Wolves would have benefitted from playing at least one of those games over Christmas.
You can’t second guess the Premier League but Watford at home was a great opportunity to gather more points and reach halfway with a commanding tally.
After that was cancelled, a tough assignment at Arsenal would have been made a bit easier by the strain a 48-hour turnaround would have placed on their squad.
When those fixtures come around again they might not feel so presentable.
It seems as if this one is happening and a visit to Old Trafford is a grand way to kick-off 2022.
Happy New Year by the way.
Man Utd
The results haven’t been too bad for Ralf Rangnick so far (3 wins and a draw) but the performances have remained stodgy.
The top 4 is still a realistic objective but they will have to improve to keep pace with the likes of Arsenal, West Ham and Spurs who all look more cohesive outfits at present.
They have individual quality but finding the right blend and style for the group remains a problem. It will be interesting to see if they try to solve that problem by entering the market in January.
Ronaldo has come in and scored plenty of goals but contributions from Fernandes, Rashford, Cavani, Greenwood and Sancho have been spotty, partly because of injuries and partly due to none of them holding down a consistent place in the side.
But it’s in midfield where they seem to have issues due to a chronic lack of options beyond the familiar combination of Fred and McTominay. They were linked with Ruben Neves in the summer and if that deal was there to be done it was madness they didn’t follow through.
Aside from Paul Pogba, they have a full-strength squad to choose from so will fancy their chances of collecting another win here to extend their unbeaten run in the league to seven matches.
The home end
I found the following on a pre-match thread for tomorrow’s game on a popular Utd forum.
Wolves gave us a real test earlier in the season Utd very fortunate to get the 1-0 victory thanks to a Greenwood goal from memory Trincao caused us loads of problems but wasted his chances. Havent seen much of Wolves this season but their games are normally low scoring they’ve scored 13 let in 14 in their 18 games so far so they’ll be a very tough side to break down.
For Utd it’ll be the 3rd game in 8 days so I’m expecting some rotation.
DDG
Dalot Varane Maguire Shaw
Greenwood McTominay Fred Sancho
Ronaldo Bruno
Can’t see Matic and Cavani starting back to back games I think we need the width to try and stretch Wolves across the pitch like we did vs Burnley try and create some pockets of space for Bruno.
My only worry is the lack of target in the air up top it’ll be difficult for us to be as direct as we were vs Burnley as Ronaldo is not a back to goal target man which means bringing the ball up the pitch with short passes which we are not good at.
Wolves
We don’t know who tested positive prior to Arsenal and we don’t know who is and isn’t available tomorrow.
Hopefully we see something like the above to give us the best possible chance of getting a result.
Hoever came in and did well against Chelsea but I think Semedo should be back in for this one. He’s improved considerably as this season has progressed.
Can we score a goal? Utd certainly haven’t been air tight defensively so you’d hope Traore might expose some frailties if he’s in the side and afforded the opportunities to do his thing.
Last time out
It was heartbreak last season with Marcus Rashford winning it with the last kick of the game after we’d defended manfully and given them very little.
Earlier this season we were again unfortunate to lose by the odd goal after playing well and creating lots of chances but ultimately getting punished for not taking them. There was a foul on Ruben Neves in the build-up to their goal so we can rightly feel we’re perhaps due a bit of luck in this fixture.
Predictions
Well done to Sea Pigeon, BG, Prawny and Cannock Wolf who all correctly predicted a goalless draw with Chelsea last time out. All collect a maximum.
Cannock Wolf takes over at the top of the overall table at the end of Gameweek 18.
As always, if you’d like to join in, it’s simple – just leave your prediction in the comment section below using the boxes provided. Then repeat for every preview article throughout the season, making sure you always use the same email address to make your prediction. Your email is what ties you to your overall score.
You can read my prediction for the game in the comment section below.
Up The Wolves!
Polite request – when commenting in the preview article after the game has finished, can you not place score predictions in the boxes, please? It confuses the system. Many thanks.
I’ve got a bad feeling we’re going to field a naff team and get a naff result.
But if we can put something like our strongest XI out there, logic dictates we have a good chance of restricting them and perhaps exposing some of their frailties too.
Bruno expressed concerns about us not being able to find a rhythm after such a long break, but this is an established group of players that know exactly what they’re being asked to do, so hopefully, that won’t be a problem.
I’ll go for another credible point.
I’m going for a New Year upset (for Utd) and predict us to take all 3 points. In reality anything could happen; that said, that’s blindingly obvious.
Utd are, l believe, for the taking and given our talent along with executing our chances for a change, we can do it.
.
The games around Christmas and New Year are usually harder to predict but this time around, when adding the uncertainty of who will be playing, who is rusty due to recent isolation, one team having missed the last 2 fixtures etc etc it’s mission impossible.
That said, a low scoring game seems likely, and it doesn’t get lower than 0-0.
Hoping to be able to put out a near first team.
If so Utd are eminently beatable.
I’ll go with this prediction too.
It’s hard to have a lot of confidence with this match because we simply don’t score anything like enough goals.
On the other hand, we’re certainly very hard to break down so I feel I have to opt for another “close but no cigar” disappointment.
Sorry to bring a depressing air everybody, but I think you’ll see my reasoning. I just hope that we give the best attacking threats that we have, (Podence and Traore), a decent run out. We find it hard enough to score already, without hampering our chances of scoring further through our own timidity.
Come what may, happy new year everybody!
Covid dependant!
Man Utd 0
Wolves 1
We are going to kick start our season by kicking this bunch of posers right in the bollocks!
We owe them big time, and now is as good a time as any to start scoring a few.
They and their fans are an arrogant bunch of tossers, and deserve another spanking like wot Liverpool gave them.
If City can go on an eleven game winning streak, why can’t we?
5-1
Happy New Year y’all!!
I’ll be happy with a point. They will be expecting us to park the bus, but our counters can give us a couple of opportunities, The question is – will we be able to take those chances. Going for a 1-1 draw (and a cock up from ref/VAR).
Happy New Year ?
Too many ifs and buts for me on this one so going for honours even
They can be beaten just about taking our chances
I think we have a chance MU are very up and down and the defence is all over the place 2-1 to the Wolves.
I sense ManU are getting the rub of the green at the moment. Hopefully we can stop them. But it is hard to know who will be on the pitch…
The fact Mike Dean is Ref and Marriner (villa fan) is VAR doesn’t fill me with confidence. The Utd penalty will be awarded after 82 minutes. This after our perfectly good goal was ruled out by VAR because Marriner was having a shit and didn’t get a clear view of whether it was a goal or not. That said a Troare run and shot in the 97th minutes blasts in to the net. Yanited 1 WWFC 1.
Rumbles coming from their dressing room as big egos clash. Not sure Ragnick can count on full support from his squad – at least 2 or 3 will believe they are better equipped to decide on tactics.
So overall Man U have better players but Wolves have the best team.
Wish I could be optimistic about this game but I think that Utd will be a bit too good for us. We very often put in a sluggish performance after a break and Utd looked fairly impressive in their last game.
Happy New Year to all
Man U are neither Man City or Lpool and they scraped wins against our stellar defence, with Saiss available we gonna frustrate em and our attack has gotta come good sooner or later so 2-1 win for us. UTW
Happy new year bloggers and keep the faith in 2022.
Feel its a good time to play Manure. We should be rested, fit and hungry to be back on the pitch. The theatre of wet dreams can be very silent if the away team goes for it.
Guess we will playing against 13 men, given the officialdom on offer.
But, keep our record of defending and Raul to sneak a winner. VAR penalty to Manure in the 94th minute, SA saves, VAR says his boot lace moved off the line, retake, SA saves again…. Happy days.
Well can fantasise, can’t I?
The plastic manks will as usual be of the mindset that wolves shouldn’t even be on the same pitch as them so their usual arrogance and overconfidence will prevail.
If (and its a big IF ) we can avoid the usual dodgy penalty by the most corrupt pairing of officials in the premier league wolves have more than enough nous to hold if not turn this lot over.
I have a good feeling about feeling about this and i hope we dont come back to the blog seething about disgraceful var decisions … but dont hold your breath on that one.
Another stolen, but relevant article, commenting on a typical bullshit piece of so called journalism.
So we base our decisions on a media article that tells us that we need to sell to buy? Let’s look at that pearl of wisdom shall we first. If the club wants first team replacements and not squad additions, the club like any other club, has to clear out the higher earners first. For example : Wolves sold Patricio and raised circa £10m (probably in installments) and cleared £100k pw worth of wages at the same time. Wolves then bought Sa for circa £7m (probably paid in installments and before anyone starts pant wetting, paying installments is normal for any football club these days, Sky TV money is paid to clubs in arrears) Secondly, didn’t we already know that Wolves have made it public that we will sell to buy already? So is this really news? As for buying players, Wolves are more than well known these days in loaning with a view to a purchase first. The January window is 2 days old, but we are being very predictable in hitting the panic button or more like ‘pant wetting’. As for recalling our own players eg Sanderson, Ryan Giles, well Bruno Lage recalled these during a recent International break to see how good he thinks they are, isn’t Bruno Lage the best judge of these decisions? Just imagine had Wolves loaned out Kilman and he started impressive performances elsewhere, would he have been worth a recall? Finally, if Wolves hired Bruno Lage, does anyone else think Bruno Lage didn’t discuss Wolves strategy and plans with the club before taking the job, and does anyone think that Bruno Lage talks with Wolves regularly since he started?
Lots of assumptions based on nothing. Would you want Wolves to go out and buy whoever is available or would you prefer players who are actually already being pursued but instead of just loaning in say another Willian Jose, should we look at other options first?
Could do with a win here as there are a lot of teams around and just below us. Difficult to predict team and also performances due to illness and lack of training.
I do feel we are overdue for a good attacking performance, and if we can put them under a bit of early pressure and take our chances, a win is realistic. And avoid biased VAR and referee decisions!
Oh, to shove a good result down the Man U supporters throats would start my New Year off in grand style!! Especially as they “stole” the last game early in the season.
As a former center-back myself, and appreciating the defensive skills of players, I take great pleasure in a clean sheet. Hopefully we will get one tomorrow!
Christmas pudding will still be going down after our extended break and squad a little depleted – hoping for a draw.
It is all a bit team dependent but as long as we have our trusty back three we should be able to limit them to their guaranteed penalty or the VAR decision to which seem to be a moral right if you are a top four club.
A season or two ago I would have scoffed at such a conspiracy theory!
I fancy us to get one as they’re a bit chaotic at the back so that’s a 1-1 then.
We find our scoring boots
Renaldo,s ego gets him sent off
3-2 to the old gold
Come on you wolves
I’d be happy with a point but I hope we can just shade it.
In the past couple of seasons United have been known for being less than the sum of their individual parts.
We have made a name for ourselves over that time for being a sum rather larger than our individual parts.
And some of our individual parts are pretty impressive.
Just ask the PMDG’er.
Ergo, we’re going to win tomorrow.
Unless the individual parts that usually make up our sum are missing due to Covid.
In which case, we might have to settle for a draw.
Does that make any sense?
No, I didn’t think so.
I think I might be still pissed from New Year’s Eve.
Happy 1974 everybody.
If I wasn’t sure when I started to read your post but I’m sure as night follows day… when I’d finished….
You’re pissed … good one DOOG….
More Brandy if I’m not mistaken..!
For sure, if our best team were available, we could, and probably would, win this. However, some are definitely out and others may be covidised, so predicting is even more unpredictable than usual.
Besides, whoever we can put on the pitch is irrelevant as the VARman will ensure the right team wins.
I honestly believe that.
How desperately sad.
I agree Wolfie. Be prepared for VAR to : confirm a Man U penalty or rule out a WWFC goal. Stinks but when was the last time (only time) we had a soft penalty/ marginal goal given to us ????
Not quite knowing who’s got Covid etc makes judging the teams chances a bit of a guess…
I was very surprised to see that Man Ure had won 3 and drawn 1 during Rangnackers reign.
That said I watched them against Newcastle and they were bang average:
They were lucky at the Mol when Mike Dean closed his eyes when Neves was clearly fouled in their goal build up.
And scary Mary it’s Deano again in the middle..
So he’s got some making up to do .. in our favour and therefore I predict we’ll win with Ronaldinho getting sent off and McGuire being substituted after crying his eyes up when Jimenez waltzed past him to head our winner….
(thankfully despite serious scrutiny Andre Marina couldn’t find a VAR reason to overturn it)
We haven’t conceded this year but haven’t scored either. The theme is going to continue.
Ain’t got a clue tbh.
Nor me Brompton.
Think they’ll shade it.
COMBs!
We can nick this one. Traore needs to shine to attract a buyer and he owes us a goal or two.
COYW
Greetings and Congratulations, you’ve made it to 2022.
Top post as ever Thomas, a thumbs up doesn’t do your journalistic skills justice.
Kenny Hibbitt couldn’t have forseen the blatent abuse of digital monitoring or that we’d be governed by an albino lab rat who kept us locked up in concrete boxes, when he took the pitch back in ’74.
Anyway I got a wax Ronaldo dummy and a box of pins for Xmas so that’s my Monday night entertainment sorted.
Oh and watching Traore score an era defining hatrick. I’m talking epic, hallucenogenic in its beauty and complexity. 3 equally glorious assists from Jimi the magician.
Glad to see the Tragics have employed a bathroom fitter to lead the shambles. He did a decent job on my taps in 2012.
Can it get any worse?
1 lv & COYW.
Mike Dean has given more penalties (21) to Man Utd than any other referee – Fact
He has given more penalties against us than any other referee – opinion (mine)
We are perfectly capable of shutting the door on any team – Fact
We don’t look like scoring any time soon – opinion (mine)
So, unless MD gives them another penalty , they won’t score,
We might score but it will be ruled out because it’s Man Utd at Cold Trafford
and the game will last two hours because Fergie will be there.
As others have said above, we are seriously undercooked and my head says that if United get an early goal it will be a long evening. Good opportunity for Max to continue his education by playing against top players in Ronaldo and Cavani, however. Heart says we are due a good result and if we are brave enough to play our pressing game, then why not. Refuse to be overawed and a narrow win.
Here’s to a good second half of season 21/22. I’m expecting Wolves to improve as the weeks go on.
Too much has been made of our goal drought. Football is all about results and we have done better than many expected.
Having said that I think the goal taps will be turned on for this one. Adama, Raul and Silva late on are all about to get wet. Happy New Year all.
Yeah but football is an entertainment industry and goals are the main ingredient. Kinda dull without em despite our heroic defending.
No problem this one. Another game plan fron Bruno to undo the Manks.
The referee will give United 90 minutes to score and if they don’t then he will award them a penalty for wolves time waste. 1-0 United
Hard to predict with the uncertain availability of players. One thing for sure Manures twelfth man Dean will be in the mix somewhere assisted by his mate in VAR. 0 – 0
Really depends on fitness of the team that plays. Not sure who had covid and whether they were able to train . The others should be tested and hopefully Ait-Nouri is ok to play. Would be happy with a draw but ecstatic with a win. S
Happy New Year to all
Our games vs Manure and typically close and we’ve had. A Couple of heartbreaking 0-1’s
I don’t subscribe to to the ref conspiracy theories but I do recognize that they have a squad packed with talent and, well, we don’t score many
Hope I’m wrong and yes wish we’d banked 3 points from the Watford game
We really need to find a way to score.
Happy New Year to all bloggers.
Haven’t got a clue on the score really. I would happily settle for a draw but would obviously like a win. (Little chance with Dean in charge)
Onwards & Upwards
With the enforced break and covid in the camp it’s difficult to predict our starting 11 and how we will perform. If we can pick up from where we have left off I think we are capable of getting something. United obviously have threats at the top end of the pitch but I still think the offer their opponents chances to score.
It seems so long since we played and what with covid and other injuries it’s a guessing game about who will start.
We usually do ok at Old Trafford, and lose by a small margin, so I am hoping we have a positive game plan to try and open up a shaky defence.
It would be nice to see more Wolves goals in the New Year!
I’d be very happy with a point but can’t see it. Greenwood with the goal
It’s a game against one of the “big 6” so I expect It to be tight and VAR to screw us over at the death.
Even more difficult than ever to forecast a result as we have no idea as to how each side will line up. We could get a good result but I’m going for a draw and I have no reason for this apart from sitting on the fence, hoping for a win but expecting a loss. COYW!
Happy new year to you all. For once, a sober, clear-sighted analysis…
I was at Stamford Bridge yesterday for the Chelsea v Liverpool game. Fantastic goals. It was really a contest for the ‘best of the rest’ label behind Citeh.
Wolves gave each of the top three a bloody good game but sadly only took a single point for our troubles, when we deserved more. Ditto against Man U and Spurs. And, incredibly, our defensive record is second best in the PL, only bettered by a single goal by Citeh. With the halfway stage of our season coming up tonight, and 25 points already in the bag, that’s a hell of a lot for Bruno to be proud of, and more than many predicted on this blog.
For me I would be happy with a hard-fought point tonight, but I wonder how long Bruno’s defensive masterclass can hold without reinforcements. Ever the optimist, I’ve stuck a few quid on a Wolves win at 11/2 and BTTS at 11/1 but only because the odds flatter Manure. Just like £80mil to buy a donkey flatters Maguire. I hope that our Max at £35,000 proves my point tonight. For the Prediction League I’m going for 1-1.
Going for the two one win to wolves .., even if it is Mike Dean . Manchester have being riding their luck against us for too long
Reckon they’ll have too much for us
Never liked Utd
Happy New Year all
Ronaldo Podence and Raul to score
Happy New Year to all
Happy New Year to everyone.
Expecting a loss with Mr Dean but will go for a draw.
COYW
DRAW 1-1
Happy New Year all!
Surprised to see Traore on the bench. It will be interesting to see if he is still at Wolves at the end of this month, but I’m not holding my breath.
I will be delighted with a draw.
Happy New Year to all Bloggers – and to Bruno and the boys.
This looks like a strange game with lots of stats flying around. Those for MU seem impressive, but we aren’t so shabby in that area ourselves. I don’t see the historical stats having the slightest influence today but, an uncharacteristic off day apart, our defence has currently only been bettered by one other team. It has to end some time, but to go this far in a season without conceding from a set piece is amazing. Looking at the team there aren’ many teams with more skilful players than our front three, our midfield and our back three. So here we go – ‘shock result’ to come. COYW
A win…
ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT!!!!!!!!!
NEVER IN DOUBT!!!!!!
Wonderful 40 years of shit wiped out
Woohoo!!!
I’ll let you all know when I’m off the ceiling!!
Fantastic lads!!
My jaw is aching.
Clive, Clive pray tell, how does one remove the shit eating grin from one’s face?
Two halves. We played well in two halves. Well done me babbies.
More than deserved that was. No travesty here. Should have bin more. Fuckin Wolves Ay We!!
Hee hee
Brilliant performance and a fantastic result. We were the better team over 90mins and deserved the 3 points. I thought that Semedo was brilliant, Podence had a really good game but needs to stay on his feet and Fabio looked very impressive in his late cameo but overall it was a magnificent team performance!!!
Wolves ay We
Get in. Brand new for 22. Sa last minute saviour.
Moutinho.
Brill.