Manchester City will travel to the Molineux Stadium to face Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday. The Sky Blues are coming on the back of a healthy run of form after registering wins in both of their fixtures this campaign following a Community Shield win over Chelsea.
Last weekend, the defending champions thrashed Huddersfield Town 6:1, which issued a sinister warning to the rest of the Premier League teams. And, it seems as if Pep Guardiola’s men are keen to continue their dominance in English football this season and look to break some of their own mind-boggling records.
But, they will face a stern test against Wolverhampton Wanderers this weekend. The newly promoted outfit are a quality side who are definitely capable of causing a massive upset despite suffering a 2:0 loss to Leicester City last week.
Team news
Manchester City do not have any real injury worries as such apart from Kevin de Bruyne in the outfield. The Belgian international has been ruled out for upto three months with a knee injury. However, goalkeeper Claudio Bravo suffered an Achilles problem during training on Monday, which is likely to rule him out for a long time.
Other than that, Pep Guardiola will have the privilege of choosing from a fully fit Manchester City side as they aim to demolish the new giants of the English Premier League.
Defence
After an astounding success last week, Guardiola is expected to persist with his 3-5-2 formation, which could see the trio of Vincent Kompany, John Stones and Aymeric Laporte start in central defence.
All three were excellent against Huddersfield but could be dealt with a much harder challenge this weekend.
Kyle Walker will continue on the bench with Bernardo Silva likely to retain his place in the right-wingback position while Benjamin Mendy will start on the opposite flank. The Frenchman completed three dribbles, took three shots and provided one assist (while having a hand in 3 goals) in the win over Huddersfield and is currently Man City’s number one provider of goals going into this game.
Ederson Moraes will remain in between the sticks but after conceding a disappointing goal against the Terriers, the Brazilian will be keen on to preserve his clean sheet this time around.
Midfield
Not a lot of changes are expected in midfield with Fernandinho to be deployed at the base of Man City’s 3-5-2. He will accompany the duo of David Silva and Ilkay Gundogan, both of whom will operate in slightly advanced positions.
Silva, in particular, played a key role in breaching the Huddersfield defence last week thanks to his brilliance in the final third. The Spanish international completed four dribbles, took two shots and provided six key passes before capping off an incredible performance with an equally impressive free-kick strike to double his side’s lead just after the restart. Stopping him will certainly be imperative for the Wolves defenders if they are to salvage anything from this game.
Attack
Guardiola will persist with the attacking duo of Gabriel Jesus and Sergio Aguero upfront this weekend. Both the strikers complemented each other really well in the last game and fans will hope for the same as they face the newly promoted team.
All eyes will be on Aguero, however, as he was touted as the Premier League’s best ever foreign star by England legend Alan Shearer following his hattrick against Huddersfield and will the Argentine have more eyes on him surely.
Stat courtesy: Whoscored
