Wolves vs Manchester United Prediction: Entertaining affair in prospect at Molineux

There won't be much Christmas cheer around Old Trafford heading into this game, as Manchester United travel to the West Midlands on Boxing Day to face Wolves on the back of a humbling 3-0 defeat to AFC Bournemouth.

Vitor Pereira's first game in charge of the hosts couldn't have gone much better as his side beat Leicester City 3-0 last time out, and Molineux will be full of hope for the new manager's first home game in charge. Read on for my Wolves vs Manchester United prediction, as well as the latest team news and match odds.

Football Odds

Team News

Pereira has not flagged up any fresh injury concerns following his side's triumph at the weekend, and he'll also welcome back Rayan Ait-Nouri following a one-game ban.

Mario Lemina and Pablo Sarabia are both expected to miss out, with their returns likely to come in January, while Boubacar Traore, Sasa Kalajdzic, Enso Gonzalez and Yerson Mosquera are other notable long-term absentees.

As for the visitors, Mason Mount, Luke Shaw and Victor Lindelof are all sidelined until January, however Matthijs de Ligt is expected to return from a virus.

Speculation continues to surround the future of Marcus Rashford, who has missed United's last three outings and subsequently said he's ready for a new challenge, but there's a chance he could make the bench, given United's limited options in attack.

Wolves vs Manchester United Odds

*Please click on the link above to be taken to the main Wolves vs Manchester United page on betfred.com (or app) for all the live betting prices on this match.

The hosts are 11/4 to make it back-to-back wins under the new manager, and the draw can be backed at the same price, while United are favourites to claim all three points at 19/20, giving them an implied win probability of 51.3%.

Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee both top the anytime goalscorer market at 6/4, while Matheus Cunha is shortest-priced for the hosts at 2/1.

Wolves to win @ 11/4

United remain favourites to return to winning ways at Molineux, but the hosts look a value bet to make it a nightmare Christmas for Ruben Amorim's side.

Wolves are five places and 10 points behind United in the Premier League standings, but Pereira's side will enter the game in much greater confidence. For the second consecutive season, the Red Devils suffered a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Bournemouth at Old Trafford on Sunday, demonstrating how big of a job Amorim has on his hands.

United are still adjusting to Amorim's three-man defence, and have shipped 10 goals in their last three defeats, and I think Wolves can take advantage of a vulnerable backline here.

The hosts do have the worst defence in the league with 40 goals conceded in 17 matches. However, there hasn't been anything wrong with their attack, scoring more goals than fourth-placed Nottingham Forest, and they've have also notched six more than United despite being in the relegation zone.

Both teams to score and over 2.5 goals  @ 10/11

Regardless of the result, there should be plenty of goalmouth action on Thursday.

Not including the defeat to Bournemouth and the 4-0 win over Everton at the start of the month, both teams have scored in each one of Amorim's matches in charge of the Red Devils across all competitions. The same bet has also landed in four of Wolves' last six outings, and considering the defensive record of both teams, it wouldn't surprise me if both sides got on the scoresheet on Boxing Day.

Over 2.5 goals have been scored in each last five encounters for both teams, so I think the sensible play here is to side with the goals and both teams to score market.

Offers

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