Man Utd's setbacks are not through a lack of belief, says Amorim

Ruben Amorim says there is no lack of belief in his Manchester United squad that is stopping them from pushing up the Premier League table, as they prepare to take on Wolves.

United had the opportunity to move into the top five on Thursday, but a 1-1 draw with West Ham saw them miss that chance, just as they did after a 1-0 defeat to Everton.

The Red Devils are currently 12th in the table, though a win on Monday could see them pushing towards the European places.

But Amorim does not believe a lack of belief is linked to their recent setbacks, and is hoping to find more consistency from his players.

"I think it's a clear fact, but I think it's not a mental thing," he said when asked if there is an issue with his side's confidence.

"I think they are not thinking: 'We are going to top five'. No, no. I think it's some moments we play good, sometimes we play bad, and we are not getting the results. We have to be better in the next game."

Wolves, meanwhile, are bottom of the table without a win after they suffered their seventh straight loss on Wednesday, going down 1-0 to Nottingham Forest.

Their tally of two points from their 14 Premier League games this season is the joint-fewest ever at this stage of the competition, along with Sheffield United in 2020-21.

Wolves have not hit the back of the net since October, going five top-flight games without a goal, and Rob Edwards has urged his players to go back to basics to try and get that elusive victory.

"We're in this bad, bad situation, but how do you want this to go? Do you want to fade away, or do you want to fight?" he said.

"There are things in our control that we can do. Fighting, running hard, winning duels, those sorts of things are in our control. You can't control a win, but you can control the other side, intensity, how often you run forward.

"We've got to control the things we can control at the moment, and hopefully then results will come. That's the biggest message."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Wolves – Jean-Ricner Bellegarde

Wolves have now failed to score in five consecutive Premier League matches, their longest run without scoring in the top-flight since a run of five between August and September 2003, their first ever campaign in the Premier League.

Bellegarde has attempted the most shots in that five-game span (five), though he has only hit the target with one of those.

Manchester United – Matheus Cunha

Cunha is returning to Wolves for the first time since leaving the club in the summer.

He has been involved in 11 goals in his last 12 Premier League appearances at Molineux (six goals, five assists), scoring and assisting a goal in this exact fixture for Wolves last season.

MATCH PREDICTION: MANCHESTER UNITED WIN

Wolves did the Premier League double over United last season, as many victories as they had managed in their previous 14 against the Red Devils (W2 D3 L9).

United lost this exact fixture 2-0 last term, but they have not lost consecutive league visits to Molineux since August 1980.

Given Wolves' poor start to the season, they are backed to win on Monday, though. United have only ever lost eight Premier League games against sides starting the day bottom of the table.

However, 25% of these (two out of eight) have been against Wolves at Molineux (1-0 in January 2004, 2-1 in February 2011).

The Red Devils are unbeaten in their last four Premier League away games (W2 D2), having gone eight without a win beforehand, but they have only won one of their last seven matches on the road in the competition in December (D1 L5).

Wolves, meanwhile, have lost each of their last seven Premier League games, failing to score in each of the last five.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Wolves – 26%

Draw – 23.4%

Manchester United – 50.6%