Ruben Amorim says his sole focus over the festive period is to get Manchester United back to winning ways when they take on Wolves at Molineux.
Amorim has had a mixed start to the Premier League, seeing his side lose their last two games to Tottenham in the EFL Cup (4-3) and Bournemouth in the top flight (3-0).
United are in the bottom half of the Premier League for the first time ever at Christmas and are 13th, although they remain just six points off fifth place, with Amorim looking to close the gap on Thursday.
“I just want to win. I don't care about Christmas,” he said. “I'm just focused on: we have to win the next game.
“That's the only thing. It's very good for the fans. That's us. We're privileged. We're privileged.”
“So we can play on Boxing Day to bring some happiness to the fans, and we really want to win another game.”
Meanwhile, Vitor Pereira earned his first game in charge of Wolves last time out, brushing aside Leicester City 3-0 to move within two points of safety.
It was a win that also ended a four-match losing streak, and Pereira is determined to see even more improvements when they host United.
“We will improve, will be better than Sunday. OK, the result was fantastic. I am very happy inside, but I believe we can do it in a better way,” he said.
“It was a short time to work, we will definitely improve. We will improve our possession, our defensive organization. I don't need a lot of time to make this team play the way I want because I know what I want , and they are open to this kind of play.
“I want to play with quality. For me, football is not just about results. For me it has to be a great match.”
A nice attack from @rubendsneves_ against Man United #WOLMUN | @MNEGlobal pic.twitter.com/H92vht7MmK
— Wolves (@Wolves) December 24, 2024
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Wolves – Matheus Cunha
Matheus Cunha has been involved in nine goals in his last nine Premier League games, scoring six and providing three assists.
In total, he was responsible for twenty goals in 2024 (15 goals, five assists), the second most by a Wolves player in a single calendar year in the Premier League, after Raul Jimenez (24 in 2019).
Manchester United – Amad Diallo
With four goals and six assists, Amad Diallo has been involved in ten goals in his last eleven appearances for Manchester United in all competitions.
Overall, only Bruno Fernandes (16) has been involved in more goals for the Red Devils this season than the 22-year-old (12 – five goals, seven assists).
MATCH PREDICTION: MANCHESTER UNITED WIN
Manchester United have won seven of their last eight Premier League games against Wolves, with the exception of a 1-0 home defeat in January 2022.
After winning three of their first five Premier League home games against United (L2), Wolves are now winless in their last five and have lost their last four in a row (D1).
In the history of both the Premier League and the English Football League, the Red Devils have won more games and scored more goals on Boxing Day than any other team (22 wins, 74 goals in the Premier League, 54 wins, 202 goals all-time times).
In fact, United have only failed to score in one of their last thirty league games on Boxing Day, a 2-0 defeat to Stoke City in 2015. However, they have also conceded at least once in each of their last ten games, their longest run without a zero on December 26.
Meanwhile, Wolves won 3-0 at Leicester in their first Premier League match under Vitor Pereira last time out. The last manager to win both of his first two top-flight games in charge of Wolves was Sammy Chung in August 1977.
OPTA CHANCE OF WINNING
Wolves – 28.3%
Draw – 24.9%
Manchester United – 46.8%
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