Manchester United will look to bounce back to winning ways on Tuesday evening against Wolves at Old Trafford. Both sides recently earned draws from their most recent games with United drawing 2-2 against Leicester City and Wolves held Tottenham to a 1-1 draw. 

Our away form this season has been exceptional as Leicester City found it a tough battle in trying to end our 10 game winning run on the road. The Boxing Day clash was a very open game with both sides looked to attack each other. With five minutes to go, United were 2-1 up thanks to goals from Marcus Rashford and Bruno Fernandes. However, an own goal from Axel Tuanzebe saw us share the spoils after Leicester’s Harvey Barnes had levelled the scores earlier in the game.

Though we could not extend the winning run to 11 consecutive away victories, results from the other Premier League went our way. Arsenal beat Chelsea, and Tottenham dropping points meant we remain in the top four places in the league.

The point gained by United at the King Power Stadium on Saturday meant we are now unbeaten in the last eight Premier League matches. United have taken seven out of possible nine points from the last three league games. Whilst we marvelled at the thumping win against Leeds United, however, the visit of Wolves will prove a much tougher test for us.

United and Wolves met each four times last season with three of those ending in draws. We have only managed to win one of the last seven matches against Wolves in both the Premier League and FA Cup.

Opposition Preview

Wolves come into this game after drawing with Tottenham on Sunday evening. The West Midlands side was down by a goal for most of the game before Roman Saïss popped up with a late header to get the equaliser. Fabio Silva could have nicked all three points for them at the end but had to settle for a point. This meant, they went above Leeds in the table to sit eleventh. They are only five points off the places for Europe. They have not won at home for the last two games as Burnley got the better of them before Christmas.

Manchester United vs Wolves Details

Teams: Manchester United vs Wolves

Date: December 29th, 2020 (Tuesday)

KO Time: 20:00 BST

Competition: Premier League

Stadium: Old Trafford

Referee: Jonathan Moss

Managers: Ole Gunnar Solskjær and Nuno Esprito Santo

Manchester United Team News

Victor Lindelof was unable to finish the game against Leicester City. He has been playing through the pain barrier all this season due to his back injury. It is unlikely that he will play any part in the Wolves games with Axel Tuanzebe expected to step in.

There is no news as to what Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s injury is and is not expected to feature either. With so many games over the Christmas period, Ole may make changes to the side with Edinson Cavani who assisted for Bruno Fernandes’s goal against Leicester pushing for a starting place.

Pre-Match Press Conference

During the pre-match press conference, Ole was asked whether the players had more solutions up his sleeves to unlock those tight games we had against Wolves in the past. He said, “Well, we’ve had so many tight games against them. We are improving definitely, we’re getting better and better at finding different solutions in different games. But we know that Wolverhampton have got quality as well and they will give us problems if we’re too open. We’ve got a plan together.”

Ole was asked about the number of games in such a short period and how he has prepared the players for this. He said, “This year has been a strange one. When you play for Man United you get used to the rhythm of playing, recovering, playing, recovering and I also have a big squad, so you have to prepare them physically and mentally. We’re more and more consistent in the way we want to play and press and the way we want to be, on the ball and off the ball, so with the season as it is there aren’t many weeks you have to do preparation on the grass. So there are videos and loads of good work by the coaches and the medical staff to get them physically ready.”

A member of the media asked about the recent performances of Luke Shaw with Ole responded with, “Luke is one of those lads with strength and power and quality, and of course down the left-hand side he’s created a good relationship with Marcus [Rashford]. Sometimes he’s got to stay back more and sometimes he’s the one that goes. I’ve enjoyed working with Luke for a couple of seasons now and he’s a very talented boy that I still want to push on.”

Wolves Team News

Our opponents Wolves will be assessing the fitness of Marcel who had struggled towards the end of the game against Tottenham. Rayan Ait Nouri is expected to be in the starting eleven. Raul Jimenez and Jonny Otto remain out of action indefinitely. They were joined in the stands for the visit of Tottenham of Leander Dendoncker and Willy Boly, and the pair are doubts for this trip to Old Trafford.

Form Guide

Manchester United Premier League form: WWDWWD

Manchester United form (all competitions): LDWWWD

Wolverhampton Wanderers Premier League form: WLLWLD

Interesting Facts

• We have not lost our final league game of the calendar year in eight seasons, winning five and drawing three.
• United are unbeaten in nine home league meetings against Wolves, winning six and drawing three.
• United’s only win against Wolves since they were most recently promoted was a 1-0 win at Old Trafford in an FA Cup replay. Juan Mata was the scorer.
• Last time out against Wolves, Bruno Fernandes made his Manchester United debut.
• Of those available only Neves and Moutinho have scored for Wolves against United. The others being Jota and Jimenez.

Predicted Lineup

De Gea, Tuanzebe, Maguire, Bailly, Telles; Fred, McTominay; Greenwood, Fernandes, Rashford, and Cavani.

Prediction

Whilst the point against Leicester City can be looked at as a good result given other results in the league from the weekend. We will be looking to see United return to winning ways on Tuesday evening. The United players have had an extra day to recover from the game, and we boast a much stronger bench than Wolves and this could prove key in breaking down this well-run side. We offer a great attacking threat and I expect United to come away with the victory but Wolves will make it difficult for us.

Predicted Score

Manchester United 2-0 Wolves