Wolverhampton-Manchester United is a match valid for the eighteenth day of the Premier League and is played on Saturday at 13:30: predictions.
The Premier League, after the blowout of the traditional Boxing Day, does not stop and is again ready to take the stage on the last day of 2022 with no less than six matches scheduled, from lunchtime until late afternoon. It starts with the thrilling match at Molineux between hosts Wolverhampton and Manchester United, two teams with opposite goals but both coming back from important victories.
After the Cristiano Ronaldo issue – which has now become almost nauseating – the Red Devils got off to the best possible start after the long World Cup break. And that is with a double success between League Cup (2-0 at Burnley first in the Championship standings) and Premier League. In the league last Tuesday, the victory was even clearer than in the cup: thanks to goals from Rashford, Martial and Fred and to a powerful collective performance, Manchester United beat Nottingham Forest, who left Old Trafford with three goals on their backs without scoring any. Erik ten Hag seems to have regained the serenity he did not have in the first months because of CR7’s tantrums. And now he can make an assault on fourth place, just one point away. In case of success against Wolves, United would overtake Tottenham, on the pitch twenty-four hours later.
Julen Lopetegui’s adventure on the black-and-gold bench also started positively. Two wins out of two for the former Sevilla coach, who took over from Portuguese Bruno Lage. Wolverhampton first beat Gillingham 2-0 in the League Cup and then repeated in the delicate direct clash with Everton, who were beaten 2-1 at Goodison Park with Ait Nouri’s decisive goal scored in the dying minutes following a masterful counter-attack. Three platinum points that allowed Wolves to leave last place in the table.
Moutinho
The Prediction
Wolverhampton look set to go up in performance with Lopetegui at the helm, not least because doing worse than his predecessor seems frankly impossible. And the feeling is that Wolves can give Manchester United a run for their money, as they have been a bit stuttering away from home, conceding 16 goals compared to the four they have conceded at Old Trafford. United are slight favourites, but Wolves are likely to score at least one goal.
Wolverhampton v Manchester United likely line-up
- WOLVERHAMPTON (4-3-3): José Sa; Semedo, Collins, Kilman, Ait-Nouri; Matheus Nunes, Ruben Neves, Moutinho; Hwang Hee-Chan, Diego Costa, Guedes.
- MANCHESTER UNITED (4-3-3): De Gea; Wan-Bissaka, Varane, Lisandro Martinez, Shaw; Bruno Fernandes, Casemiro, Eriksen; Antony, Martial, Rashford.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 1-2
