After the completion of the various continental group stages this past week, the focus now switches back to the Premier League. For Manchester City, that means hosting Wolverhampton at the Etihad Stadium in the early kick-off on Saturday (UK time).
After a shock loss to RB Leipzig in their final group stage fixture, the Citizens will be keen to ensure they don’t suffer another misstep like that again, this time in the Premier League, as they aim to stay on top of the table.
Wolverhampton has a fairly decent record against City recently. In the COVID affected 2019/20 season, they did the double over Pep Guardiola’s men.
City hit back with a vengeance last year as they won both fixtures with the West Midlands club, by an aggregate score of 7-2.
Manchester City vs Wolverhampton FYIs:
Kick-off time: 12.30 PM GMT, 11th December 2021
Man City Starting XI Prediction: go here
Premier League Preview Podcast: go here
Form Guide (All Competitions): Man City (WWWWL) Wolves (LWDDL)
It was more than just a loss against the German side in the Champions League. They lost one of the most talented England youngsters in Phil Foden. The ‘Stockport Gazza’ got substituted off with an ankle injury and is not expected to be in contention to play against Wolves. Guardiola told the press it was just a precaution and although it is thought to not be serious, the medical staff has urged caution with the congested fixture list throughout December.
The Champions League clash also saw Nathan Ake pull up lame. The Dutch central defender seemed to suffer some sort of back complaint. He is still being assessed by the medical staff and is considered a 50/50 chance of starting here.
Regular starters Gabriel Jesus and Aymeric Laporte are both suffering from knocks and have question marks hanging over their potential selection here.
Both players missed the Champions League clash and the City staff remain hopeful the pair will be available come match day this weekend. There is also the case of long-term injury absentee Ferran Torres.
The Spaniard has missed several matches with a broken foot and his likely return date remains January 2022. Some in the media have heavily linked Torres with a transfer to Barcelona in recent weeks. It will be interesting to see if the fallen Catalan giants make a move for the speedster in the January transfer window.
This should be a regulation victory for Manchester City. A victory here will see them keep the lead in the Premier League title race and I expect them to do just that.