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Manchester City Take On Impressive Wolves

The Premier League returned this weekend with a series of really entertaining games for us to sink our teeth into, and we certainly aren’t done yet. The nature of the current landscape in English football ensures that the games are a little bit more spread out than they used to be, and that can only be a good thing. A series of entertaining fixtures can be quite exhausting for a football fan and we aren’t exaggerating, so it’s nice to be able to say that we’ve got some Monday Night Football to enjoy tomorrow. Oh, and it helps that one of the best teams in the world make up one side of the game.

That one side is Manchester City, as they’ll be coming up against Wolverhampton Wanderers. On one hand you’ve got a side that many consider to be one of the greatest in the history in the Premier League, and on the other, a team that are renowned for knocking off the best of the best. It’s a pretty intriguing battle of wits and we can’t stress one thing enough: you should expect some really good football in this one. Sometimes we say that and it’s a bit of a let down, but we would honestly be stunned if that was the case tomorrow night.

Manchester City are in an unfamiliar position at this moment in time under Pep Guardiola – they’re chasing someone else. With Liverpool playing so well City have been forced to step their game up to a whole new level, and it’ll be interesting to see whether or not they can step up to the plate. There’s absolutely no doubt in anyone’s mind that they are capable of blowing everyone else out of the water but there’s an added sense of pressure now, and they’ll also want to put some priority into winning the Champions League.

With Wolves, they’re a tricky team to figure out. If they played like they did against the big teams against everyone else in the league, there’s a very good chance they’d be finishing in a Europa League spot by the time May rolls around. That isn’t the case, though, but based on that logic, their fans should still be pretty confident considering they’re coming up against City tomorrow night. They’ve shown that they’re calm under pressure in these type of situations, but it’s hard not to lose your shape when you’re faced with such a relentless attacking threat.

City’s last six game stretch has certainly been interesting, as they kicked it off with two back to back losses. Of course, in true City fashion they weren’t against any of the big boys, and they instead came against Crystal Palace and Leicester City. They managed to bounce back against Southampton with an efficient 3-1 win, before an absolutely huge 2-1 triumph over Liverpool which was the Reds’ first Premier League loss of the campaign. Then they went into ‘utter destruction’ mode against Rotherham and Burton, winning 7-0 and 9-0 in the kind of performances that would give most teams nightmares.

Wolves, on the other hand, kicked off their recent run with a nice 2-0 win over Bournemouth. They went on to play Liverpool pretty close although they still lost 2-0, before a 1-1 draw against Fulham that seemed a little bit ‘off’ by their standards. They managed to prove that they’re capable of against Tottenham at Wembley with an emphatic 3-1 win over Pochettino’s men, before falling right back into the same old pattern with a 2-0 defeat against Crystal Palace. Of course, typical Wolves being typical Wolves, they defeated Liverpool 2-1 in the FA Cup in what many considered to be one of the upsets of the round.

Despite the gulf in quality over the course of the last decade or so between the two teams, they’re actually much closer historically speaking than you’d think. Their first game took place way back in 1899, with City leading Wolves 47-46 alongside 25 draws. Their last meeting took place way back in August, and it certainly gave the champions something to think about. Wolves managed to hold City to a 1-1 draw, and we’d argue that they were the first team to really prove that you can give Guardiola’s side problems. As long as you treat it like a cup final when you play them, then you’ve got a real chance.

Two big names could be back for the home side in the form of Sergio Aguero and Vincent Kompany. The duo both missed out on the cup routs over Rotherham and Burton, which kind of tells you all that you need to know regarding their strength in depth. Fernandinho has been rested but will almost certainly return to the starting XI, as you’d expect. Bravo and Mendy are still out through injury but aside from that there’s a lot of selection on the table for Guardiola, which is always pretty dangerous.

Wolverhampton Wanderers have no new injury problems, which is always music to the ears of Nuno Espirito Santo – and any manager, for that matter. Doherty, Saiss and Patricio were all rested against Liverpool in the FA Cup and will be available for selection once again, with Cavaleiro being tipped to replace Jota. They’ve got a lot of strength on the bench and they’ve got a lot of impact players that they can look towards, and while there aren’t many teams who don’t have players like that, it certainly seems as if Wolves are a step above the rest below them in the Premier League.

Manchester City vs Wolves Betting Prediction

We can see this game being pretty rigid for the first 45 minutes, mainly because both teams are great at neutralising the other. We’re expecting very few out and out opportunities, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that we aren’t going to see goals. Why? Because football is quite literally a game of two halves and there are no two ways about it. Wolves are going to receive praise for holding City in the opening half of the encounter, but then we’re expecting things to fall apart pretty quickly.

City will score twice in quick succession before adding a third around 20 minutes later, and in truth, Wolves shouldn’t really feel all too bad about that. It’s difficult to keep the game under control against City and we actually think they’ll respond quite well, with a goal that somewhat brings them back into the game. Then, City will score a fourth, confirming that they can pretty much break down anyone at will when they get into a rhythm. Either way, though, this should make for a fascinating watch and we’d highly recommend tuning in if you get the chance.