Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford must bear teeth again versus Wolves

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  • Martial and Rashford are two of only three strikers at the club - the other is Mason Greenwood, 17.

    A ruthless victory over Chelsea on opening weekend inflated the hopes of Manchester United fans – but Wolves are more than capable of bursting that bubble.

    United head to Molineux on Monday to take on a Wanderers side who were desperately unlucky to be robbed of a fine win at Leicester, having been victims of the draconian new handball law.

    Here, we look at three of the key issues ahead of the game.

    Solskjaer’s slip-up

    United have approached this season hoping to consign recent history to the dustbin, but they’ll do well to remember it was Wolves who first pulled the rug from under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer after he had hit the ground running.

    If United had beaten Wolves in early April they would have moved up to third in the league. Instead, a 2-1 defeat precipitated a wretched end to the season and the nadir of a humiliating last-day defeat to Cardiff City.

    Aside from the obvious, chiefly £135 million worth of new defensive talent in Harry Maguire and Aaron Wan-Bissaka, United supporters have been sold on the idea that the class of 2019/20 are fitter, stronger and faster after Solskjaer made stamina a priority in pre-season.

    What killed the Red Devils at Molineux on their previous visit was flimsiness after an initial first-half surge, with Jesse Lingard and Romelu Lukaku missing honey-coated chances before a relentless Wolves turned up the heat.

    Scott McTominay scored the opener, but a wonderful Diogo Jota scored following a Fred error, Ashley Young was sent off in the second half for two bookable offences and a David De Gea clanger led to the Wolves winner.

    If the Red Devils truly have bulked up both their physical and mental strength in between then and now, Nuno Espirito Santo’s men will only be too happy to increase their load.

    Lightning attack to strike twice?

    As touched upon, a significant part of their misery at Molineux was down to lacklustre finishing.

    Conversely there was a lot of lustre at Old Trafford in that 4-0 victory over Chelsea, as Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial turned the precious few big chances on offer into goals.

    Lukaku’s gone, to the merriment of much of the support, but he’s also taken a record of 28 goals over the last two Premier league seasons with him to Milan without being directly replaced. Neither Rashford nor Martial have scored more than 11 in a single Premier League season.

    The pair’s ability to strike on the counter is crucial to United’s top-four hopes as, aside from the mercurial Paul Pogba, there still isn’t enough craft either through the middle or down the flanks to consistently prise open deep-lying defences.

    Despite the defensive additions, don’t expect a clutch of clean sheets this season – there was still far too much green space between the Pogba/McTominay combo and their defence against Chelsea. But when United do win the ball back, Martial and Rashford must turn those transitions into personal triumphs.

    Beware of JJ

    Wolves have fleshed out their squad with several impressive signings, including two promising attackers in former AC Milan starlet Patrick Cutrone and Portuguese teenager Pedro Neto, as their impressive recruitment drive over the last few years continues apace.

    The clear headline acts however remain Jota and Raul Jimenez, having combined to devastating effect up top in the second half of last season.

    When Nuno decided to pair those two together for the first time in victory over Chelsea last December, it was the start of a partnership that produced 19 further Premier League goals before the season was out.

    It’s a little and large link-up with a twist. Jimenez is far defter than any ‘big man’ has a right to be and his voracious work-rate is matched by Jota, who makes the spectacular look standard.

    Jota remarked that the £80m United shelled out on Maguire is ‘hard to explain’. He certainly has the ability to make it look puzzling.

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