Wolverhampton vs Manchester United Preview 31/12/2022

Wolverhampton vs Manchester United – 31/12/2022

9098

Manchester United will continue their pursuit of the top four when they face Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux on Saturday afternoon.

The Red Devils find themselves fifth in the Premier League table – one point outside the Champions League places – after beating Nottingham Forest 3-0 on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Wolves sit eighteenth – one point from safety – following a dramatic 2-1 victory over Everton on Boxing Day.

When Wolves conceded after just seven minutes against Everton, new head coach Julen Lopetegui would have been fearing the worst after the club’s dismal start to the season.

However, Daniel Podence equalised midway through the first half before Rayan Ait-Nouri scored the winning goal deep into second-half stoppage time.

Still, it is worth remembering that Wolves have only managed to win three of their 16 Premier League games this term – scoring a league-low ten goals in the process.

Having lost seven of their previous ten Premier League encounters, the Wanderers will be eager to build on Monday’s victory over the Toffees.

On the flip side, Man Utd have lost just four of their 15 league outings this season – picking up nine wins and two draws along the way.

As a result, only two sides – Arsenal and Manchester City – have achieved more Premier League wins than Erik ten Hag’s side in 2022/23.

Following Tuesday’s 3-0 victory over Forest, the Red Devils have now won three of their past four league games – as well as five of their previous eight.

With Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial continuing to rediscover their best form, United look destined to improve in attack.

Head-to-head: Wolves have only managed to win one of their last six Premier League games against Man Utd, suffering three defeats in that time.

It is worth pointing out that seven of the previous eight meetings between Wolves and United have produced under 2.5 goals.

Team news: Pedro Neto and Sasa Kalajdzic remain long-term injury absentees for Wolves, while Daniel Podence and Jonny are doubts for Saturday.

As for Man Utd, they look set to be without Lisandro Martinez and Jadon Sancho this weekend. Diogo Dalot and Harry Maguire are likely to start on the bench.

Wolves will be full of confidence following their late win against Everton, but Man Utd are expected to flex their muscles at Molineux.

Forebet predicts that Man Utd will score over 2.5 goals en route to dispatching Wolves, while a clean sheet is also on the cards for the visitors.