Wolverhampton Wanderers defeated Manchester City, 2-0, at the Etihad Stadium in October. The win put an early dent in the Cityzens’ hope for another Premier League title. Now, Manchester City will aim to dent Wolverhampton Wanderers’ chances at a top-four finish.
Manchester City head to the Midlands following a decisive 3-1 win over Leicester City on Saturday. The win pulled City within one point of Leicester City and 11 from Liverpool. The league leaders do have a game in hand over Manchester City, however.
When Wolves defeated Manchester City in October, they defended well and hit on the counter attack. Their two goals were nearly identical with Raul Jimenez assisting Adama Traore on the break. Pep Guardiola won’t take Wolverhampton Wanderers quite so lightly this time around.
Wolverhampton Wanderers do have a good recent record against Manchester City in all competitions. Since 2017, they have met five times in all competitions with Wolverhampton Wanderers posting a 1W-3D-1L record.
Guardiola and Manchester City could cut Liverpool’s lead at the top of the Premier League down to single digits. Liverpool visit Leicester City on Boxing Day and Manchester City will play 24 hours later.
Nuno Espirito Santo has two injury issues at Molineaux but neither should affect the team on matchday. Centre-back Willy Boly has been out of action for several weeks with a fractured foot. He won’t be back until the spring at the earliest.
Midfielder Morgan White-Gibbs is also out of action. He has a lower back injury that isn’t getting better. Santo will surely pair star forwards Traore and Jimenez together in attack. The duo has scored 10 goals combined in the Premier League.
Aymeric Laporte and Leroy Sane are both recovering from injury at Manchester City and neither will play on Friday. Guardiola could also be without midfielder Ilkay Gundogan due to another muscle injury. John Stones has been out of action for a few weeks but could finally make his return against Wolves.
Meanwhile, David Silva and Kevin De Bruyne should be fit for the fixture. The latter suffered from cramp during Manchester City’s win over Leicester City on Saturday. Sergio Aguero returned from injury last weekend.
Manchester City are back in-form heading into Friday night fixture. They should be able to break through Wolverhampton Wanderers this time around and get a goal to win the fixture. Don’t count out Wolves from scoring as they have experience getting goals versus Manchester City.
Expect over 2.5 goals and both teams scoring when Manchester City visit Wolverhampton Wanderers. Manchester City will win and gain three more points in the league.