Friday, March 29News That Matters

Early Man Utd team news: Dan James to start ahead of Jadon Sancho v Southampton

Dan James is set to keep his place in the Manchester United starting lineup against Southampton on Sunday with Jadon Sancho again on the bench, while Raphael Varane is in line to make his debut.

United made a perfect start to the new Premier League campaign with a 5-1 win over Leeds United at Old Trafford, with Bruno Fernandes bagging a hat-trick, with Greenwood and Fred also on the score sheet.




Sancho, a £73m summer arrival from Dortmund, made a brief cameo off the bench before building up his fitness in a behind-closed-doors friendly match against Burnley in midweek.

But, The Athletic claim Solskjaer wants to be patient with his new signing and will put him on the bench for the trip to St Mary’s.

In his place, James will retain his spot in the team with Solskjaer having been impressed by the Welshman in pre-season, even rejecting several approaches from teams such as Leicester and Brighton.

Despite playing an hour against Burnley, there is still a feeling that Sancho needs to more fit and sharper as he arrived at the club a little rustier than Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw after playing just 96 minutes at the Euros.




However, James is fully fit and Solskjaer will be conscious of the fact that the player has form at St Mary’s, having scored a superb goal away to Southampton in his maiden campaign.

Varane, meanwhile, did not play against Burnley but has been training all week and Solskjaer must now decide whether to hand the player his debut or stick with Lindelof, while Cavani’s return to the team provides another selection headache.




Speaking at his pre-match press conference, Solskjaer said: ‘With regard to team news, that’s a boost as well, Edinson’s joined in, Raphael’s joined in and we’re getting fitter and fitter.

‘You’ll see on Sunday. They’ve worked well. They’ve had minutes. We’ve had a very good week ourselves. We’ll see who’s making the flight down to Southampton on Saturday.’

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

× Click Here To Make Advert Enquiry