What a weekend for United ! They did not play but could sit at home watching first Chelsea and then Leicester City lose and both comfortably. Now three points will take the Reds third for the first time this season, they were 14 points off that pace just 9 unbeaten games ago. Top 3 and some silverware would constitute a great campaign and they are still in the FA Cup (last 4) and Europa League ("guaranteed" last 8) .

 

Southampton are 12th with absolutely no relegation concerns and alongside Everton are head and shoulders above the other bottom half of the table teams, although the Toffees are suddenly doing their very best to shake off that reputation ! I have spoken of Saints often in the last 7-8 years as having the blueprint of "success" in the Premier League that many similar sized clubs should aspire to. They were in League 1 in 2011, but had "good " investment, got the infrastructure right, putting huge money into their Staplewood training centre which is the envy of many and which has provided the basis from which they can survive/thrive, they have finished top 8 in 4/7 seasons since returning to the top flight and after a couple of back to back flirtations with the bottom 3, again have a something to really build on for 2020-21. If we split their campaign to date (34 games) into half, they have collected 65.91% of points from the last 17 and played at about 6th place level through that sequence. ITB numbers place them 9th and xP ranks them 8th, so they are clearly around that (7th-9th) level. Ralph Hasenhüttl makes huge fitness levels if not a priority, then very near the top of his list of requirements and vital to the hard pressing game he wants to play and which Saints do as well as most in the top flight.