The Premier League run-in, the backend of the title race for Manchester City sees them face Wolverhampton Wanderers with two games remaining in the season.
As great as Manchester City’s form at home in the league has been this season, playing against a team like Wolves will not be an easy task.
Back in September, Pep Guardiola had to watch his team lose at the Molineux from the stands as he served a one-match suspension after three yellow cards.
Hwang Hee-Chan scored the winner after a Reuben Dias own goal was cancelled by a goal by Julian Alvarez.
After the game, Pep Guardiola said that his team were second best despite their best efforts and he also congratulated the winning team.
“Congratulations Wolves, they defended well.
“We had our moments. We didn’t do properly our process, to attack (with) a little bit more fluidity and that’s why we struggled a little bit.
“And the transitions – (Pedro) Neto (who was key for the first goal) was better than us, so they beat us in that situation.”
“Today some details didn’t happen, because it’s football, because the players, it happens, maybe I apply bad some decisions, I don’t know.”
The citizens have a great home form on their side as they have not lost a single game at home this year so far. With Arsenal and Liverpool remaining a serious threat, they cannot afford any slip-ups on the way to an unprecedented fourth title in a row.
Throughout City’s reign at the top of the mountain, this is arguably their toughest title defence. There have been question marks regarding how strong this team is compared to the great Manchester City teams in the past and the high levels of consistency that both Liverpool and Arsenal are showing, there is no guarantee that the trophy will return to the Etihad.
Last season, they were able to overcome an inexperienced Arsenal side en route to the treble, with Liverpool enduring one of their worst campaigns in recent times. Now, both teams have gotten their act together and City are having to fight tooth and nail in all competitions for top trophies.
Wolves on the other hand, will be looking to do what few teams have done to Manchester City this morning, which is to do the double over the title contenders. At the Etihad, they are sure to find themselves with their backs against the wall but this team has been in this situation before and they’ve done alright.
Gary O’neil has continued to strengthen his CV as one of the brightest talents in European football management with the way his team has performed this season.
After what was seen by a few people as an unfair sacking while he was at Bournemouth, his Wolves team has been the revelation of the season. Doing the double against City will add to an already impressive CV.
“When I watch it back now, we’ve come a long way tactically since then (their loss against Manchester United on opening day), but for the boys to be able to buy into what I’d asked them in such a short period, and to carry it out with as much zest and passion as they did, was a good start point for us,” he said in January.
“We suffered a few setbacks from there and I’m sure we’ll still suffer some more, but it’s a day I look back on fairly fondly because it was my first game in charge of Wolves, a fantastic club.
“We didn’t manage to get anything out of it, but it gave us a real, good starting point to work from.”
Match tickets
This English Premier League match takes place on Saturday, 4th of May, 2024 with kick-off scheduled for 3 PM UK time. Man City vs Wolves tickets are available for sale on the Manchester City website with registered members required to apply for tickets to be included in the ballot and season ticket holders given priority allocation.
With the season winding down, tickets for this fixture will no doubt sell out fast due to its importance. It could even be the match where City clinch the title or, perhaps the one that loses them the title.
There is set to be a raucous atmosphere for the visiting players so the Wolves players will have to go and hope the away fans will make enough noise to encourage them when the going gets tough against the reigning Champs.
City will be hoping that this ‘advantage’ works in their favour as over 53,400 people will be cheering them on to a potentially important victory.
Non-season ticket holders and maybe even other Wolves fans looking to get a ticket to the Manchester City match may be lucky enough to find their ticket on a ticket resale site.
Team news
As far as injury news for Manchester City goes, John Stones and Kyle Walker are the only absentees from the Manchester City squad at the moment. Stones is out with a muscle injury while Walker is out with a hamstring injury. Other than that, the Citizens have a clean bill of health and will expect to put out a relatively strong side against Wolves.
For Wolves, Craig Dawson, Hwang Hee-Chan, promising young midfielder, Jean Ricner Bellegrade, and arguably their player of the season, Pedro Neto are all currently out.
Line-ups
As far as first-team squads go, there aren’t many teams that are more stacked in terms of talent from top to bottom than Manchester City.
No stones? No Walker? No problem. City will play an all-central defender back four with Rodri continuing his great year in defensive midfield.
In attack, City will have the dangerous front five of Bernardo Silva, Kevin De Bruyne, Phil Foden, Jeremy Doku and Erling Haaland at the top of the attack.
Manchester City: Ederson, Akanji, Dias, Gvardiol, Ake; Rodri, Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva; Doku, Haaland, Foden
Missing Pedro Neto is huge for the away team as he was key in the reverse fixture that the Wolves won earlier this season. He is among the highest in assists given this season in the League with nine to his name and has been arguably the best in his position this season.
Missing him will be huge but Gary O’Neil has proven that with proper preparation, his team can still threaten even without their most creative threat.
Wolverhampton Wanderers: Sa; Semedo, Killman, Bruno, Nouri; Gomes, Lemina,; Sarabia, Doyle, Fraser; Cunha
Prediction
When you look at the past fixtures between these two teams, you notice that this is a fixture that produces a good number of goals.
It is majorly a one-sided affair as City have won six out of the last seven Premier League meetings between the two.
With the title race in its last lap, City will not want to lose a single game until they’re crowned champions and Wolves might be in for another embarrassing result.
Manchester City 4-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers