Manchester United v Wolves - Match preview

Wolves head to Old Trafford this evening as seventh welcomes eighth in the Premier League.

Six points separate the sides as visiting head coach Lage looks to halve that deficit in the battle to stay in touch with the top flight’s big-hitters.

United have rediscovered their groove, somewhat, since the German’s appointment at the end of November. The Old Trafford outfit are yet to lose in six under his stewardship, with four wins and two draws – though only the 3-1 home victory over Burnley on Thursday was by more than the odd goal, as United search for top gear.

Lage believes Rangnick’s first task having replaced Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was to instil some confidence in a Red Devils side losing all too often.

“When you come in the middle of the season, the first thing to have is results. That wins confidence and time to try to improve and put in your ideas,” Wolves head coach Lage said.

“Especially in this moment, because it’s happened to me in the past, when you don’t have too much time to prepare and train.

“You are playing every two or three days so the most important thing is to give confidence to the players, try to get a result and after you can work on your own ideas with the players.

“I can see they are trying to do things in a different way and put more men between the lines. Sometimes Bruno (Fernandes) plays in the middle and now he plays more as a winger, and he can also play inside.

“We try to prepare in the best way and look at which players are fit to play the game.

“We go there with a big mentality to play our game.”

Wolves have availability issues to overcome should they become the first side to inflict defeat on Rangnick’s United.

The Molineux men, who last played against Chelsea on December 19, have had six players test positive for Covid-19 in the period since and Lage will hope for a clean bill of health at Old Trafford.

There are still injury issues to contend with, with Pedro Netro, Jonny Otto, Yerson Mosquera and Willy Boly still absent due to long-term setbacks. Hwang Hee-chan is missing with a hamstring injury.

But Rayan Ait-Nouri has been pictured back in training following a groin issue.

United talisman Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 19th goal in 25 games this season for club and country in the Burnley victory. Lage and keeper Jose Sa know they need to be at their best to contain United’s No.7.

“He is a machine. He wants to score,” Lage said. “He lives and plays for that. He is a massive player and any team in the world wants a player like him.”

“This is football, that’s why people talk. It’s more than a sport because everyone has an opinion.

“If they are not happy with him, I have a place for him here! But I know they are happy with him.”

Sa added of his fellow countryman: “I’ve never played against him before, and I’ve never played with him before, I’ve only been with him and trained with him in the national team. He’s an amazing player and a difficult player to mark, and it will be a very good game.”

“I came here to play these games. But here, all the games are amazing. Amazing atmospheres, amazing stadiums, amazing pitches, and I came here to do this.

“We were close to beating them the last time we played them at Molineux, but this is football. We will try our best at Old Trafford and we will try to take the win because we play always to win the game.

“But we know it will be difficult because Manchester is a very good team, a very strong team, and we know we’re going to have to work and fight.”