Premier League
Manchester City vs Wolves Preview
- Date: Jan. 14, 2019
- Time: 3:00 p.m. (est)
- Network: NBCSN, UNIVERSO
- Location: Manchester, England
- Venue: Etihad Stadium
- Seating Capacity: 55,097
Etihad Stadium, Manchester – Manchester City will be aiming to maintain the pressure on Premier League leaders Liverpool when Wolverhampton Wanderers visit the Etihad Stadium on Monday.
The champions have made a perfect start to 2019, but take on a Wolves side that has fared very well against top-six opposition so far this season – including earning a point in the reverse fixture.
Previous Encounters:
- Manchester City have won five of their last six home top-flight meetings with Wolves (D1), since a 2-3 defeat in December 1979.
- Wolves have picked up one win in their last 10 matches with Man City in all competitions (D3 L6), a 2-1 win at Molineux in the Premier League in October 2010.
View From Both Camps:
Pep Guardiola (Man City):
“We realized how complicated it would be when we played them in the cup last season and again early this season.”
“They are strong physically, good on set pieces, have incredible players on the counter-attack, they don’t just do that with two or three, they have four or five, And when you are tired they can bring on two new players to do that.”
“They defend deep, they switch play, they control many areas and with Neves and Moutinho they can shoot from outside the box.
“That’s why they are doing incredibly well and we need to wary of that.”
Nuno Espirito Santo (Wolves):
“You just have to be ready for what is in front of you; a big challenge, a fantastic team. Ok, let’s go and compete, realizing we have to be very organised and compact.”
“The priority in all the games for us is the defensive organisation we have. That is always the way we have to know in the game.”
“If that is so, you cannot be scared or frightened of anything. We go with the same mindset that we face all teams with.”
Team News:
Sergio Aguero and Vincent Kompany could be back in contention for Manchester City.
Midfielder Fernandinho is expected to return after being rested for both cup matches. Left-back Benjamin Mendy (knee) and goalkeeper Claudio Bravo (Achilles) are still out
Wolves have no fresh injury concerns.
Rui Patricio, Matt Doherty and Romain Saiss are expected to return after being rested for Monday’s win over Liverpool.
Predicted Lineups:
Manchester City (4-3-3): Ederson; Danilo, Stones, Laporte, Zinchenko; De Bruyne, Fernandinho, D Silva; Sterling, Aguero, Sane.
Wolves (3-5-2): Patricio; Bennett, Coady, Boly; Doherty, Neves, Moutinho, Saiss, Jonny; Traore, Jimenez.
Match Prediction:
Wolves are probably the one team outside the top six who would be most fancied to get something at the Etihad, but Man City have roared back to form in sensational fashion recently and they know that only a win will do after Liverpool’s triumph on Saturday. Wolves have shown a real willingness to compete with the top clubs since returning to the Premier League and can give Manchester City a decent work-out at the Etihad.
Manchester City 2-1 Wolves
Photo credit to soikeo .info via Flickr
