Man City v Wolves – Preview, Predictions and Best Bets

Man City face Wolves in the English Premier League on Saturday. Gary O’Neil oversaw a 2-1 win in the reverse fixture are losing six in a row vs Pep Guardiola’s team. City have won 14 of their last 17 league matches.

Man City Form

City’s last 31 matches have seen 25 wins and it’s 14 victories in the last 17 league matches. If they win their remaining matches, they will be champions once again. A fine 4-1 win over Aston Villa and a 4-2 victory at Crystal Palace, preceded a crazy 3-3 draw vs Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-finals first leg.

After thrashing Luton 5-1, they drew 1-1 at home with Real Madrid and exited the Champions League on penalties. The side have since rallied by beating Chelsea 1-0 in the FA Cup semi-final, thrashing Brighton 4-0 at the Amex Stadium, and winning 2-0 at Nottingham Forest last weekend. They only put up 0.87 XG in that win.

Man City Team News

Ederson has a shoulder injury, so Stefan Ortega is set to play in goal here. Ruben Dias and Phil Foden are expected to return after missing the Forest win due to illness.

Erling Haaland is fit again and scored from the bench last time out. He is set to start this match. John Stones is fit after an injury but may have to settle for a spot amongst the substitutes again.

Man City Motivation

City knows that they’re five wins away from a domestic double. Focus and motivation is very high to churn out victories and finish this season with two trophies.

They will attack Wolves and look to win by a big margin. Goal difference could settle the title if City were to draw a match and Arsenal win their final three fixtures.

Wolves Form

Wolves sit 11th in the table after a strong season overall. They ended a six-match winless league run last weekend having struggled with injuries over recent months. A 2-1 home loss to West Ham was followed by a 2-2 draw at Nottingham Forest having led 1-0.

They were beaten straightforwardly at home by Arsenal. That 2-0 defeat saw a depleted XI available. After a 1-0 home loss to Bournemouth, the season threatened to unravel. However, they looked more like themselves last weekend in a 2-1 home victory over Luton Town.

Wolves Team News

Wolves have had a tough time on the injury front of late. Craig Dawson misses out after surgery and Petro Neto isn’t quite ready to return from a hamstring injury. Santiago Bueno is ruled out of this fixture too.

Rayan Ait-Nouri and Jean-Ricner Bellegarde are expected to be available after knee injuries. Matheus Cunha and Hee-Chan Hwang are fit to start after constant injury issues over recent weeks.

Wolves Motivation

Wolves will approach this match pragmatically. They will have to sit back and play on the break with maybe 30% possession.

A draw would feel like a win. They may also be satisfied to play well and leave with a narrow defeat, avoiding a thrashing.

Key Stats

Man City have won 14 of their last 17 league matches (3 draws)

Man City have kept 3 clean sheets in a row

Wolves have lost 6 of their last 7 matches vs Man City

Wolves have just 1 win in the last 8 matches

Verdict

City should have too much in this fixture with Wolves best defence disrupted by injury. A win to zero looks likely but finding value in this match is not easy.

Best Bet: Man City win to zero at 1.71

Alternate Bet: Man City win (-2 handicap) at 1.80

Goalscorer Tips: Haaland first goalscorer at 3.25 or Haaland to score 2 or more goals at 2.65

James O'Connor

James is a football analyst who writes about the tactics of the PSL and English Premier League. He holds the UEFA A coaching licence and has previously worked for several clubs in analysis roles.Twitter: https://twitter.com/footy_analysis