Preview: Manchester City vs. Wolverhampton Wanderers

Seeking to remain within touching distance of Premier League leaders Arsenal, reigning champions Manchester City welcome Wolverhampton Wanderers to the Etihad Stadium on Saturday evening.

The Citizens will be out for revenge against the Old Gold after they suffered a 2-1 defeat in the reverse fixture at Molineux almost eight months ago.

Match preview

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Three days after cruising to a statement 4-0 victory at Brighton & Hove Albion, Man City picked up maximum points in Pep Guardiola‘s 300th Premier League game when they secured a 2-0 win over Nottingham Forest at the City Ground last weekend.

Josko Gvardiol headed home the Citizens’ opener midway through the first half, before Erling Haaland marked his return from injury with a second-half strike less than 10 minutes after coming on as a substitute, moving him onto 21 goals at the top of the Premier League scoring charts.

Man City could find themselves four points adrift of title rivals Arsenal at the summit if the Gunners beat Bournemouth in an earlier kickoff on Saturday, but the Citizens will then have two games in hand and can reduce the gap at the top to just one point with success over Wolves.

After three consecutive away matches, Man City will welcome a return to the Etihad where they have put together an impressive 42-game unbeaten run across all competitions, matching a club record set between 1919 and 1921 – avoiding defeat on Saturday would see the Citizens break this record outright.

Guardiola and co, who have also not lost home or away in their last 31 matches in all tournaments (another club record), will be confident of success against a Wolves side whom they have beaten in seven of their last eight home league meetings, scoring 19 goals in the process.

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After seven games without a win in all competitions, Wolves edged past relegation-threatened Luton Town by a 2-1 scoreline at Molineux last weekend to boost their chances of securing a top-half finish in the Premier League.

Hwang Hee-chan opened the scoring with his first league goal since December, before Toti Gomes added a second just five minutes after the break. Carlton Morris then pulled one back for the Hatters 10 minutes from time to set up a nervy finish for the hosts, but they held on to claim all three points for the 13th time this season.

Gary O’Neil, who will not be in the dugout on Saturday after being handed a one-match touchline ban by the Football Association for his conduct after last month’s defeat by West Ham United, now sees his side sitting 11th in the Premier League table and just three points behind the Hammers in eighth, while the Old Gold are seven points adrift of Newcastle United in seventh with only three games remaining, so it is fair to say that their hopes of sneaking into the European positions are slim.

After beginning 2024 with a five-game unbeaten run away from home, Wolves have since failed to come out on top in any of their last four matches on the road and they will end the campaign with arguably the two toughest Premier League trips to Man City and Liverpool.

The Old Gold have lost 18 of their last 20 Premier League away matches against teams in the top two, but one of those victories during this run was at Man City (0-2) in October 2019. They are also one of only three top-flight teams to condemn the champions to defeat this season, so there is reason for O’Neil’s men to be confident of pulling off an upset on Saturday.

Manchester City Premier League form:

Manchester City form (all competitions):

Wolverhampton Wanderers Premier League form:

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Man City have received a triple injury boost as Guardiola has confirmed that Phil Foden, Ruben Dias and Ederson are all in contention to play on Saturday; while the former two missed the win at Forest through illness, Ederson was forced off at half time with a shoulder injury, but all three players have since trained this week.

Foden, who has been named FWA Footballer of the Year, could be recalled to start alongside Kevin De Bruyne in an advanced midfield role, while Dias is set to battle with John Stones, Manuel Akanji and Nathan Ake for a start in central defence.

De Bruyne in particular will be relishing the chance to come up against Wolves again, having scored five goals and assisted five more in his previous six league starts in this fixture.

Julian Alvarez is at risk of being replaced by Haaland, who will be pushing to start his first league game in three weeks after shaking off a minor muscle issue; the Norwegian scored a hat-trick in his only previous home meeting with Wolves last season.

As for the visitors, Craig Dawson and Leon Chiwone are ruled out for the rest of the season with respective groin and ankle injuries, while Man City loanee Tommy Doyle, whose temporary deal will be made permanent in the summer, is ineligible to face his parent club.

However, Pedro Neto (hamstring), Santiago Bueno (hamstring) and Jean-Ricner Bellegarde (knee) have all returned to full training this week and all three players are set to be assessed ahead of kickoff; the same goes for Rayan Ait-Nouri, who was forced off in the closing stages against Luton with a knock to his knee.

Nelson Semedo has played as a right-sided centre-back in the last two games and could keep his spot in the back three against Man City, with Matt Doherty operating at right wing-back, while Matheus Cunha and Hwang, the latter scored in the reverse fixture against the Citizens, are set to start together in attack.

Manchester City possible starting lineup:
Ederson; Walker, Stones, Dias, Gvardiol; Rodri; Bernardo, De Bruyne, Foden, Grealish; Haaland

Wolverhampton Wanderers possible starting lineup:
Sa; Semedo, Kilman, Toti; Doherty, Lemina, Gomes, Traore, Ait-Nouri; Cunha, Hwang

We say: Manchester City 3-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers

Although they enter Saturday’s contest as underdogs, Wolves can travel to the Etihad with optimism having already beaten Man City this season as well as both Chelsea and Tottenham away from home since the turn of the year.

However, the Citizens have looked unstoppable on home soil for some time, and if they are to line up with both Foden and Haaland in attack, they will fancy their chances of outscoring their West Midlands counterparts, who have conceded in each of their last 10 matches.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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