Match Preview: Manchester United vs Wolves

Manchester United vs Wolves | Premier League | Old Trafford | KO: 17:30 GMT | Sky Sports

As Paul Pogba so eloquently put “new style, new year, new opportunities. While our French midfielder had just had his haircut, his philosophical words also somewhat apply to Manchester United.

United’s midweek victory saw the Reds close out a topsy-turvy 2021 with a win against Burnley. There is still evidence of a big job at hand for Ralf Rangnick, however, every game is an opportunity for the German to drill his heralded style into this group of players.

Rangnick’s reds host Wolves with eyes on making a successful start to 2022.

How do Manchester United look?

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There isn’t much change to the squad in regards to injuries, which is typical of the festive period. Pogba remains unable to be called upon as he recovers from his injury. However, another significant absentee is Eric Bailly.

The Ivorian international was reported to be shocked when he was called from the airport to report for training. Bailly’s original plans would have seen him fly to the Ivory Coast to begin preparations for AFCON but due to Victor Lindelöf’s contracting COVID and Raphael Varane’s lack of fitness his services were more than required.

In almost typical Bailly fashion though he had to be withdrawn due to injury which the centre-back dismissed as fatigue following the game. Bailly will be absent regardless as he is scheduled to travel to meet with his nation. Hannibal Mejbri is another one who will be absent due to his allegiance to Tunisia who will also participate at AFCON. One thing is for sure the African cup of nations will be very interesting.

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A lot was made of the fact that Donny van de Beek saw no minutes cause Burnley despite United gaining a sense of comfortability in the game. There seems to be a cloud of inevitability over the Dutchman’s United career. All things point towards it not working out in the long term. However, his performance at the Molineux last season may suggest in the short term, Van de Beek could find himself involved.

Opposition: Wolves

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The reverse fixture was the one that raised some of the biggest flags during Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s reign. Despite the euphoria of Cristiano Ronaldo’s impending return, United looked awful. Had Wolves had their shooting boots on it could’ve been a massacre at the Molineux. Luckily, United narrowly avoided an embarrassment and actually won the game through Mason Greenwood who started the season electrically.

Fast forward to January and a lot has changed at Old Trafford, but a lot did change for Wolves also. Their fortunes turned as they began to pick up the points that alluded them in the weeks prior. Recently their form has dipped once again with only one victory in their last six. Wolves have actually suffered from the postponements with their most recent fixture being a goalless stalemate vs Chelsea on December 19th. So whether Wolves are fresh from the break or rusty from the lack of games will remain to be seen.

Key Stats

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Manchester United have won their last three Premier League games against Wolves, last having a longer winning run against them in league competition between 1964 and 1968 (5 games).

Wolves haven’t scored first in any of their last 13 Premier League games against Man Utd, since beating them 1-0 at Molineux in January 2004.

United have the highest win rate (64.7%) of all sides in Premier League games played on Mondays (won 44 of 68 games). The Red Devils have lost just one of their last 17 such games (W8, D8), going down 3-0 at home to Spurs in August 2018.

Prediction

Wolves is oddly a game that you have to dread. Their abundance of individually talented and tricky players means they are a constant threat and their club stature suggests anything but three points is a failure. United vs Wolves, especially at Old Trafford is always a cagey affair and with United still yet to completely convince in this new system, a score draw seems likely.

Manchester United 1-1 Wolves

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