Manchester United -v- Wolverhampton Wanderers
Premier League
Old Trafford, Manchester
Sunday 20 April 2024, KO 14:00 BST
Manchester United return to Premier League action on Sunday as they welcome Wolverhampton Wanderers to the Theatre of Dreams. United have been boosted this season with the 5-4 victory over Olympique Lyonnais, 7-6 on aggregate, which has seen them reach the semi finals of the UEFA Europa League this season.
Ruben Amorim’s side will need to do better in the Premier League with the club closer to relegation than the top four, which goes to show how many problems the club has entering a very important summer transfer window for the club – which must be done correctly addressing all of the problem areas on the pitch, of which there are many.
United’s season could have been over with a defeat to Lyon but three goals in about seven minutes changed that with United riding their luck after leading 2-0 at half time and collapsing in the last twenty minutes of the match before scoring the much needed goals and earning their place in semi finals of the Europa League.
United – Form, Goals Scored & Assists
Lyon 5-4 W, Newcastle 4-1 L, Lyon 2-2 D, City 0-0 D, Forest 1-0 L, Leicester 3-0 W
Goals: 17 – Bruno Fernandes, 10 – Alejandro Garnacho, 9 – Amad, 8 – Rasmus Hojlund, Marcus Rashford, 7 – Joshua Zirkzee, 4 – Diogo Dalot, Christian Eriksen, Harry Maguire, 3 – Casemiro, 2 – Matthijs de Ligt, Kobbie Mainoo, Lisandro Martinez, Manuel Ugarte, 1 – Antony, Jonny Evans, Leny Yoro
Assists: 16 – Bruno Fernandes, 9 – Alejandro Garnacho, 7 – Amad, 5 – Diogo Dalot, 4 – Christian Eriksen, 3 – Marcus Rashford, 2 – Casemiro, Rasmus Hojlund, Lisandro Martinez, Noussair Mazraoui, Manuel Ugarte, Joshua Zirkzee, 1 – Kobbie Mainoo, Harry Maguire
Wolves – Form, Goals Scored & Assists
Spurs 4-2 W, Ipswich 2-1 W, West Ham 1-0 W, Southampton 2-1 W, Everton 1-1 D, Bournemouth 1-1 (5-4 p) L
Goals: 14 – Matheus Cunha, 12 – Jørgen Strand Larsen, 4 – Rayan Aït-Nouri, 3 – João Gomes, 2 – Jean-Ricner Bellegarde, Matt Doherty, Gonçalo Guedes, Hwang Hee-chan, Pablo Sarabia, 1 – Rodrigo Gomes, Mario Lemina, Marshall Munetsi
Assists: 6 – Rayan Aït-Nouri, Jean-Ricner Bellegarde, 4 – Matheus Cunha, Gonçalo Guedes, Nélson Semedo, 3 – Mario Lemina, 2 – Jørgen Strand Larsen, Pablo Sarabia, 1 – Matt Doherty, Tommy Doyle, João Gomes, Toti Gomes, Marshall Munetsi
Previous Meetings & Connections
United and Wolves have met 21 times in the Premier League. United have won 13 times, drawn three times with Wolves winning five times. United have scored 32 goals in these matches, winning three penalties; scoring two. Wolves have scored 16 goals, winning one penalty, scoring it.
United have kept 10 clean sheets in these matches with Wolves keeping four. Discipline has been an issue in the matches against Wolves. United players have been shown 41 yellow cards and two red cards. Wolves players have been shown 34 yellow cards and one red card.
Jim McCalliog, Scott McGarvey, Darren Ferguson, Paul Ince, Denis Irwin, Darron Gibson, Cameron Borthwick-Jackson, Sam Johnstone and Tomasz Kuszczak have all played for United and Wolves during their careers. Irwin and Ince are probably the more well-known players having both done well with trophies at United.
Team News
United: Amorim has another crisis to deal with now that Lisandro Martinez, Matthijs de Ligt, Ayden Heaven, Jonny Evans, Amad, Toby Collyer and Joshua Zirkzee are all out of action for the foreseeable future. United have no attacking depth and few options with experience at this stage of the season, which is a shame.
Ruled Out: Lisandro Martinez (knee), Matthijs de Ligt (ankle/foot), Ayden Heaven (ankle/foot), Jonny Evans (lower back), Amad (ankle/foot), Toby Collyer (other) and Joshua Zirkzee (thigh)
Doubts: None
Suspended: None
Wolves: Vitor Pereira’s side have many injury problems to contend with at this stage of the season but their form has been largely positive – winning four, drawing once and losing once, on penalties in their last six matches. United’s form is not so good but they will still be high on Thursday nights result at Old Trafford.
Ruled Out: Leon Chiwone (knee), Yerson Mosquera (knee), Enso Gonzalez Medina (knee), Sam Johnstone (muscular), Pedro Cardoso de Lima (ankle/foot) and Sasa Kalajdzic (knee)
Doubts: Jean-Ricner Bellegarde (calf/shin/heel), Matt Doherty (knock) and Hee-Chan Hwang (other)
Suspended: None
Predicted United Starting XI – 3-4-2-1
Onana;
Mazraoui, Maguire, Yoro;
Dalot, Ugarte, Casemiro, Dorgu;
Fernandes, Garnacho;
Hojlund
Predicted Wolves Starting XI – 4-2-3-1
Sá;
Bueno, Toti, Agbadou;
Semedo, André, Gomes, Aït-Nouri;
Munetsi, Sarabia;
Larsen
History, training and the lead up to the big match
United and Wolves have met 114 times in the history of both clubs with United winning 56 times, drawing 20 times and losing 38 times. United lost 2-0 to Wolves on Boxing Day earlier this season and will be seeking to get revenge for that defeat by continuing their current high at the Theatre of Dreams on Sunday.
United will need to focus and start in the same fashion they started against Lyon on Thursday evening – scoring two early goals. But they need to keep their heads and work hard to stay on top in the match, aiming to score more goals to grind out the result in their favour. United need to better their Premier League position this season.
That said, there is nothing for United to gain in the Premier League this season as the European places are well out of reach with six matches remaining. Beating Athletic Club in the semi final of the UEFA Europa League and going onto a final victory is what will get them into the UEFA Champions League next season.
Manchester United 3-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers
Written by Paul
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2025-04-18 17:30:00
