Man United held to surprise draw against bottom club Wolves

United went into the match with six academy players on the bench. Patrick Dorgu was again deployed on the right wing, while Casemiro and Manuel Ugarte started together in midfield. The visitors began brightly and looked for an early opener, but Wolves also created chances of their own in a balanced opening spell.

In the 27th minute, United finally found the breakthrough. Youngster Ayden Heaven won possession and fed Zirkzee, whose shot took a deflection off Ladislav Krejčí and wrong-footed the goalkeeper to give United the lead. United continued to push forward but lacked sharpness in the final third.

Wolves threatened mainly on the counter-attack and were rewarded just before half-time. From a corner in stoppage time, Krejčí rose highest to head home and level the score. Neither side managed to find a winner in the second half, and the match ended 1-1.

Speaking after the game, Amorim reflected on the performance: "If you see the game, I understand why we played the way we played today, the lack of fluidity, lack of one against one. We knew that would be a completely different game compared to Newcastle because [against] Newcastle, we have more space to play. We didn't have to work the play so much and today, we have difficulties in that aspect and that is clear.”

The United manager remained optimistic about the months ahead, adding: "I'm really confident, we just need to recover all the players and I'm really confident. I don’t know what is going to happen until the end of the season, then we will make the resume of the season, but I'm really confident when we recover all the players that we are going to be a strong team. There are no doubts in my mind."

Manchester United will begin the new year with an away trip to Leeds on 4 January.