Manchester United welcome Wolves to Old Trafford in Bank Holiday Monday football in a crunch battle in the race for Europe.
Victory will see Man Utd reclaim sixth although fifth is possible if they score seven goals or more, whereas Wolves can reclaim eighth with a win and move to within three points of Utd.
Team News
Bruno Fernandes is in contention to return for Man Utd after missing Thursday’s win over Burnley through suspension.
Paul Pogba (quad), Anthony Martial (knee) and Victor Lindelof (Coronavirus) remains absent.
Wolves could welcome Fabio Silva back into the squad after the striker recovered from a bout of Coronavirus.
Willy Boly is ruled out with a calf injury which also means that he can’t join Ivory Coast for Africa Cup of Nations.
Jonny, Pedro Neto (both knee), Rayan Ait-Nouri (groin), Hee-Chan Hwang (hamstring) and Yerson Mosquera (hamstring) remain ruled out.
Team News
- Man Utd have lost just one of their last seven league meetings against Wolves (W3, D3, L1).
- Wolves have failed to win in seven Premier League visits to Old Trafford (D2, L5).
- Utd have kept clean sheets in their last three home matches against Wolves in all competitions (W2, D1).
- Five of Cristiano Ronaldo’s eight league goals this season have been scored at home.
- Wolves have claimed three goalless draws in their last six matches (W1, D3, L2), whilst their other three matches finished 1-0 with two of those results ending in defeats.
Prediction
Having looked shambolic at Newcastle on Monday evening, Man Utd were back to their best with a strong first half attacking performance against a defensively rusty Burnley, yet they did leak a goal in the second half which highlights that their defensive issues are still a vulnerability.
Wolves meanwhile have grinded out various results since returning from November’s international break and were excellent against Chelsea last time out with great pace and attacking movement, on top of solid defending once not in control.
Having seen various responses upon returns from Coronavirus outbreaks in recent weeks, this is a tough game to call because Man Utd look back in the swing of things and that win will boost their morale, whereas Wolves will be fresh but some teams have been rusty once games get underway.
This game should therefore be interesting and given that recent clashes have often been tight, I wouldn’t be surprised if we see a draw.
Prediction: Manchester United 1-1 Wolves
Leave a Reply