There will be a celebratory atmosphere in the air for Manchester United when they visit Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux on Sunday for their third match of the new Premier League season.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will oversee his 100th Premier League match in charge of the Red Devils and history could also be made, just days after the 20-time champions pulled off a sensational deal to bring Cristiano Ronaldo back to the club.

Match preview

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Friday, August 27 will go down as one of the most dramatic and celebrated days in recent Manchester United history as the Red Devils pulled off one of the most remarkable transfer hijacks ever seen in football.

Club legend Ronaldo looked destined for the blue half of Manchester at the beginning of the day but, within hours of news breaking that United themselves were also in the running, they had confirmed an agreement with Juventus to bring one of their greatest ever players back to Old Trafford.

The 36-year-old prodigal son will not join up with his new teammates until after the upcoming international break and will therefore play no part against Wolves, but the unexpected nature of his arrival - and the added bonus of stealing him from the grasp of title rivals Manchester City - is sure to give the whole club a major boost ahead of their trip to the Black Country.

It is a boost they arguably needed too following an underwhelming 1-1 draw away to Southampton last time out - a result which drained some of the early optimism raised by their opening-day, Bruno Fernandes-inspired hammering of Leeds United.

While their trip to St Mary's will undoubtedly be regarded as two points dropped rather than one gained, the result also saw them equal Arsenal's Invincibles record of 27 Premier League away games unbeaten.

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If the Red Devils can avoid defeat on Sunday then they will have enjoyed the longest unbeaten away run in English Football League history, having not lost on the road in the Premier League since January 2020.

It will also be a landmark day for Solskjaer as he reaches a century of Premier League games in charge of the club - a milestone he looked unlikely to get to celebrate at numerous points during his time at the helm.

The Man United hierarchy have put their faith in the Norwegian with a long-term contract, though, and the stats back him up too - of the eight previous managers to have hit triple figures of league games in charge of the club, only Ernest Mangnall, with 54, has won more than Solskjaer's tally of 52 from his previous 99.

The much-maligned manager is tracking even better than Sir Alex Ferguson, then, although he will be wary that of those eight previous centurions, only two of them - Sir Matt Busby and Tommy Docherty - won their 100th game in charge.

Collecting silverware is the next step for Solskjaer, and matches like Sunday's - against a team without a point or a goal in the league so far this season - are exactly the type they will need to win if they are to truly challenge for the title this term.

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There is no doubt that, on paper at least, Man United now have the squad to do just that following the summer arrivals of Jadon Sancho, Raphael Varane and now Ronaldo, but in Wolves they are likely to face a sterner test than the embryonic league table would suggest.

Bruno Lage's side sit 16th in the early standings, one of five teams yet to register a point and one of only three teams - along with Arsenal and Norwich City - yet to hit the back of the net either.

However, that does not tell the full story, with only Liverpool having attempted more shots than Wolves' 42 during the opening two games, and only five teams boasting a better expected goals tally.

The Midlands outfit are creating chances, then, but their problem has been putting them away - something Adama Traore has been particularly guilty of with two almost-identical one-on-one opportunities squandered already this term.

If the Spaniard, whom Lage insists will not be leaving this summer, can find his shooting boots along with the ever-present conundrum his pace and power cause defenders then it could help to kickstart Wolves' campaign, particularly against a Manchester United side without a clean sheet in their last 10 outings across all competitions.

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Wolves did find their groove in front of goal in the second round of the EFL Cup on Tuesday, with four different names on the scoresheet as they thrashed Championship outfit Nottingham Forest at The City Ground.

Another quick reunion with former boss Nuno Espirito Santo now awaits in the third round, when Wolves will look for revenge after being beaten by Tottenham Hotspur in their last league outing.

That result made it back-to-back 1-0 defeats to start the season, having also lost to Leicester City on the opening day, and including the end of last term they have now lost five successive Premier League games.

Not since 2012 have they suffered six straight defeats, although their recent home record - five losses in their last seven outings - will not fill them with confidence that they can avoid that fate this weekend.

Should that be the case then it would be the first time that Wolves have lost their opening two home games of a top-flight campaign since 1970, and the first time they have lost consecutive home league games against Manchester United since December 1967.

Team News

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Man United fans may have to wait a bit longer for a glimpse of Ronaldo back in red, but they could be treated to a debut of another new arrival in the form of Raphael Varane.

The centre-back was an unused sub against Southampton last weekend but could feature for the first time on Sunday, slotting in alongside Harry Maguire at centre-back.

Fellow summer signing Jadon Sancho is also pushing for his first Man United start, having come off the bench in both games so far.

Perhaps the biggest challenge for Solskjaer this season will be fitting his growing list of high-profile attackers into the same team, and any full debut for Sancho is likely to come at the expense of Anthony Martial or Mason Greenwood.

Greenwood has scored in both of United's games so far and therefore is not expected to lose his place, and another goal at Molineux will see him emulate Robbie Fowler as only the second teenager to score in his team's opening three games of a Premier League campaign.

The England international could, however, move into a central role to free up the right flank for Sancho, with Martial dropping to the bench and Paul Pogba and Bruno Fernandes retaining their places.

Pogba already has five assists to his name this season - the most ever by a player after two Premier League games - with his one against Southampton incidentally seeing him draw level with new teammate Ronaldo on 34 top-flight assists for Manchester United.

The plethora of attacking talent available to Solskjaer once Ronaldo arrives could mean that Pogba is forced back into a deeper role eventually, despite such a productive start to the season, but for now he is expected to keep his place on the left.

Fred and Nemanja Matic are likely to start as the holding midfielders again after Scott McTominay underwent surgery on a groin injury, while Marcus Rashford, Alex Telles, Dean Henderson and Phil Jones remain sidelined.

Edinson Cavani is in contention to feature in the matchday squad, although this game could come just too soon for Eric Bailly to do the same.

Wolves will still be without long-term absentees Jonny and Pedro Neto, but there was good news in midweek as Daniel Podence marked his return from injury with a goal in the EFL Cup.

Willy Boly and Yerson Mosquera are also back in training and could feature in the squad, with Boly the closer of the two to being able to start following his hamstring injury.

Raul Jimenez is now back following his fractured skull last season, but he and teammate Traore are the two players in the top flight to have had the most shots without scoring in the opening two games of the new campaign.

Indeed, only West Ham United's Michail Antonio has had more shots in the league this season than Traore, who has only found the back of the net with two of his last 74 Premier League efforts on goal.

Midweek goalscorers Podence and Francisco Trincao offered Lage a reminder that he has other attacking options available if those two continue to misfire, although the Wolves boss is expected to keep faith with his forwards for now.

Wolverhampton Wanderers possible starting lineup:
Sa; Kilman, Coady, Saiss; Semedo, Neves, Moutinho, Marcal; Trincao, Jimenez, Traore

Manchester United possible starting lineup:
De Gea; Wan-Bissaka, Varane, Maguire, Shaw; Fred, Matic; Sancho, Fernandes, Pogba; Greenwood

We say: Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-2 Manchester United

Matches between these two sides are usually tight - none of the last nine meetings has been decided by more than one goal - and we can see this one being another close encounter.

Wolves are bound to begin scoring some of their chances sooner or later and so we are backing them to register their first goal here, but they could still come up short against a Manchester United side buoyed by their transfer business and ready to unleash two of their big summer signings.

Written by
Barney Corkhill

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