After seeing a lot of the big guns tumble down in the English Premier League over the weekend, both Manchester United and Southampton will look to take advantage when the two sides meet at St. Mary's on Monday.
Chelsea and Arsenal both lost their respective matches on Saturday, while Liverpool and Tottenham fired blanks as well.
While Chelsea's loss would not have affected either Manchester United or Southampton too much – the gap is still very significant – the two teams will certainly take heart from the other results, even if the impressive West Ham jumped to third with their wonderful victory over Swansea City on Sunday.
Southampton are currently fourth on 26 points, while Manchester United are a point behind, and both teams can make third their own with a win on Monday.
While praising Southampton for their current lofty position in the Premier League, Manchester United manager Louis Van Gaal does not necessarily believe that will be the case come May.
"It's always surprising that a club like Southampton is in that position now but that's always a matter of coach, players and staff and when you do that it's very good.
"It's the same in every country. Every country always has at the beginning of the season a surprise. Zwolle -- a club in the Netherlands -- were leading the competition in the Dutch league for six or eight matches. It's always like that.
"But as I have said earlier, what always matters is the end of May. That counts. Now it's not so important."
The game has some extra spice added to it owing to the fact that Van Gaal and Southampton manager Ronald Koeman do not see eye to eye. Koeman and Van Gaal had a falling out a decade ago when the former was the manager at Ajax and the latter the technical director.
So, naturally, both managers will be doubly keen to get one over the other come Monday. "He's a great coach," Koeman said of Van Gaal. "If we see each other we shake hands.
"He needs time, he will get the time at the club. It was difficult at the start of the season for them but I think they are on the way back and that showed in the performances of the team and they won the last four games. It will be a nice challenge for us on Monday.
"They know for sure, if they analyse our team and they know, it will be a tough one because our performance last game against Arsenal was a good one. In my opinion it was much better than City at home and in the Premier League there isn't an easy game to win."
Despite a good performance against Arsenal, however, Southampton did not come away with any points, much like their match before that when they lost to Manchester City. After a smooth first 12 games, the Saints have come up against a big speed bump, and Koeman will hope his side can navigate past that with three points against Manchester United.
"I don't think in losing games, I always think positive," added Koeman. "I am always thinking about our way of playing. OK, it is now two times that we lose but we lost against City and Arsenal and maybe that's usual but what happens after I don't know.
"We keep going because we know our qualities and one time again our way of playing makes winning games. I don't have doubts about that."
Where to Watch Live
The match is will begin at 7.45 pm GMT (1.15 am IST (Wednesday), 2.45 pm ET). Live coverage on TV in India will be on Star Sports 4 and Star Sports HD2. The match can also be watched via live streaming online by India viewers on StarSports.com.
Live coverage on TV in the UK will be on Sky Sports 1, while viewers can also live stream the action on Sky Go and Watch Sky Sports Online. Watch the game live in the US on NBC Sports, while the 90 minutes of action can also be live streamed online on NBC Sports Extra.
Australia viewers can watch the game on Fox Sports or live stream the action on Fox Sports On Demand, while viewers in Canada can do the same on Sportsnet or Sportsnet Online.
Viewers in the Middle East and North Africa can watch the match on Bein Sports Arabia or via Live Streaming online courtesy Bein Sports Connect, while South Africa and Sub Saharan Africa viewers can do the same on SuperSport or SuperSport online. The match can be live streamed by audience in Latin America on ESPN Play.
Team news: Southampton: Koeman has an extensive injury list, with Jack Cork, Morgan Schneiderlin, Jay Rodriguez, Sam Gallagher and James Ward-Prowse all ruled out, while Toby Alderweireld could also miss the game after limping off against Arsenal. Dusan Tadic is set to feature, though, with Koeman confirming the player will be available following a foot injury.
Manchester United: Wayne Rooney is set to return after a knee injury, but the game comes too soon for Angel Di Maria. Luke Shaw, Daley Blind, Rafael and Phil Jones will miss the game, while it remains to be seen if Jonny Evans gets a look in after returning to training.
Expected lineups: Southampton: Forster; Clyne, Fonte, Yoshida, Bertrand; Davis, Wanyama, Reed; Long, Pelle, Tadic.
Manchester United: De Gea; Valencia, Smalling, Rojo, Blackett; Herrera, Carrick, Fellaini; Rooney; Van Persie, Wilson.