Manchester United travel to the West Midlands on Boxing Day looking to avoid a third successive defeat in all competitions when they take on Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux.
Ruben Amorim has received more questions than answers in recent weeks, with former United captain Gary Neville even suggesting that the weekend’s home defeat to Bournemouth – the second year in a row the Cherries have won by 3 – 0 at Old Trafford – it was a problem. “Massive positive” given how tough it is has served to underline the shortcomings of the squad.
Wolves, on the other hand, are a game into a new era after Gary O’Neil was replaced by Vitor Pereira earlier this month. Their 3-0 win over fellow strugglers Leicester City was a potential catalyst for improvement as we reach the halfway point of the campaign.
Wolves vs Man Utd head-to-head record (last five games)
Current form (all competitions)
|
Wolves |
Man Utd |
|---|---|
|
Leicester 0-3 Wolves – 22/12/24 |
Man Utd 0-3 Bournemouth – 22/12/24 |
|
Wolves 1-2 Ipswich – 14/12/24 |
Tottenham 4-3 Man Utd – 19/12/24 |
|
West Ham 2-1 Wolves – 9/12/24 |
Man City 1-2 Man Utd – 15/12/24 |
|
Everton 4-0 Wolves – 12/04/24 |
Viktoria Plzen 1-2 Man Utd – 12/12/24 |
|
Wolves 2-4 Bournemouth – 30/11/24 |
Man Utd 2-3 Nottingham Forest – 12/7/24 |
|
country |
TV channel/live broadcast |
|---|---|
|
united kingdom |
Amazon Prime Video |
|
united states |
USA Network, Universo, fuboTV |
|
canada |
fuboTV Canada |
Rayan Ait-Nouri returns from suspension following his red card against Ipswich Town, although the full-back is again booked for another suspension.
Mario Lemina is a doubt after missing Pereira’s first game with a knock. The midfielder had been stripped of the captaincy by O’Neil. Pablo Sarabia and Boubacar Traore are not expected to return until January, with Sasa Kalajdzic out until February.
Wolves predicted line-up against Man Utd (3-4-2-1): This; Doherty, Bueno, T. Gomes; Semedo, J. Gomes, Andre, Ait-Nouri; Cunha, Guedes, Larsen.
There are still defensive concerns for Amorim, with Matthijs de Ligt still missing against Bournemouth with illness. Victor Lindelof was also absent for that one, with Luke Shaw still ruled out. Further up the pitch, Mason Mount is also out for “a few weeks” again.
Marcus Rashford has now missed three games amid his stated readiness for a “new challenge”.
Man Utd predicted line-up against Wolves (3-4-2-1): Onana; Yoro, Maguire, Evans; Mazraoui, Casemiro, Mainoo, Dalot; Amad, Fernandes; Hojlund.
This game proves a couple of things: whether Wolves really are experiencing a bounce-back new manager and whether Manchester United have the stamina to fight back from a bad defeat.
Confidence in Wolves is much higher than it was just a week ago and if there’s ever a time for them to take on United, it’s probably now.
