We're at the midway mark of Ruben Amorim's first full campaign in charge of United and his side will take on the perfect team to close out what has been one hell of a 2025 👀.
Having faced Wolves not so long ago, we do have an idea of what they're all about.
However, since that 4-1 victory a few weeks ago, much has actually changed with United. Injuries, absentees and potentially a different formation means that this one may not be as straightforward as some might think.
Predicted Lineup
I was actually struggling with picking my predicted XI. At the point of writing this, I don't know whether some players like Mainoo, De Ligt and Maguire are back. If they are, there's a good chance they will play especially De Ligt although with the forms of Heaven and Martinez, that may not be the case.
Against Newcastle, there was a formation change which saw United play some good football for the first 45 minutes before reverting to default settings which resulted in relying on a Mourinho masterclass to see out the 1-0 win.
Considering how well the team performed in a 4-3-3 and how many have been calling for this formation, can Amorim afford to go back to his beloved 3-4-3?
Well for me, no. No he cannot.
The back line looked a lot more settled and that's why it's the same as was against Newcastle. The midfield pairing of Casemiro and Ugarte also performed well with the Uruguayan in particular putting in his best of the season.
Could Mainoo return if he's available? Perhaps, but only in the place of Mount. I don't know what's the issue with him but being substituted at halftime when you're playing well is more an indication of an injury rather than for tactical reasons.
I wouldn't be surprised if he was out.
The only other option for Amorim on the right of the three-man midfield is Zirkzee. I doubt the manager will want to use him there (or at all) but as push has come to shove, what else can he do?
The front three will remain Cunha, Sesko and the man of the moment Dorgu after his brilliant performance and stunner of a winner last time out. He cannot be dropped after that game.
There is the option of starting youngsters but when has the manager ever done that? I also believe he has enough players available at the moment so as to not need the academy.
I'm not sure whether he will stick to a 4-3-3 but surely he can't change it now he's tried it and it worked?
What do you think he'll do with the formation?
Approach
Wolves were foolish in the reverse fixture. They were very open and played into our hands to which we had a pretty simple victory in the end.
Whether this was over confidence from Rob Edwards and his side or the fact that they thought they could get at a crap United, I don't know, but I would welcome that approach from them again.
However, two of their recent matches were narrow defeats at Arsenal and Liverpool. Wolves were more defensive in those encounters which makes more sense considering the opponent and location. If they did their homework though, they would see that United struggle against these more defenisve teams.
Perhaps they would've learned that after losing 4-1 and go with the conservative style of play.
If that is the case, I don't know how we will approach this game.
If we use a different formation, other than making the players feel a lot more comfortable, I don't know how this will make us able to break them down even more so with all those absentees.
Looking back at the win over Newcastle, we were actually pretty flat until Dorgu's volley. That was yet another moment though, rather than from sustained pressure in which we deserved a goal. From then on for the remaining 20 minutes of the first half, United played their best football of the game.
But we had to rely on that moment for this improvement in the performance to occur.
The second half was another matter as United sat back and invited the pressure. The positive about doing this was that we were in the lead allowing for Amorim to go more defensive. Getting that first goal is all important because this means that teams who do like to (or should) sit back have to open up which works in our favour. In fact, we haven't lost in any of the 12 games in which we've scored first (7 wins, 5 draws).
Should Wolves play more open with a high line and pass out from the back, then it should be easy pickings for United. Pressing high has been one of our strengths this season as in the 4-1 win, we created several chances from winning the ball back high up the field with Bruno's opener came from such a situation. Running into the space is something else that we exploit well as once more, we had multiple opportunities to score at Molineux in these circumstances.
If Wolves are a little more defensive, one of the ways to exploit them is to put crosses into the box.
Since Edwards joined, they've conceded 14 goals. 6 of those have come from crosses and set-pieces which again, is a strength of United's. If you look at them defensively, any time a ball comes into the 18-yard area, it causes havoc.
Wolves themselves are ironically at the top of the table in terms of most crosses completed this season with 95. In 4th though, is United with 86. Almost a third of our 32 goals have come from set-pieces and balls into the box.
With all of this in mind, this gives us a great chance of utilizing Sesko and his height. His aerial ability is ridiculous yet we've not truly seen it as we haven't played to that strength of his (yet 🤞).
One of our best performances and games in which we had a lot of chances was at Wolves. Let's hope we can replicate that this time round even without a fully fit squad.
Form
We've been inconsistent of late. The win over Newcastle was just our third in our last nine and was also just our second clean sheet. Those 3 points had moved us into 5th before the other fixtures which was the highest we'd been all season.
As we've seen offensively, United actually have no problems as our 32 scored is the third most behind City's 43 and Arsenal's 33. At this stage last season, we had scored just 21!
The issue has been with conceding. 28 is the most in the top 10 and amongst the most in the league. This means we always give teams a chance. Wolves themselves scored for the first time in five matches in that 4-1 loss to United at the start of the month.
Beating Newcastle meant that we moved into 7th in the home table now with five wins, two draws and two losses. The 17 we've scored is only bettered by Arsenal, City and Brentford. Once again though, the 12 conceded is the joint-most in the top 10.
Four of our five draws have come against sides in the bottom half of the table while the wins and losses are split 4-4 amongst the top and bottom halves.
This suggests a side that doesn't know whether it's coming or going.
Wolves
Wolves are yet to win a game this season which means that they are the first team in top-flight history to have just 2 points after 18 matches. Imagine being Brighton and Spurs who drew those two games to them 😭.
Those two matches came in game weeks 6 and 7. Wolves have lost every game since.
They are still bottom of the league and have been since the start of the season. Edwards and co are 16 points from safety!
Despite being at the halfway mark, these man are gone and should be thinking about life in the Championship already 😵.
They've scored the fewest with 10 and conceded the most with 39 which shouldn't come as a shock. Their goals conceded per game ratio is sitting at 2.2.
However, after getting that first goal in five against United at the start of December, Wolves have managed to score in two of their next three which came against Arsenal and Liverpool.
In-between was a 2-0 defeat to Brentford which perhaps indicates that maybe they are better off facing the bigger teams? With United keeping only their second clean sheet last time out, maybe Rob Edwards will try to take advantage of that.
Edwards has lost all of his seven matches by an aggregate score of 14-3.
If I was him, I'd just park the bus for this match and all the other matches. They concede too many and score too few which could improve should they take the more pragmatic approach.
Prediction
I can't see United having too many problems. I know we've said this in the past only to be disappointed but after a win like Newcastle and the fact that Wolves are one of the worst teams in PL history, at Old Trafford, I see nothing but a 3-0 win.
We'll probably make it harder than it needs to be but in the end, we'll get the job done and close out 2025 with a strong victory.
Hopefully 😅.
Predictions for our final game of the year?
Lisandro Martinez | Image via Manchester United official X (@ManUtd)
Old Trafford | Creator: Simon Stacpoole/Offside | Credit: Offside via Getty Images - SuperSport
Hwang Hee-Chan | Image via Wolves official X (@Wolves)