Manchester United travel to the Molineux to play Wolverhampton Wanderers for the third time this season. The Wolves secured a point at Old Trafford in the first half after Fred’s first goal for the club was canceled by Joao Moutinho.
The second and previous occasion the Reds took on Nuno Espirito Santo’s side was in last month’s 2-1 Emirates FA Cup quarter-final defeat at Molineux. While it was a disappointing evening for the Reds, Manchester United boss, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has said the lads will have learned from that defeat almost three weeks ago.
“Last time we didn’t really play well enough against them, or with enough tempo against them. It was a different kind of game to many others for us. We have to learn from our mistakes because, if we turn up against a good team and they are not performing at our level, we will get the result that we will deserve.”
“We had the ball 70 per cent of the time, but sometimes possession doesn’t mean that you are going to create chances and score goals.” Manchester United fell to second half goals from Diogo Jota and Raul Jimenez and a late Marcus Rashford strike could do nothing to change the outcome of the tie.
Tuesday’s game could be a vital one for Manchester United in the fight for a top-four place and playing in the Champions League next season, with just one point currently separating Tottenham Hotspur in third and Chelsea in sixth.
Manchester United are presently fifth in the table but could be third on the Premier League log by the end of the week if other results go their way. The boss, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer feels the Reds are in a fantastic position to finish in the top four. “Champions League next year would be fantastic and we’ve put ourselves in a great position,” said Ole.
“When we came, me and Mick Phelan, or when the change came three months ago, we were 11 points behind. Now we’re in that position, so we’ve just got to go into the next seven games with the same attitude we have done.”
“We go into the games with nothing to lose. Let’s go for it, see where it takes us and now when we’ve got into this position, it doesn’t mean or that means keep carrying on.
“Don’t change your approach on how to attack games. Against Wolves in the FA Cup, we got more of the ball and it’s about us dominating, sometimes you have to defend well, but the intention has to be attack when we’ve got the ball.“
Manchester United beat Watford on Saturday and one man who didn’t feature at the weekend was Lukaku, who has struggled in recent weeks with a foot injury. But Ole insisted both he and Martial, who limped off on Saturday should be fit to take on Wolves.