Man Utd

In case you didn’t know, we’re in the age of artificial intelligence.

And if you asked a computer to imagine a standard home victory in the Premier League, it would almost certainly spit out something resembling this sun-drenched kickabout.

A predictable defeat at the Theatre of Dreams that followed all the familiar algorithms.

Utd squandered several chances before they eventually got ahead while Wolves enjoyed their share of the ball without ever threatening.

After a couple of shaky outings for David De Gea, he’ll have enjoyed not having to make a single save in the entire game. I can’t even remember him holding the ball in his hands.

Meanwhile, at the other end, Daniel Bentley was our Man of the Match on his Wolves and Premier League debut. He made three top-class stops to keep his team in the game before that final breakaway sealed the deal.

Others were tidy in possession and diligent in their work, but nobody was able to summon anything in the final third to make a fairly average Man Utd team sweat about seeing the game out.

Hwang had one good run in behind and Podence produced a cross that wouldn’t quite drop for Raul, but those nearly moments have too often been all we can muster.

The job for the summer is clear – sweep the decks and re-imagine the entire attacking unit. Nobody should be safe because nobody has produced the goods consistently enough to be overlooked.

That’s the only way we can avoid these familiar shutouts and end what’s been three years of steady decline in front of goal.

Fortunately, today’s result doesn’t matter and for all the frustration over our meagre output, that’s still worth celebrating.

But we must learn from what we see and take appropriate action. Even a computer can do that.

It was good to hear Julen Lopetegui talking about the hard work required over the summer.

Outgoings are inevitable but I am concerned that the favourable points return since the manager’s arrival might translate to minimal recruitment.

The 1.5 points per game average we’ve achieved in the Lopetegui era would place us comfortably in the top half if extrapolated over a full season, but I think we all know that pleasing statistic masks what has been a long hard slog to safety.

None of our victories, with the possible exception of Liverpool, have been achieved with comfort and in between the good results we’ve seen some awful performances.

It needs to be foot to the floor again between now and August so the squad is battle ready from minute one next time.

Man Utd

We’ve taken care of our business and can enjoy this one, but Utd have come unstuck lately and Liverpool’s resurgence means they badly need to pocket a result.

Fortunately for them, three of their remaining games are at Old Trafford, which has reclaimed fortress status under Erik ten Hag. They’ve dominated there in all competitions and won 12 of 16 in the league, with just that single loss to Brighton right at the start blotching their record.

It’s their away form dragging them back with two defeats to Brighton and West Ham coming after they surrendered a two-goal lead to Tottenham. Winning just one of those games would have made a top-four finish close to inevitable.

Injuries and suspensions have at times pinched a thin-looking squad and it’s likely some of their better players are feeling the strain coming down the home stretch.

The goals aren’t flowing quite as freely for Marcus Rashford these days but the 29 he’s got in all competitions still makes for an exceptional season.

He came off the bench to win the reverse fixture at Molineux earlier in the season with a goal that showcased his capabilities but was way too soft from a Wolves perspective.

Wolves

Will Julen stick with the team that’s delivered the goods or use these final games to give others a chance?

We certainly don’t want a repeat of the Brighton game so best to start with the tried and tested and go from there. The lop-sided 442 has worked nicely at home and given us good defensive shape but hasn’t yet translated to success on our travels.

Cunha was sacrificed at Brighton to get another body in the midfield, which has a certain logic, but that failed experiment must come into the manager’s thinking.

It’s certainly no coincidence that the players he’s marginalised lately – Ait-Nouri, Raul, Sarabia, Podence, and Jonny are all those that haven’t looked physically up to the challenge. Any or all of those players could leave in the summer.

The above XI plus Bueno, Collins, Gomes, Adama and Hwang seem to be the squad he’s relying on to see us home. I’m not sure what’s happened to Boubacar Traore? He was reportedly back in training a month ago and Lopetegui said he’d be a useful player, which he should be in this system.

Predictions

Well done to Pauluswolf, vicsmith, Matt Cook and Sea Pigeon who all correctly predicted the winning scoreline against Villa.

Rich still holds a 4-point lead at the top of the overall table at the end of Gameweek 35.

As always, if you’d like to join in with the Prediction League this season, 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.

There was a sense of inevitably about that one.

With Marcus Rashford left out for miscellaneous indiscretions, the narrative was set up for him to come on and write the headlines.

He’s in a good moment the England man, so it was little surprise he took the game away from Wolves with the type of devastating forward play the old gold simply can’t produce.

That’s not to say we should have made it quite that easy for him to trot across the penalty area and blast the only goal of the game.

We lack aggression in the tackle and that was exposed once again in that match winning moment. Well played, but at the same time, too soft from our perspective.

Lopetegui had played his hand by that point, switching to a back five, so it must have been doubly disappointing for him to see them carve us open with a simple give and go.

After that, the shape of the team left us exposed to numerous Utd counter attacks and it’s a minor miracle we didn’t concede again.

Raul could have snatched a point at the death and perhaps should have done with the header that De Gae was able to palm away, but that was one of only two times the Utd keeper was forced into action.

Ruben’s earlier free kick was well struck but a save you’d expect the former Spanish number one to deal with comfortably. In open play, there was very little to celebrate.

The first half saw both teams waiting to pounce rather than seizing control, but it was the away team extending Sa in the big moments, with Semedo’s inability to defend once again exposed.

Lopetegui needs Matheus Cunha to give our attack drive and purpose but if we don’t fix the deficiencies in defence, the first half of 2023 could be every bit as challenging as the second half of 2022.

With more options to bring in and the promise of further arrivals, there is however, still enough at the head coach’s disposal to hope for a happier new year.

A point at Goodison Park wouldn’t have been an awful result.

But getting the win, particularly in the circumstances it was achieved, is the jolt of electricity Julen Lopetegui needed to get this club going.

After the previous two league victories, we couldn’t follow up so it’s important Wolves push hard this time to maintain that good feeling.

It won’t be easy against a resurgent Utd team but there’s no reason at all we can’t achieve another positive outcome.

Man Utd

Notts Forest were swept aside the other night with relative ease and there’s a fluidity about Utd we haven’t seen for a good while.

Of course it helps that they spent about £200m in the summer but you can see the value out on the pitch. Casemiro and Erikson (who was free admittedly) have given them structure and creativity in the midfield that’s been sorely lacking.

Martinez too looks a good addition. Much was made of his lack of height in those early defeats but he’s shown since that he’s a strong competitor.

Getting rid of Ronaldo was a smart move, even if it ends up costing them a few results. He was casting a shadow over otherwise encouraging progress under Ten Haag.

They need to build out their squad but a top four finish and a trophy of some description are realistic objectives for this season.

Wolves

Although we ended the game on Boxing Day playing a back three, I don’t think Lopetegui will start with it tomorrow.

Only because he said in his post-match interview he was worried about Everton’s aerial threat and given that Utd don’t have a centre forward and aren’t blessed with tremendous height, that extra body may be better deployed further forward.

I’d definitely bring Nunes into the team. I’d also consider Guedes or Traore for Hwang. Ait-Nouri could come in for Bueno but he’s been an asset from the bench so do you alter that dynamic?

Raul for Costa isn’t entirely unlikely either given the latter’s inability to score.

Predictions

Well done to WOLFSTROKER, St.Kitts Wolves, CHEESEBURGER OF DEATH, Dirty South Wolf, Dek, DancesWithWolves, DeptfordWolf, Marin Wolf, Dallas Bob, The Witley Wanderer, basherbaz and Cannock Wolf for all collecting a maximum by correctly predicting a 2-1 victory against Everton.

Rich takes the lead at the top of the overall table at the end of Gameweek 16.

As always, if you’d like to join in with the Prediction League this season, 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!

Just as the January doom and gloom was beginning to set in, Bruno Lage finds a way of making us smile again.

There’s nothing quite like a first win at Old Trafford in more than 40 years to dispel the John Percy-induced anxiety of the last few days.

While this win won’t stop the fevered debate about Fosun’s ambitions for the club (or lack thereof), it does serve as a timely reminder of what we already have.

Make no mistake about it, this was a 1-0 battering.

Wolves controlled proceedings against a team whose bench cost more than most Premier League teams (including our own).

Sure, there were a few heart-in-mouth moments. It certainly wouldn’t have been a surprise if Fernandes had netted an equaliser at the death, especially when you think back to our last outing at this ground.

But we were more than good value for this result. It was as complete an away performance as you could hope for, and a further indication of just how good a manager we’ve bagged in Lage.

The discipline he has instilled in this team is remarkable, with every player seeming to have their role nailed down to a tee.

And the individual improvement is there for all to see. Semedo, Kilman, Coady, Saiss, Moutinho, Neves and Podence are all fine examples of that.

Heck, even Fabio made an impact when called upon. Perhaps all is not lost there after all.

There can be no doubt that reinforcements are still required, especially if we want to capitalise on the momentum that has been built over the first half of the season.

But nights like tonight are enough to remind us all that things are pretty sweet as they are, though one does hope that it will be enough to encourage Jeff and co to blow the dust off the Fosun coffers.

Back this manager and the sky is the limit.

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.