City face Wolves after shock UCL defeat.
Manchester City vs. Wolverhampton Wanderers kicks off at 15:00 [GMT] on Saturday, January 24, at the Etihad.
The Sky Blues head back for Premier League action after a 3-1 loss to Bodo/Glimt in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday night. Back on the domestic front, City are 2nd with 43 points, seven adrift of table-topping Arsenal. Meanwhile, Pep’s side have won 10 of their last 11 league meetings with Wolves. The only blemish was a surprise 2-1 defeat at Molineux in September 2023. At home, the dominance is even more emphatic. Wolves have won just once in 11 Premier League visits to Manchester City, losing the last five consecutively since that 2-0 success in October 2019. When City host sides starting the day at the bottom of the table, the pattern is ruthless: unbeaten in 30 such matches, with their last nine home games against bottom-placed teams ending in victory by an astonishing 36-0 aggregate scoreline. However, Pep Guardiola’s side are currently navigating an unusual spell. Despite losing only one of their last 10 league matches, City are winless in four [WDDDL], their longest such run since 2009. Even at the Etihad, control has not translated into wins recently, with back-to-back 1-1 draws against Chelsea and Brighton, both matches seeing City relinquish a lead. Another draw would mark their longest run of home stalemates since late 2023. On a personal note, Erling Haaland has an extraordinary record against Wolves, scoring 10 Premier League goals against them and registering every possible single-game haul from one to four goals. He is expected at the attacking end of City’s 4—2—3—1 formation.
Bottom-placed Wolves, meanwhile, arrive with quiet momentum. They are unbeaten in four league games [LDWDD], already collecting twice as many points as they managed in their previous 22 matches combined. Defensive resilience has improved noticeably too, with two clean sheets in their last three, after conceding in 23 straight league games prior to that. Still, goals remain a concern: no team has failed to score in more different Premier League matches this season than Wolves. If Wolves are to threaten, inspiration may come from youth. Mateus Mané, just 18, has been their most productive attacker since December, leading the club for goals and goal involvements while also ranking highly for shots and penalty-area touches. His emergence has offered a rare spark in an otherwise difficult campaign. He will be looking to make his mark once again when Wolves appear with a 3—5—2 formation. Hwang Hee-Chan and Tolu Arokodare could team up in attack.