Manchester City vs Wolves
Date: 06/10/2019
K/O: 14:00
Venue: Etihad Stadium
Referee: Craig Pawson
After a hard-fought 1-3 result against Everton last week, and a relatively comfortable win over Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League midweek, Manchester City welcome Wolves to their hunting ground: the Etihad Stadium. Wolves themselves finally reversed a slump of 6 winless games after Matt Doherty and an own goal from Daryl Janmaat helped clinch a 2-0 against Watford last Saturday.
Although Wolves haven’t had too much fortune away to defending champions in general (Their last away win against a reigning Premier League champion was back in 1984), this particular cohort is extremely well coached, and generally enjoys playing the big boys; one only needs to look at the list of Top 6 sides they took points off last season to infer that they will be up for a fight.
Last season, Wolves suffered a major set-back in Conor Coady being sent off early into the first half, which naturally impacted their whole shape and set-up. Ergo, discipline will be key this time around, particularly against such a fluid Manchester City attack, which will now likely be orchestrated by Raheem Sterling and David Silva.
Interestingly, 4 of the 5 goals scored in this fixture last season came from set-pieces. With Yerry Mina exposing City’s vulnerability from corners, this will be a great place for Nuno Espirito Santo to work on in training. Raul Jimenez and Willy Boly particularly will need to be closely marked.
In injury news, Kevin De Bruyne has been unable to shake off the knock he took which led to his withdrawal against Everton. He misses out for Sunday’s game. Bernardo Silva has been charged by the FA for his actions on Twitter, but he not been banned thus far, making him eligible for selection. Sergio Aguero is fit to start after recovering from a slight niggle that led to him featuring from the bench against Everton.
For Wolves, Diogo Jota is a slight doubt. He wasn’t risked in the 1-0 win over Besiktas, and Espirito Santo revealed that the player is doing his best to be available for selection for this upcoming clash.
Predicted Starting XIs
Manchester City (4-3-3): Ederson; Walker, Otamendi, Fernandinho, Zinchenko; Rodri, David Silva, Gundogan; Bernardo Silva, Jesus, Sterling
Wolves (5-3-2): Patricio; Doherty, Boly, Coady, Saiss, Jonny; Dendoncker, Neves, Traore; Jimenez, Jota
Prediction: Manchester City 2-0 Wolves
I don’t expect this to be an easy game for City by any means, especially with destroyer-in-chief Kevin De Bruyne missing. However, City have enough creative quality in their ranks to step up in his place, and in form finishers to bulge the net when chances fall their way. Further, having conceded just once in their last 5 games, the Fernandinho-Otamendi is going strong, and I expect another clean sheet to follow.
