WATCH FOR ALL THE LATEST NEWS AND OUR PREDICTIONS FOR WOLVES TRIP TO THE ETIHAD
TEAM NEWS
Manchester City could potentially see the return of Phil Foden and Ruben Dias, both of whom missed their previous match due to illness. Goalkeeper Ederson’s availability remains uncertain after he was substituted at halftime during the last game due to a shoulder issue.
Wolves’ head coach Gary O’Neil will serve a one-match touchline suspension following his heated reaction to a disallowed goal against West Ham last month. Tommy Doyle, whose loan from City will become a permanent transfer this summer, is ineligible to face his parent club.
Gary O’Neil confirmed that Pedro Neto, Jean-Ricner Bellegarde and Santiago Bueno were all back in full training this week and are in contention for the game.
Gary O'Neil
Jean-Ricner Bellegarde, Pedro Neto and Santiago Bueno have all returned to full training and are available for Saturday’s match. Noha Lemina is back in training but has a “little bit more to do”, while Craig Dawson remains out.
Reflecting on September’s 2-1 win over City, O’Neil said: “In the first game we were at home, which makes it easier. They were missing a couple of players. I think everybody is pretty aware of how good they are in the run-in as well, so I would expect it to be a much more difficult test than the one we faced back in the early part of the season.”
On facing a side fighting for the Premier League title: “They probably don’t feel like they can make a slip. I would have thought with Arsenalbreathing down their necks they will expect to need maximum points from the games they have got left to get it done.”
More on the challenge facing Wolves at Etihad Stadium: “We go there trying to give everything we can, try to be as close to perfect as we can and see if we can cause an upset. Three points would be massive to us.”
On serving a one-match touchline ban on Saturday: “It will have an impact, of course, but there are things in place. I am in the changing room with the players doing all of the pre-match prep, and at half-time and at full-time. I will be in communication with the bench and have a decent view tactically of the game from where I am sat.”
He added: “It is not ideal – if it was ideal we would do it every week. But no problem. The coaching staff are equally aware of what we are trying to do tomorrow and me being higher up will allow me to get a different view on things and I can get some messages down.”
MATCH STATS & FACTS
Head-to-head
- Wolves are vying to complete a Premier League double against Manchester City, having beaten them 2-1 at Molineux in September.
- They also beat City home and away in 2019-20 and could become the first team to record more than one league double against a side managed by Pep Guardiola.
- City have won seven of the past eight top-flight meetings at the Etihad Stadium.
Manchester City
- City are vying to extend their unbeaten Premier League run to 20 games – it would be the fifth time they have reached this mark, and the fourth time under Pep Guardiola.
- They are unbeaten in 31 matches in all competitions (W25, D6), excluding penalty shoot-outs. The last Premier League team to record a longer undefeated streak in league and cup were Manchester United (33 games in 1998-99).
- City have avoided defeat in 42 consecutive home matches in all competitions, equalling a club record set between December 1919 to November 1921.
- Their only defeat in 18 league fixtures this season against teams currently in the bottom half is the 2-1 loss at Wolves (W16, D1).
- Kevin de Bruyne has scored five goals and assisted five more in his six league starts against Wolves.
- Rodri is unbeaten in his last 70 appearances for City in all competitions (W54, D16), excluding shoot-outs.
Wolverhampton Wanderers
- Wolves ended a winless run of six league games by beating Luton last weekend.
- Gary O’Neil’s side have failed to keep a clean sheet in 10 consecutive matches in all competitions.
- They have only lost two of their previous 10 away fixtures in league and cup, though they are without a victory in the past four (D2, L2).
- Matheus Cunha has been directly involved in 18 goals this season, scoring 11 and assisting seven. Only Raul Jimenez has recorded more goal involvements for Wolves in a single Premier League campaign (in 2018-19 and 2019-20).
- Wolves have won each of the last four league matches that both Cunha and Hwang Hee-chan have started together.
- Max Kilman is one of two outfield players to have played every Premier League minute this season, alongside Arsenal’s William Saliba.
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Craig Pawson. Assistants: Marc Perry, Steve Meredith. Fourth official: Jarred Gillett. VAR: Stuart Attwell. Assistant VAR: Natalie Aspinall.
MATCH INFO
This one is a 5.30pm kick off at The Etihad due to television broadcast on SkySports.
