Manchester United will look to keep their unbeaten start to 2016 going when they host Southampton at Old Trafford on Saturday afternoon.

A victory for the home side could be enough to lift them back into the top four depending on results elsewhere, while Southampton could climb as high as seventh if they were to make it three wins on the bounce.

Man Utd

The sense of uncertainty around Manchester United and manager Louis van Gaal has not yet completely lifted, but it has certainly eased in recent weeks.

Having finished 2015 with an eight-match winless streak that was expected by many to have spelled the end for the Dutchman, results have since improved, with three wins and a draw in 2016 so far.

The performances in those games remain questionable, but the points accrued have at least lifted them back to within striking distance of the top four. Victory this weekend, coupled with defeat for Tottenham Hotspur, would see them climb back into the Champions League places.

Quite which United turns up remains to be seen, however. Already this year we have witnessed a dour display that saw them scrape past Sheffield United in the FA Cup, a six-goal thriller against Newcastle United that they should have won but only managed to draw, and a smash-and-grab job at Anfield last weekend.

The Red Devils had just one shot on target against bitter rivals Liverpool, but that proved to be enough as they came away with a 1-0 victory on Merseyside. Van Gaal may not be a favourite for many United fans, but his record of four wins from four against the main enemy certainly helps to endear him.

While the performances have been questionable in recent weeks, one undoubted positive to come from the year so far is the return to form of Wayne Rooney. The skipper has scored in all four of their matches since the turn of the year, and another this weekend would make it five on the bounce for the first time since March 2010.

Indeed, having overtaken Thierry Henry as the player with the most Premier League goals for a single club (176) courtesy of his winner against Liverpool, the 30-year-old is now just two goals short of bringing up his century at Old Trafford.

The Theatre of Dreams has not been the happiest hunting ground for the team recently, with only two league wins in front of their own fans since September, but they have also only been beaten once on home turf this term.

The biggest concern will be one of entertainment for the home fans. United have scored only two first-half goals in their 10 Premier League outings at Old Trafford this season, with one of those being an own goal on the opening day and the other coming in the fourth minute of first-half stoppage time.

Only Aston Villa and Watford have found the back of the net fewer times at home this term, although on the flip side United have only conceded four goals in front of their own fans, keeping seven clean sheets.

Recent form: LLDWDW
Recent form (all competitions): LDWWDW

Southampton

Things have also been going better for Southampton recently following a poor spell of form that saw them drop into the bottom half of the table.

Their only victory in a 10-match spell in all competitions was a stunning 4-0 drubbing of Arsenal at St Mary's, but they come into this one on the back of two more impressive triumphs.

Both matches have been perhaps a little easier than they would have expected, with Watford putting up minimal resistance on their way to a 2-0 defeat and West Bromwich Albion succumbing to a 3-0 reverse just three days later.

James Ward-Prowse doubled his career tally in the space of half an hour to set the Saints on their way to that latter victory before Dusan Tadic finished things off with a second goal from the bench in as many games.

The concern for Koeman will be that their last three league victories, all of which have been convincing and seen them keep clean sheets, have come at home. Indeed, only Manchester City, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur can boast a better home record than Southampton this season.

They began the campaign fairly well on the road too, not falling to their first away defeat until the end of November, but it is now four losses on the bounce and, with trips to Old Trafford and the Emirates next up, it is going to be difficult to improve that record.

They have also only scored nine goals away from home all season, one of the worst tallies in the league, although Ronald Koeman will be hoping that the arrival of Charlie Austin from Queens Park Rangers for a knockdown price of £4m helps in that regard.

The 26-year-old scored an impressive 18 goals during his season in the top flight with QPR, and with Shane Long of reported interest to Liverpool and Graziano Pelle currently out of favour, the chance could be there for him to make the centre-forward position his own at the club.

Recent form: LWLLWW
Recent form (all competitions): WLLLWW

Team News

Koeman has confirmed that Austin will be in the squad for this match, although he could be forced to wait for his debut off the bench.

Pelle has three goals in his three league appearances against United, but he too may miss out to Long once again as Koeman keeps faith with a winning formula.

Tadic will be hopeful of earning a starting berth having scored off the bench in both of Southampton's last two games, and he could come in for Matt Targett this weekend.

Maarten Stekelenburg is a doubt with a hamstring injury, but probably wouldn't displace the fit-again Fraser Forster in the side anyway. Jay Rodriguez and Florin Gardos remain longer-term absentees.

Van Gaal has a number of doubts to deal with as he prepares to go up against his rival Koeman once again. Bastian Schweinsteiger, Michael Carrick and Adnan Januzaj all have question marks over their fitness, which could see a similar side named to the one that beat Liverpool.

Ashley Young may be removed from that XI due to a knee injury, though, while Phil Jones, Marcos Rojo, Antonio Valencia and Luke Shaw are definitely sidelined.

It will be a landmark occasion for David de Gea in the United goal, meanwhile, as he will make his 150th Premier League appearance for the club.

Man Utd possible starting lineup:
De Gea; Varela, Smalling, Blind, Darmian; Schneiderlin, Fellaini, Lingard, Mata, Martial; Rooney

Southampton possible starting lineup:
Forster; Cedric, Van Dijk, Fonte, Bertrand; Ward-Prowse, Wanyama, Davis, Mane, Tadic; Long

Head To Head

Manchester United have won 10 and lost just one of their last 13 meetings with the Saints in all competitions, although that solitary defeat did come on Southampton's last trip to Old Trafford just over a year ago.

United have not kept a clean sheet against Southampton in the Premier League since 2004, when Rooney, Paul Scholes and Cristiano Ronaldo were all on the scoresheet in a 3-0 win at Old Trafford.

The reverse fixture earlier this season saw United come from behind to win 3-2 at St Mary's, with Pelle scoring twice for the hosts and Anthony Martial continuing his bright start to life at United with two goals of his own.

The Dugout Podcast

Hit play below to listen to Sports Mole's new podcast 'The Dugout' for our take on the week's biggest football talking points:

[On this PAGE an item was removed from that AMP version click for the full mobile version.]

We say: Man Utd 1-0 Southampton

Southampton's away record has been poor in recent weeks, while United have rediscovered a way to grind out results even when they don't play particularly well. Old Trafford hasn't been the place for goal-fests this season, and we don't expect this weekend to be any different. United should, though, eke out a narrow victory.