The Red Devils will look to back up their impressive opening weekend win when they travel to Molineux to take on their Midlands rivals
Having kicked off the new season with a blistering rout against one of their top-four rivals, Manchester United will look to prove they can be the real deal once again this weekend against Wolves in the Premier League.
A double for Marcus Rashford, plus goals from Anthony Martial and Daniel James, gave Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side the perfect start to the new campaign against Chelsea, though the scoreline arguably flattered their performance in parts.
They travel to Molineux looking to prove their sterling result was no fluke – but the Norwegian boss will know his Red Devils side face a tough challenge against one of last year’s surprise packages.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s men qualified for Europe after a seventh-place finish and the Midlands club will fancy their chances of breaking into the upper echelons of the top tier once again this season.
| Game | Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Manchester United |
| Date | Monday, August 19 |
| Time | 8:00pm BST / 3:00pm ET |
| Stream (US) | fubo TV (7-day free trial) |
TV Channel, Live Stream & How To Watch
In the United States (US), the game can be watched live and on-demand with fuboTV (7-day free trial).
New users can sign up for a free seven-day trial of the live sports streaming service, which can be accessed via iOS, Android, Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV, Roku and Apple TV as well as on a web browser.
In the UK, the match will be shown on Sky Sports Premier League and Sky Sports Main Event, and available to stream on Sky Go.
| UK TV channel | Online stream |
|---|---|
| Sky Sports Main Event / Sky Sports Premier League | Sky Go |
Squads & Team News
| Position | Wolves squad |
|---|---|
| Goalkeepers | Patricio, Ruddy, Sondergaard |
| Defenders | Bennett, Coady, Boly, Vallejo, Jonny, Kilman, Miranda |
| Midfielders | Doherty, Dendoncker, Moutinho, Neves, Vinagre, Saiss, Traore, Jordao, Neto, Gibbs-White, Perry |
| Forwards | Jota, Jimenez, Cutrone, Bonatini |
Wolves starting XI: Patricio; Bennett, Coady, Boly; Doherty, Dendoncker, Moutinho, Neves, Jonny Otto; Jota, Jimenez
| Position | Manchester United squad |
|---|---|
| Goalkeepers | De Gea, Grant, Romero, Pereira |
| Defenders | Wan-Bissaka, Maguire, Lindelof, Shaw, Jones, Smalling, Rojo, Young, Dalot, Darmian, Tuanzebe |
| Midfielders | Pogba, McTominay, Pereira, Fred, Mata, Matic, Garner, Gomes, Levitt, James |
| Forwards | Lingard, Rashford, Martial, Chong, Greenwood |
Manchester United starting XI: De Gea; Wan-Bissaka, Maguire, Lindelof, Shaw; Pogba, McTominay; James, Lingard, Rashford; Martial.
Betting & Match Odds
United are the slight favourites to take the win at 13/10 with bet365. Wolves meanwhile can be backed at 11/5 while a draw is priced at 9/4.
Match Preview
Though naysayers questioned their credentials to challenge for the top four this year, Manchester United delivered an emphatic response on the opening weekend of the new Premier League season when they hammered rivals Chelsea at Old Trafford.
Despite overseeing a mostly unblemished record in his first pre-season in charge, questions over Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s ability to produce had grown over the summer. But the Norwegian and his team delivered across the board.
While the ultimate scoreline arguably reflected badly on Chelsea, it was a superb offensive performance from the Red Devils, with Marcus Rashford and Paul Pogba shining in attack, while new defenders Harry Maguire and Aaron Wan-Bissaka impressed at the back.
The latter was in an effusive mood when talking up the result over Frank Lampard’s side, stating: “It was a great result to beat Chelsea and I couldn’t have been much happier with how it went.”
Eyes have also been on Wan-Bissaka’s defensive partner, Maguire, since becoming the world’s most expensive defender following his arrival from Leicester, with pundits quick to draw comparisons with Liverpool‘s lynchpin Virgil van Dijk.
However, one man who struggles to understand the hefty price tag afforded the England international is Wolvers striker Diogo Jota, who has stoked up the fires of competition ahead of United’s visit to Molineux on Monday.
“It (the £80m fee) is hard to explain,” the Portuguese forward said. “The market is unreal now in my opinion.
“But it’s nothing to do with me, it is to do with the clubs and it is the moment we are living in. We just have to respect that amount.
“I think Harry Maguire has a lot of quality but I know the players that we have in our team and I trust them.”
Wolves, who are in the Europa League this season, are looking to crack the top six after almost edging out United last year, though the Red Devils will be keen to reassert themselves as genuine contenders at the top end of the table too.
Speculation continues to swirl over whether there will be any more departures from Old Trafford, too, with Romelu Lukaku having joined Inter and Alexis Sanchez tipped to follow him out of the door.
Paul Pogba’s future remains even more unclear as well, with the Frenchman having professed a desire to leave, but otherwise delivering brilliant performances during pre-season and against Chelsea.
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