Wolves predicted starting XI vs Man City


Wolverhampton Wanderers face Premier League champions Manchester City this afternoon in what is their biggest challenge of the season so far.

The two sides could not be in more contrasting form, with Wolves winning just one of their six ties so far, scoring just three times, with Pep Guardiola’s City team failing to pick up maximum points just twice, scoring 20 times in the process.

Bruno Lage will be hoping his team can build on their previous match against Southampton, where they ran out 1-0 winners and manage to keep City at bay. Although with Pep’s men having Erling Haaland in form (ten goals and one assist in six league matches) it could be a long afternoon.

What kind of side could we expect to see at Molineux this afternoon? Here is what we are predicting…

Having conceded only two goals in six league games, Jose Sa understandably keeps his place in goals for the Old Gold.

Following the excellent defensively display against Southampton last time out, the back four will also remain unchanged, with Rayan Ait-Nouri and Jonny flanking a centre-back pairing of Nathan Collins and Max Kilman, and they will hope to keep Haaland as quiet as possible during the match.

Against Southampton, the midfield trio of Ruben Neves, Joao Moutinho, and Matheus Nunes averaged a SofaScore rating of 7.2 across the midfield (Neves 7.0, Moutinho 6.7, and Nunes 7.8) showing that they have gelled together quite well following the arrival of the former Sporting Lisbon midfielder and they will keep their places from a fortnight ago.

The front three will see two changes. Sasa Kalajdzic went off injured on his debut against the Saints and Lage delved into the market to sign former Chelsea striker Diego Costa. The 6 foot 2 talisman, who has netted 197 times during his trophy-laden career will get the nod to lead the line.

Will Wolves defeat Manchester City?

Yes

Yes

No

No

Daniel Podence will keep his place due to scoring the winner against the Saints whereas Pedro Neto, who Wolves value at £50m, will drop to the bench in favour of Adama Traore. Neto has only completed 35% of his dribble attempts this season and has scored zero goals, Traore’s pace could terrorise the City defence.

It promises to be an exciting match if both teams can play to their potential, and although the chances of Lage’s side emerging with all three points, he will instruct his team to give 100%.





Source link

Back to top button