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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Sport
Liam Wood

Paul Scholes sets challenge for Manchester United vs Southampton after Liverpool win

Paul Scholes reckons victory over Liverpool was 'massive' for Manchester United, but admits they might now have to show a different side to their game against Southampton.

After finishing sixth in the Premier League under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick last season, United moved to appoint Erik ten Hag as their permanent manager. However, the Dutchman suffered back-to-back defeats in his first two games at the Old Trafford helm.

Brighton and Brentford swept United aside to leave them pointless and bottom of the standings heading into their Monday night showdown, where goals from Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford set the tone for an impressive win which has restored faith heading into their Saturday lunchtime meeting with Southampton.

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Ten Hag made four changes against Liverpool as Harry Maguire and Cristiano Ronaldo were among those omitted from the starting XI. In the end, though, the decisions were fully justified as United came away with three important points.

Scholes believes Southampton will pose a different type of challenge to United though, with the onus set to be on Ten Hag's mean to dominate the ball, unlike against Liverpool, when they had plenty of chances to play on the counter.

Speaking to Premier League Productions, Scholes said: "It was a massive win for United and they've been in such a bad place. They have not played with that intensity and aggressiveness, I can't remember the last time I saw it from them.

"They were actually tacking people, which was great. They didn't have a lot of possession, but sometimes in these games you don't need to. Saturday may be a bigger test for them [against Southampton]. They will have to have possession and have to be on the ball, but we will see if they can."

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