Manchester City will visit Wolves in the Premier League after both teams were knocked out of the EFL Cup. Pep Guardiola’s team lost narrowly 1-0 at Newcastle United on Wednesday, while Gary O’Neil’s team lost 3-2 away to Championship team Ipswich Town on Tuesday.
Preview (Wolves vs. Manchester City)
After an unwelcome four-match winless streak across all categories, which included back-to-back league losses to Crystal Palace and Liverpool, a contentious 1-1 draw at Luton Town the previous weekend, and their midweek EFL Cup loss to Ipswich, O’Neil has lot to think about. Hwang Hee-chan and Toti Gomes’ goals gave Wolves a two-goal lead inside the first 15 minutes. Ipswich swiftly pulled one back before Jack Taylor’s incredible long-range goal.
It is fair to say that the fixture generator was unkind to O’Neil’s team. They now face Man City, Aston Villa, Newcastle United, and Tottenham Hotspur at Molineux. Wolves have lost all six of their encounters with Man City by an aggregate score of 19-3. It included a 3-0 loss last season despite playing for almost an hour with 10 men. Wolves did the double over the Citizens in the 2019–20 season. They won 2-0 at the Etihad Stadium and 3-2 at home.
Alexander Isak’s goal in the 53rd minute decided a game of two halves between two teams. The Citizens ultimately failed to respond after falling behind after a dominant first half in possession. Pep Guardiola was full of praise for his team despite the loss. At the very least, City’s exit from the EFL Cup can ease their already busy fixture schedule. It will soon include Club World Cup matches in Saudi Arabia. Man City lead the Premier League standings after winning each of their first six games. They are currently getting ready for three back-to-back away games in the next eight days. They start with a trip to Wolves on Saturday. Trips to RB Leipzig in the Champions League and a match against Arsenal in the top division follow.
Team News
Wolves are currently in good health, but they will be missing midfielder Jean-Ricner Bellegarde this weekend as he serves the second of a three-match suspension after getting dismissed against Luton. Tommy Doyle, who is on loan from Man City, is also ineligible to play against his parent club. O’Neil is anticipated to revert to the same lineup that began against Luton after making 10 changes in midweek, with goalkeeper Jose Sa being shielded by a back four consisting of Nelson Semedo, Craig Dawson, Max Kilman, and Rayan Ait-Nouri.
Regarding Man City, Kevin De Bruyne (hamstring), John Stones (muscle), and Bernardo Silva (leg) are still out with injuries, while Rodri has been suspended after being dismissed for violent behavior in the 2-0 victory against Nottingham Forest last weekend. Mateo Kovacic’s return to the Citizens’ lineup in the middle of the week gave them a boost, and he might play there again with Matheus Nunes, who is about to re-enter the scene after leaving Wolves in the summer, or Kalvin Phillips. Ederson, Kyle Walker, Ruben Dias, Phil Foden, and Erling Haaland, the latter of whom scored four goals over the course of two games against Wolves last season, are among the stars that Guardiola plans to bring back after a weeklong respite.
The hosts will be confident that they can score, as they have done in each of their past nine league contests at Molineux. However, Guardiola’s team should have little trouble outscoring their opponents and winning easily in the West Midlands.
Wolves 1 – 4 Manchester City
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