JAN Bednarek insists Saints will still need a "great performance" to beat Manchester United on Sunday, despite Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's men struggling in the league this term.

Saints currently sit fifth in the Premier League table, four points clear of United ahead of their clash at St Mary's this weekend.

Asked if he sees the hosts as favourites on Sunday, given their strong showing so far this season, Bednarek told the Daily Echo: "I think they (Man Utd) have much quality up front.

"They have a really strong team and they are still Manchester United, so I don’t think it’s going to be an easy game.

"I would even say it’s going to be a really, really tough game and we have to be really on it. We have to be really committed and we have to have our great day to beat them.

"That’s what I think we can have. I think that’s what we can do, be really strong, we can really perform well but it’s still Manchester United and we have to have a great performance to beat them."

Man Utd moved three points clear at the top of their Champions League group with a 4-1 win over Istanbul Basaksehir on Tuesday evening.

"I watched the first half," said Bednarek.

"I was really, really impressed with their game. They did well, they played really quick, they were really committed without the ball so I would say they will be really, really difficult to play against.

"But we are happy. We know that we will cause them many problems and they will see how difficult it is to play against us."