@ZAPunter takes a look at the English Premier League match between Wolves and Manchester United which takes place on Monday 19th August
WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS VS MANCHESTER UNITED, Monday @ 21.00
Molineux Stadium plays host to the campaign’s second round of games between Wolves and Manchester United. Wolves will be hoping to improve on their away draw against Leicester City and Manchester United will be hoping their 4-0 trashing of Chelsea wasn’t a fluke. Wolves were involved in the Europa League on Thursday evening, easily advancing against Pyunik from Armenia. Nuno made a number of changes for the midweek match and will most likely continue with his strongest team on Monday evening. The Red Devils couldn’t have asked for a more perfect start, beating their top 4 rivals convincingly. Ole will be aware that Chelsea should have scored twice in the first half, but will be very impressed by his team’s second half performance. Wolves beat Manchester United twice at the Molineux last season and will be hoping to get a result on Monday evening.
WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS:
Wolves enjoyed great success against the top 6 teams last season and will be desperate to maintain it this season. Nuno’s side had a goal chalked off by the VAR last weekend and couldn’t find the winning goal away from home. Wolves were a revelation last season and the Premier League teams took time adapting to their formation and style of play. Mexican forward Jimenez led the line last season and scored a number of key goals to secure 7th place for newly promoted Wolves. Nuno was coach of the year material for the way he set up the team and the big results he got for the Midlands club. Hi Ho Wolverhampton will be ringing out on Monday evening as they will face Manchester United with no fear.
MANCHESTER UNITED:
What a way to start your campaign with a 4-0 defeat to league rivals. New signings Maguire, Wan-Bissaka and James all made positive impressions on their Manchester United debuts last weekend. Manchester United were outplayed by Chelsea in the first half and only started playing good football in the second half. Ole set the team up to hit Chelsea on the counter attack and it caused all sorts of problems for the West London team. Chelsea couldn’t deal with the pace of Rashford and paid the price. The Red Devils will know that one game doesn’t change everything and that there’s a lot of work still needed to improve on last season. Ole stated that he wants to play the “Manchester United way” which is attacking football, staying on the front foot. Will it be possible on Monday evening vs Wolves?
PROBABLE LINE-UPS AND TEAM NEWS:
Wolves: 3-5-2
Patricio,
Bennett, Coady, Boly,
Doherty, Dendoncker, Neves, Moutinho, Jonny,
Jimenez, Jota.
*Wolves will be making a number of changes from the Europa League Victory. No injured players.
Manchester United: 4-3-3
De Gea,
Wan-Bissaka, Lindelof, Maguire, Shaw,
Pogba, McTominay, Pereira,
Lingard, Martial, Rashford.
*Bailly and Sanchez are still unavailable for selection.
PREDICTION:
Don’t let recency bias determine your bets. Wolverhampton was excellent last season and Manchester United poor compared to the clubs high standards. One big victory against Chelsea won’t mean that the Manchester United of old is back. I expect Wolves to be a lot better than Chelsea defensively and take their chances against Manchester United. When I priced up this game I had Wolves a slight favourite over Manchester United. I think there is a lot of value on Wolves this weekend and they have been playing competitive football for a month now.
BETTING:
Wolverhampton Wanderers +0.25 (Asian Handicap) – 1.87 @ BetOlimp
* Manchester United Win = Loss
* Draw = Half Win
* Wolverhampton Victory = Full Win
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change
@ZAPunter
