Wolves have not won at Old Trafford in 38 years
Saturday 22 September 2018 08:46, UK
Jose Mourinho will go up against one of his former players at Porto, Nuno Espirito Santo, when Manchester United host Wolves at Old Trafford in the Premier League on Saturday.
Wolves manager Nuno was part of Mourinho's squad when Porto won the Champions League in 2004, while the United manager's agent Jorge Mendes is playing a noteworthy role in a project that has a distinct Portuguese flavour.
Asked if he had spoken to Mendes about Wolves, Mourinho said: "No, I don't speak with him for quite a long time, to be honest. But when we speak we don't speak about my job or his job. He's my agent and that's it.
"But I think the work in Wolves is good because it's not just about the Portuguese influence - Portuguese manager, staff and players - it is also about getting the right ones and I think they got good young players and they got also good experienced, stable players.
"So, they got this season, the Portuguese national team goalkeeper, they got (Joao) Moutinho, which is one of the players of the 100 caps club. Big stability in the team. The young ones are young boys with good potential and you can see the work of the coaching staff and the team is a really, really good team."
Meanwhile, Wolves, who are currently ninth in the Premier League, have a poor record at Old Trafford having not won at the ground in the 38 years, but Nuno insists his side have nothing to fear.
"We go there like all the games, we prepare ourselves," he said. "We know Manchester United's team we know what we're going to face tomorrow and we prepare for the competition.
"We know how hard it'll be but we want to compete and put our ideas on the pitch. It's our idea to put what we do in training sessions in the games so in that sense we're ready for it."
Marcus Rashford and Nemanja Matic will miss the match against Wolves through suspension.
Rashford serves the second of a three-game ban while Matic will complete a one-match suspension after being sent off at Watford last weekend. Both players started Wednesday's Champions League win at Young Boys, where Antonio Valencia and Jesse Lingard were rested.
The duo are back in contention for Saturday, as is Phil Jones, but Ander Herrera and Marcos Rojo are not fit to be involved. United boss Mourinho confirmed Diogo Dalot will not start despite impressing on his debut in Switzerland and will instead be in the starting line-up for next week's Carabao Cup match against Derby.
Wolves are likely to be unchanged for a sixth consecutive Premier League game when they face Manchester United.
Head coach Nuno has resisted making alterations to his starting line up so far this season, with club-record signing Adama Traore being used as an impact substitute since his £18m arrival last month.
Portuguese winger Ivan Cavaleiro is expected to be Wolves' only absentee as he continues his recovery from a back injury.
Who in their wildest dreams would have even considered Wolves winning at Old Trafford not so long ago? Now all of a sudden I'm tentatively backing United to win, that's a testament to how far Wolves have come. United got a great result on Wednesday away at Young Boys.
That pitch looked atrocious, it looked like wood painted green and reminded me of the old surface at QPR where you used to have to wear trainers! I think United's quality will be a little too much for Wolves to handle.
PAUL PREDICTS: 3-1 (12/1 with Sky Bet)
