Having produced two spirited and uplifting performances on the road against Liverpool and Arsenal, Manchester United will fancy their chances of getting the better of Southampton at Old Trafford on Thursday night.

The Saints sit rock-bottom of the Premier League table after winning just one of their 20 league matches since winning promotion at the end of last season.

On paper, it is the easiest league fixture United could have wished for after two such challenging away trips in quick succession. But as they have proven far too many times in recent years, nothing can be taken for granted.

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Southampton have conceded 44 league goals this season and boast the worst away record across England's top four tiers, earning just two points from a possible 30. United will be expected to win and win well.

Following Sunday's FA Cup triumph over Arsenal, Bruno Fernandes addressed the need for United to maintain the standards that had been set against the Gunners and Liverpool, meaning Ruben Amorim will probably find himself warning his players against complacency ahead of their first home game of 2025.

Fernandes also offered an insight into what Amorim has been telling his players behind closed doors, with the United head coach urging them to become more productive inside the final third.

"The manager has been telling us a lot that we have to score more goals," Fernandes told Sky Sports. "And that's true because we are a team that has the capability of scoring goals.

"I know we have a lot of young players in front but we have qualities and we have to score goals because Rasmus [Hojlund] is capable of scoring goals."

Scoring 16 times in his maiden season at Old Trafford, Hojlund has proven he is capable of putting the ball into the back of the net. However, he has not done it anywhere near frequently enough this season, scoring seven goals in 24 appearances.

The Dane fired a blank for the seventh game running on Sunday, meaning he is now on the cusp of experiencing his longest drought of the campaign thus far. The 21-year-old, who has just two goals in the Premier League this term, last scored when he netted a brace to help United edge past Viktoria Plzen in the Europa League on December 12.

Five of Hojlund's seven goals this season have been scored in the Europa League, including two braces, meaning he has scored in just five of his 24 appearances this season. It is a record United desperately need him to improve.

In Hojlund's defence, he has not been supplied with the best level of service this season. United have struggled to score goals across the board, highlighted by their return of just 23 in their first 20 league games this term.

As impressive as United's last two performances were, Hojlund was anonymous in both games. Against Liverpool and Arsenal combined, he had just 35 touches of the ball in 167 minutes.

If he is to start scoring the goals United expect of him, it is going to require a collective effort from Hojlund, his teammates, Amorim and the wider United coaching staff to find a way to make him more involved in their play.

Hojlund demonstrated last season that he has the running power to break through defensive lines and come alive inside the penalty area, often finishing with a poacher's instinct. He has not demonstrated those abilities anywhere near enough this season.

United made the addition of a striker their leading transfer objective ahead of the 2023/24 season and eyebrows were raised when Hojlund was signed from Atalanta for an initial fee of £64million. But to his credit, he ended his first season at Old Trafford with a very respectable tally of 16 goals.

It was a return worthy of respect, especially when he arrived at the club nursing an injury and encountered a couple of other injury issues mid-season. However, having got close to 20 goals last season, Hojlund was expected to build on last season's tally this term.

Of course, there is still plenty of football to be played to allow him to eat into last's season tally, but his current form suggests that is going to be a struggle. Getting him going again should be a leading objective for Amorim and his coaching staff.