Andre Onana‘s (£5.0m) nine-point return was the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) headline from Gameweek 1’s final fixture.
Manchester United got their 2023/24 campaign off to a winning start with a 1-0 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers at Old Trafford.
But it was a thoroughly undeserved three points for Erik ten Hag’s troops, who struggled to create much and shipped chances at the other end.
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SLUGGISH START FOR UNITED
Manchester United were totally outplayed by Brighton and Hove Albion in Gameweek 1 of 2022/23 and there was a similar feel to this season’s curtain-raiser.
Wolves simply looked fitter, sharper in possession and quicker to the second ball at Old Trafford.
The Red Devils, by contrast, were sluggish and sloppy. They were successful with 82.5% of their final-third passes last season; here, only 74.8% of those passes found a red shirt.
The Opta stats say that Marcus Rashford (£9.0m) had four shots and Bruno Fernandes (£8.5m) created three chances. It didn’t feel like it. Both players were very quiet, with Rashford playing as a central striker but starved of meaningful service.
The much-hyped Alejandro Garnacho (£5.0m) kept heading down cul-de-sacs in an awful showing, while Mason Mount (£7.0m) was barely detectable: none of United’s starters had fewer touches than the England international.
“The manager [Erik] gave us the options on the way to press, I think we did well. We should have been a little bit more aggressive sometimes and we could have gone to the goal in situations.
“On the ball, we were a little bit rushed sometimes, we could have kept a little bit more of the ball and had better timing on the counters because we are really dangerous at doing that. It wasn’t the perfect game, but we won.” – Bruno Fernandes
DEFENSIVE CONCERNS
Of as much concern was how dangerous Wolves looked pretty much every time they attacked, with ‘dual eights’ Mount and Fernandes easily bypassed and leaving Casemiro (£5.5m) isolated.
Gary O’Neil’s outfit racked up 17 shots in the box and 2.27 expected goals (xG) at Old Trafford – both of those totals were highs for an away Premier League side in Gameweek 1.
It was only the visitors’ profligacy and some solid goalkeeping from Onana that prevented the clean sheet from being ruined. Even then, Wolves ought to have had a late penalty after Onana clattered into substitute Sasa Kalajdzic (£5.0m).
On the positive side, upcoming opponents Tottenham Hotspur and Nottingham Forest are far from watertight. Rashford and Fernandes may get more joy against front-foot Spurs, in particular. There is also the precedent from 2022/23 of a slow United start giving way to a sustained run of good form.
But there’s no hiding the disappointment at this opening-day display, not least from FPL managers who doubled on the United attack.
CUNHA IMPRESSES
Onana made six stops in all and would have cruised to maximum bonus points had the unlikely duo of Aaron Wan-Bissaka (£4.5m) and Raphael Varane (£5.0m) not combined for the late winner.
The new United goalkeeper’s two save points underscored how positive Wolves were.
Pedro Neto (£5.0m), on set plays, boasted the best expected goal involvement (xGI) of anyone on show. Matheus Cunha (£5.5m), spearheading the attack in O’Neil’s 4-4-1-1, also had more shots (five) than anyone else, hitting the woodwork with one close-range big chance.
Cunha was the most impressive on the eye, continuing his fine displays from pre-season here. Like Joao Pedro (£5.5m) and Odsonne Edouard (£5.5m), there are reservations about his finishing: the Brazilian has never hit more than seven league goals in a single league season outside of Switzerland. But he looks ten times sharper after a full summer of training, and may have penalties too.
“I don’t think today was a reoccurrence of the pattern you saw last year, I think if the lads play that game 100 times, they score in 99 of them. Keep arriving in those areas, keep working with the players to improve understanding and how many times we arrive, and the lads will score some goals.” – Gary O’Neil
At the other end, Nelson Semedo (£4.5m) was excellent at right-back as the visitors’ defence gave little away. Craig Dawson (£4.5m), ever the goal threat from set plays, also was joint-top for penalty box touches among the Wolves squad.
A Gameweek 2 trip to Molineux suddenly doesn’t look all that easy for Brighton assets. The Seagulls do at least have the benefit of seeing how an O’Neil-led Wolves side sets up, which is something ten Hag didn’t have the luxury of before Monday’s match.
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