Manchester City have plenty of injury issues as they commence the season that they hope will be their “bounce back year.” Last season, they finished trophyless, for the first time in almost a decade. So there is a lot of room for improvement in 2025-26. It all gets started on Saturday with a trip to Wolves, or Wolverhampton Wanderers as they’re officially known.
Wolves, who finished 16th last season in the Premier League table, are currently dead last. That’s not a serious observation, as they’re only listed 20th out of 20 because the listing is alphabetical, until the games actually begin.
By this metric, Man City is 13th right now, and Bournemouth is top of the table. So yes, it’s a joke.
2025-26 Season Opener FYIs
Man City at Wolves
Kickoff: Saturday, August 16, 5:30pm, Molineux Stadium, Wolverhampton
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Google’s Win Probabilities: Manchester City 67% Draw 19% Wolves 14%
While City manager Pep Guardiola has plenty of injury issues to contend with in this one, he still has a very deep squad to make his selections from. Here’s our best guess as to what the first team might look like.
Manchester City Starting XI Prediction at Wolves
Ederson; Rico Lewis, John Stones, Abdukodir Khusanov, Rayan Cherki; Tijjjani Reijnders, Matheus Nunes; Oscar Bobb, Savinho, Jeremy Doku; Erling Haaland
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the Washington Post and ESPN. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter