Manchester United will have one goal when they take on the Southampton Saints Wednesday at 3:00 pm ET, and that's to open up a seven point gap with a home win.

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In the first meeting between the sides, Southampton actually held the lead twice. Robin van Persie wiped out those advantages each time, however, and then completed his hat trick in stoppage time to steal the road victory for United.

United has gotten stronger with a few roster adjustments over the summer that combined Van Persie with Wayne Rooney, and Javier Hernandez off the bench to form a fearsome attack.

This kind of depth to their roster allows United to still be alive in the Champions League and the FA Cup.

Meanwhile, Southampton will need to play a near perfect game in all liklihood if they hope to get a result at Old Trafford. Fans are still reeling from the unexpected sacking of Nigel Adkins, but it helped a little when the team played well in a draw at Everton last week. New head coach Mauricio Pochettino will face his toughest test yet during his short time with the Saints as he takes on Sir Alex for the first time.

Likely Lineups:

Southampton: Davis, Clyne, Yoshida, Shaw, Fox, Puncheon, Ramirez, Lallana, Schneiderlin, Davis, Lambert

Manchester United: De Gea, Evra, Ferdinand, Vidic, Rafael, Carrick, Cleverley, Giggs, Valencia, van Persie, Rooney