United Friday Facts

Manchester United face Southampton in the first home fixture of the 2016/17 Premier League season on Friday night, looking to build on the opening-weekend win at Bournemouth.

Jose Mourinho’s side will be confident after the 3-1 triumph at the Vitality Stadium and there’s another reason to be optimistic: the Reds have not lost a domestic game played on a Friday in 53 years.

You have to go back to May 1963, when Matt Busby’s team went down 2-1 away at Birmingham City, for the most recent time that United were beaten on this unusual day (until this season) for top-flight football.

Mourinho told MUTV: "We're playing on a Friday because it’s early in the season but we’re in the Europa League and the Europa League plays on Thursday, so I think there will not be many spaces for us to play on a Friday.

"For the fans, it doesn’t matter; it’s the way it is – it could be at midnight and the stadium would be full. So let’s go for it."

Overall, United have played 44 matches on Fridays (day and night kick-offs), winning 22, drawing 14 and losing just eight. Here we look at some of the Reds’ memorable Friday encounters:

Derby County 1-3 United, FA Cup fourth round, 29 January 2016
Derby are the most recent side to face United on a Friday, doing so last season in the FA Cup. The Reds ran out 3-1 winners at the iPro Stadium on the way to winning the competition. The visitors’ goals came from Wayne Rooney, Daily Bind and Juan Mata, with the pick of the bunch coming from the captain, as he curled in a magnificent opener from the edge of the box.

Chelsea 2-2 United, Premier League, 23 August 2002
A trip to Stamford Bridge was in store for the second game of the 2002/03 season, and a thrilling encounter ended 2-2. United twice levelled the score, first through David Beckham and then Ryan Giggs, whose goal was his 100th for the club. It was a good away point, but the Reds could have earned all three had referee Graham Poll awarded a penalty when Chelsea goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini pulled down Paul Scholes in the box. Ultimately, United would run out as league champions come the season’s end.

United 4-2 Tottenham Hotspur, Division One, 16 December 1983
United hosted Spurs in another Friday clash midway through the 1983/84 campaign and Ron Atkinson’s side came out on top, thanks to two goals apiece from Kevin Moran and Arthur Graham. It was the first Football League match to be broadcast live by the BBC.

United 2-0 Watford, FA Cup third-place play-off, 10 April 1970
In 1969/70, United reached the semi-finals of both the FA and League Cups and, for the first time, the FA Cup featured a third-place play-off. The match took place at Arsenal’s Highbury ground in front of a crowd of just 15,000, as United beat Watford 2-0 through Brian Kidd’s brace. The idea of the FA Cup having a ‘bronze medal match’ proved unpopular and so this was one of only five ever to take place.

Credit: Manutd.com