With all United’s players injury free, with the exception of Ashley Young, Louis van Gaal finds himself in an unusual position ahead of our game against Southampton. Often, his team selection is forced by the injuries of other players, but today, with everyone to choose from, who will he pick?

I have said already 10 years ago or 15 years ago that, at the highest level, you can put [in] four players who are mostly creative. I still have the same opinion after 25 years. Four is a lot, so when you call these players it’s like that and I have to choose. You can have in your selection [squad] more than four creative players but only in the line-up [can] you put four players. There is a big difference. I am always putting out the best line-up – not rotation. I can rotate because a player can be tired – then it is better to play with the other quality player.

Radamel Falcao, Robin van Persie, Wayne Rooney, Juan Mata and Di Maria are the key creative players to choose from, with Adnan Januzaj and James Wilson on the outskirts. So which player from those five does he leave out?

If this was a game away from home, my money would be on Mata, but he tends to do well at Old Trafford. That may not be enough to save his place though, with Di Maria returning from injury. You would presume that the Argentine has to be back in the starting line-up. Rooney is the captain, although the manager has conceded recently that, contrary to earlier claims, this doesn’t make him undroppable. Or does he just choose one from Van Persie and Falcao? Time will tell.