Guardiola impressed with Bruno Lage's side, despite lowly league position
Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Manchester City
Competition: F.A. Premier League
Date: 12.30pm, Saturday 17th September 2022
Venue: Molineux, Wolverhampton
Referee: Anthony Taylor Assistants: G Beswick, A Nunn Fourth Official: T Harrington VAR: D England
Odds: Wolves 17/2, Draw 9/2, City 1/3
Tickets: Sold out
TV: BT Sport
Wolves
Manager: Bruno Lage
Squad (from): Sa, Sarkic, Smith, Ait-Nouri, Collins, Mosquera, Jonny, Semedo, Kilman, Toti, Bueno, B Traore, Neves, Podence, Ronan, Nunes, Moutinho, Neto, Hee-Chan, Guedes, Costa, Bonatini, A Traore
Injured: Jimenez, Kalajdzic
Doubtful: Costa
Suspended: None
Form guide: LWDDW
Manchester City
Manager: Pep Guardiola
Squad (from): Ederson, Ortega, Carson, Walker, Dias, Stones, Ake, Cancelo, Laporte, Akanji, Gomez, Lewis, Wilson-Esbrand, Phillips, Gundogan, Grealish, Rodri, De Bruyne, Silva, Foden, Palmer, Haaland, Alvarez, Mahrez
Injured: None
Doubtful: Walker, Laporte
Suspended: None
Form guide: WWDWW
Kyle Walker and Aymeric Laporte are again doubts for the trip to Molineux, having both missed the midweek win against Borussia Dortmund.
“Kyle is getting better, but I am not sure if he is ready for tomorrow. We will see this afternoon,” said manager Pep Guardiola at Friday's press conference
“Aymer is back in training but is not ready and Kalvin Phillips is a little better.”
Wolves have endured a difficult start to the season, but Guardiola doesn't believe their league position reflects the standard of their performances so far.
“It is a completely different team to the previous seasons,” said Pep.
“They used to play five at the back with Conor Coady, now they play with four.
“I am really impressed with how they play. Their position in the table is because football is unpredictable and sometimes you don't get what you deserve.
“They have a lot of good things, like central defenders making a good process; they have incredible runners and a lot of talent.
“They are huge competitors with the Portuguese mentality they have.
“(They are) one of the toughest teams we have faced in recent seasons and we have to be prepared because they had all week to prepare for this game.”
City won their last game at Molineux 5-1, with goals from Kevin De Bruyne (4) and Raheem Sterling. Overall City have won 52 of the 125 games played against Wanderers, with 25 draws and 48 defeats.
Predicted line-up: Ederson, Cancelo, Stones, Dias, Ake, Rodri, Gundogan, De Bruyne, Silva, Foden, Haaland
Score prediction: Wolves 1 City 2