Ward-Prowse corner for the visitors, but he glances his effort wide. Nobody was marking him!

23: Lovely break from United. Rashford collects a loose ball from a Southampton corner and runs the length of the pitch. He sprays it wide to Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who fluffs the cross and sends it out of play.

21: Promising situation for Saints, who have themselves a free-kick just outside the penalty area. James Ward-Prowse goes for goal at the near post but David de Gea read that coming last week!

18: I’ll be sure to update you with any news of Romelu Lukaku. Fingers crossed the Belgian will make a quick recovery.

On with the game. Luke Shaw drives forward and sends a teasing delivery across the six-yard box, but nobody was there to apply the finish.

15: Scary stuff. The challenge looked innocuous enough but clearly it’s done more damage than first thought. Lukaku is stretchered off the field to a warm applause with Marcus Rashford replacing him.

12: OK, well this is serious. Romelu Lukaku has stayed down after clashing heads with Hoedt. The medical staff have brought the stretcher on and it looks like Lukaku will be playing no further part today.

9: Close! Southampton have a cracking opportunity to make the breakthrough. The ball is cutback from the byline for James Ward-Prowse, whose goalbound effort is tipped away by David de Gea. There’s a pause in play as Romelu Lukaku hits the deck after a clash of heads.

6: Sitter! After some terrific build-up play involving Paul Pogba and Juan Mata, the Spaniard crosses and Romelu Lukaku heads over under no pressure whatsoever. Should be 1-0. 

3: Nice to see Henrikh Mkhitaryan back in the starting XI. Not from a spelling perspective, obviously. I doubt those little kids from ‘Child Genius’ could tackle that name!

Anyway, nothing much to mention in these opening exchanges. Even.

MANCHESTER UNITED 0-0 SOUTHAMPTON

1: Right, we’re off! After an exciting day of Premier League action Manchester United find themselves in third while Southampton are just a point above the relegation zone. Plenty at stake!

TWO-MINUTE WARNING

17:28: We’re almost underway folks. I’m trying to quickly eat my noodles before the game starts but all the forks are missing, so I’m left trying to scoff them down with chop sticks… authentic yes, practical nope.

MOURINHO MOAN…

17:25: What’s that? Jose Mourinho is angry about something? Surely not.

The Portuguese feels Premier League leaders Manchester City’s spending power has “no limit,” and that has made it more difficult for others to keep pace.

He explained: “Pep arrived, he has the goalkeeper of England (Joe Hart). He doesn’t like him, he buys the goalkeeper of Barcelona (Claudio Bravo). He doesn’t like him. He buys another one (Ederson) now, he likes.

“He has (Pablo) Zabaleta and (Aleksandar) Kolarov, two very good players, but more than 30, he wants to replace, he doesn’t do it with two. He does it with three. One from Tottenham (Kyle Walker), one from Monaco (Benjamin Mendy) and one from Real Madrid (Danilo).

“Can we buy six or seven players at the same time? Can we invest £600 to 700million? No. So, it’s difficult.”

He’s also taken aim at Jurgen Klopp after Virgil van Dijk’s move, but I’ll save that for HT.

TEAM NEWS

17:20: OK, let’s run through this news quickly. All business from me tonight folks, I’ve got gig tickets and precious little pre-drinking time…

Jose Mourinho makes three changes from the draw with Burnley. Victor Lindelof, Jesse Lingard and Henrikh Mkhitaryan replace Marcos Rojo, Marcus Rashford and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Four changes for Saints with Alex McCarthy chosen ahead of Fraser Forster, which doesn’t surprise me.

Sam McQueen, Dusan Tadic and James Ward-Prowse come in for Matt Targett, Nathan Redmond and Mario Lemina.

MANCHESTER UNITED vs SOUTHAMPTON

17:15: And here’s tonight’s line-ups folks. No surprise to see Jesse Lingard recalled to the starting XI.

Manchester United XI: de Gea, Young, Lindelof, Jones, Shaw, Pogba, Matic, Mata, Mkhitaryan, Lingard, Lukaku.

Subs: Rojo, Martial, Blind, Rashford, Romero, Ander Herrera, Tuanzebe.

Southampton XI: McCarthy, Stephens, Yoshida, Hoedt, McQueen, Romeu, Tadic, Hojbjerg, Ward-Prowse, Boufal, Long.

Subs: Davis, Lemina, Gabbiadini, Redmond, Pied, Bednarek, Forster.

Referee: Craig Pawson.

EVENING

17:10: Welcome to our LIVE coverage of Manchester United vs Southampton from Old Trafford.

Jose Mourinho has the difficult task of engineering a victory against Southampton having spent a mere £300million since he arrived in the summer of 2016.

If you don’t what I’m talking about, stay tuned and I’ll explain…

It is fair to say Mourinho’s Christmas was far from merry. A Carabao Cup defeat to Championship side Bristol City was followed by disappointing draws with Leicester and Burnley as Manchester City extended their lead over United to 15 points.

A home fixture against a struggling Saints would seem a perfect chance for Mourinho to end 2017 with a modicum of joy.

MANCHESTER UNITED vs SOUTHAMPTON – PREVIEW

Romelu Lukaku looks set to retain his place in Manchester United’s team, despite Jose Mourinho insisting he is jaded.

Mourinho said his striker is “tired” yet feels he cannot give him a rest. Anthony Martial and Matteo Darmian both returned to training on Thursday but remain doubtful with knocks.

Charlie Austin is unavailable for the Saints as he serves the second of a three-match ban. Ryan Bertrand (hamstring) faces a late fitness test, but Cedric Soares (ankle) will not feature.

Last season: Southampton 0 Man Utd 0, Man Utd 2 Southampton 0

Last five league matches: Man Utd L W W D D; Southampton D L L D L

Top scorers: Romelu Lukaku (Man Utd) 15; Charlie Austin (Southampton) 6

Referee: Craig Pawson (South Yorkshire)