Vitor Pereira got off to a dream start in the Wolverhampton Wanderers hot-seat last match as his new Old Gold side demolished Leicester City 3-0 away from home.
Now, the Portuguese manager faces his first test in the Premier League at Molineux, hopeful that he can make it two victories from two against a severely damaged Manchester United team.
He will be well aware that this could be a tougher examination of his side too, regardless of the Red Devils’ recent woes, but will pray that his top performers at the King Power Stadium come up trumps again.
Best Wolves performers vs Leicester
Looking back on the comprehensive win versus Ruud van Nistelrooy’s lacklustre hosts, it was a perfect first introduction to the English game for Pereira, as a number of lineup changes worked wonders.
Bringing Goncalo Guedes back into the first team fold was one of those inspired alterations, as the 28-year-old fired home this first-time volley to gift Wolves an early 1-0 lead after Nelson Semedo found him ready to pounce.
Moreover, starting Rodrigo Gomes also paid off big time for Pereira, as the exciting 21-year-old made it 2-0 not long after Guedes’ heroics.
The ex-Al Shabab boss was also rewarded with not switching up the XI too much away from Gary O’Neil’s final outing, with Jose Sa managing to make four saves to pick up a rare clean sheet, whilst Santiago Bueno’s shaky side was nowhere to be seen in the heart of defence when successfully winning four duels.
But, there’s a name that hasn’t been mentioned yet that Pereira will hope can terrorise a charitable Red Devils defence on Boxing Day, who also shone brightly during the new manager’s first league contest.
The Wolves star who Man Utd wanted to sign
Whilst Matheus Cunha did wrap up the three points last time out with a late goal, it wasn’t quite the Brazilian’s most electric performance of the campaign to date, having been an absolute nuisance for Premier League defences to contain all season long.
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Indeed, the explosive South American boasts a sublime return of nine goals and three assists from 17 clashes so far, as Man United now prepare to shut him out after conceding three at home to AFC Bournemouth last match.
|
Goals conceded across Man United’s last five games |
|
|---|---|
|
Opponent |
Goals conceded |
|
1. Bournemouth |
3 |
|
2. Tottenham Hotspur |
4 |
|
3. Manchester City |
1 |
|
4. Viktoria Plzen |
1 |
|
5. Nottingham Forest |
3 |
|
Sourced by BBC Sport |
|
Cunha will be confident he can toy with Ruben Amorim’s side all afternoon based on Man United’s recent lax defending, which has seen them concede 12 goals across their last five matches in all competitions.
In addition to that, despite Wolves’ worrying position near the foot of the Premier League table, they can also brag a higher amount of goals scored than their out-of-sorts opponents, with 27 strikes bagged next to Man United’s lower 21.
Cunha has, of course, netted nine of those, with his entire Old Gold goal tally standing at 25 now after an impressive 2023/24 season also saw him light up the top-flight with 22 goal contributions notched up.
He looks set to eclipse that amount this campaign, with his ex-manager in O’Neil one to always shower him with praise, having labelled his number ten as “incredible” after he had helped himself to a brace versus Fulham in late November.
Therefore, he will be eager to impress Pereira on Boxing Day to gain even more praise, with an added spice put into the mix when you consider Cunha is reportedly being eyed up by Amorim’s men as a statement buy this January.
Before the busy transfer window swings open, however, the former Atleti star will be fully concentrating on further hurting Man United’s ego, which could well see the new Wolves boss pick up another win subsequently.
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