Premier League: Red Devils Smell Blood on the Ailing Wolves

Manchester United vs Wolverhampton Wanderers

Erik ten Hag’s second season in charge of Manchester United starts with a battle against Wolves for their opening match here in the 2023-24 Premier League campaign.

The Red Devils have improved their roster overall given their busy summer transfer window. Even if they’ve had mixed results in their club friendlies, Manchester United fans look ahead to this season with optimism compared to last year.

But the same can’t be said about the Wolves, who are experiencing a difficult summer. Much of their offseason was about trying to alleviate their dire financial situation in order to abide by the FFP regulations. As a result, they haven’t done much to improve their squad.

In fact, many pundits have them as a relegation candidate, but that could all change if they somehow get a positive start against the Red Devils on Monday.

Talking Points

Hojlund’s Manchester United debut will have to wait

Here at SBOTOP, we made a prediction on how Manchester United would line up this August. We got them right for the most part, except for the goalkeeper and centre-forward spots.

Andre Onana has replaced David De Gea as the team’s first-choice goalkeeper, while Rasmus Hojlund, who was introduced to Old Trafford last week, is unfortunately unavailable due to a back injury.

The addition of Hojlund has drawn mixed reactions from pundits and fans alike because of his £72 million price tag. There are questions about his capability, and his back injury doesn’t help either.

At Atalanta last season, Hojlund registered nine goals and two assists across all competitions, but take note that he only played 32 matches. More than anything, Erik ten Hag sees him as a project because he just turned 20 and he has unlimited potential.

For now, the obvious choice for the centre-forward position is their top scorer last season, Marcus Rashford. The English international had his best individual campaign last season, scoring 30 goals and dishing out nine assists across all competitions.

Another option is Jadon Sancho, albeit as a false nine. During pre-season, Erik ten Hag deployed the former BVB man in the said position several times, which has yielded decent results.

Wolves have a new boss

The Wolves will have a new manager to lead them this year. After parting ways with Julen Lopetegui, they tapped Gary O’Neil, as reported in the Premier League 2023 news.

Lopetegui decided to leave because he didn’t like the direction the club was heading, and it’s hard to blame him. O’Neil, on the other hand, was surprisingly dismissed by the Cherries despite guiding them to safety in 15^th place last term.

O’Neil has the unenviable task of restoring belief in the dressing room, and it starts in the final third. The Molineux outfit were the Premier League’s lowest scorers as they only had 31 goals, and they sold the talismanic Ruben Neves to Al-Hilal for £47 million.

The key player for Wolves is Sasa Kalajdzic, for whom the team forked out £15.5 million to pry him away from VfB Stuttgart last year. The Austrian striker sustained a knee injury that knocked him out of commission for the 2022-23 campaign, so hopefully he is 100-per cent fit because they need him badly.

History

Manchester United have lost just one of their last 12 league home matches against the Wolves (W8, D3), which was a 1-0 result in January 2022.

The Red Devils also had the most wins in the opening matchday of the Premier League (W20). However, they lost on the first matchday in two of the last three seasons.

One of them was last year, in Erik ten Hag’s first game in charge. Brighton came away 2-1 winners when Pascal Groß scored twice in nine minutes, while Alexis Mac Allister had an own goal in favour of Manchester United.

Last season, the Red Devils achieved a league double over the Wolves with scores of 1-0 in December and 2-0 in May. Wolves have now lost five of their last six games against their hosts.

Betting Tip

Going for a Manchester United victory seems like the obvious choice this weekend, as they’re priced at 1.29 to win, whereas the Wolves are the underdogs at 8.00, and a draw is priced at 5.00 in the 1X2 market.

Another reason why the Premier League 2023 odds like the Red Devils’ chances is because they’ve been virtually unbeatable at home since last season, and that should stay the same now that they have a stronger roster.

 

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