Manchester United are back in Premier League action at Old Trafford this evening. Erik ten Hag has so far made three additions to his squad in the form of goalkeeper Andre Onana, midfielder Mason Mount and striker Rasmus Hojlund. There have been some departures from the club too with David De Gea, Phil Jones, Axel Tuanzebe, Alex Telles, Fred, Zidane Iqbal, Charlie Savage and Anthony Elanga have all left the club with more to follow.
United will be seeking to start strongly in the Premier League this season with an eye to mounting a title challenge, which might come too early for Ten Hag’s side. United lifted the Carabao Cup last season also reaching the final of the Emirates FA Cup, but were defeated by rivals Manchester City. Ten Hag will be seeking to create something with this United team he has built with the aim of adding more silverware this season – which is a distinct possibility.
Wolves recently sacked their manager, Julen Lopetegui who was at the club for about nine months, hiring former Bournemouth manager Gary O’Neil – so United will face another team with the new manager bounce, which happened so often last season. Wolves finished 13th in the league last season with United finishing third. Both teams will be seeking to do so much better this season but Wolves will need to find some kind of stability to do that, in my opinion.
Manchester United
Onana;
Wan-Bissaka, Varane, Martinez, Shaw;
Casemiro, Mount;
Antony, Fernandes, Garnacho;
Rashford
Substitutes
Henderson; Lindelof, Maguire, Dalot; Eriksen, Pellistri, McTominay; Martial, Sancho
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Sa;
Semedo, Kilman, Dawson, Ait Nouri;
Nunes, Gomes, Lemina;
Neto, Sarabia, Cunha
Substitutes
Bentley; Doherty, Gomes, Bueno; Traore, Hodge; Hwang, Kalajzic, Soares
United will be seeking to get all three points in the bag at the Theatre of Dreams on Monday evening – starting the 2023/24 Premier League season in style. United need to have a good start in the league this season and with the recent past showing Wolves as a tricky team, it is important for United to get this right. Wolves have many new faces in their squad this season and it could work from the get go or take a bit of time for the squad to gel together, but I am sire they’ll be ready.
Old Trafford became a fortress under Ten Hag last season, losing once and drawing three times in the 19 matches played there in the Premier League. United did not start on good form last season with defeats to Brighton and Hove Albion and Brentford which gave Ten Hag a shaky start to his debut season at the club – but it soon started to fall into place with United mounting a challenge for the title for a short period of time on their way to finishing third.
United had a positive pre-season if you look at the number of matches played and the strength of the squad that was utilised across all eight matches. United won four of them, drawing once and losing three times. Whilst there has been some changes at the club, United will be seeking to start on the front foot and put something together in order to close the gap on the likes of Manchester City and Arsenal with a view to challenging for the Premier League title soon.
Written by John Walker
