Manchester City FC vs Wolverhampton Wanderers FC, free match prediction 03 Mar 2021

MANCHESTER CITY FC vs WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS FC Match Preview & Analysis

Manchester City are expected to rotate several players for their game against Wolves, with such a huge squad leading to an embarrassment of riches for Pep Guardiola to choose from.

Against West Ham, City were efficient rather than spectacular, earning their 20th consecutive win by a 2-1 margin after a tight encounter.

Even at 12 points clear at the top, City won’t want to take their foot off the gas, especially against a Wolves side who have a habit of popping up with important wins against the top sides.

The Wanderers have certainly improved of late, having gone five games undefeated in the league, with three victories coming during that period. They’ve moved up to 12th in the league too, putting aside any fears that they would be dragged into a relegation scrap.

Since gaining promotion, Wolves have taken the most points off Manchester City in the league, and will be hoping to continue that run here.

Teams Preview

Manchester City FC Preview

Form Guide (all comps): WWWWW

Reasons to be cheerful:

     Squad depth will allow them to rotate key stars in and out

     Defensive partnership between Jones and Dias is arguably the best in Europe

Reasons to be fearful:

     Were beaten by Wolves at home last season

     Their opponents are famously difficult to play against

With the points gap City now have over their closest rivals in the table (12), you could be forgiven that they would take things a little easier and focus on other competitions like the Champions League or FA Cup.

That’ll be far from the case here, however, with City’s determination to win football matches there for all to see over the last few months. Their win over West Ham was their 20th in all competitions in succession, as well as 28 games unbeaten.

The key to the second stat has been the fantastic defensive partnership which has emerged between John Stones and Ruben Dias. City have kept a league-high 15 clean sheets this season, winning 13 of the 14 games that the pair have started together.

With no injury concerns here, City are likely to rotate players like Sterling, Silva, Mahrez and Jesus.

Star Man – Kevin De Bruyne

Having recently returned from injury, De Bruyne has taken City to an even greater level, and his assist against West Ham for the first goal was magic.

Wolverhampton Wanderers FC Preview

Form Guide (all comps): DLWWD

Reasons to be cheerful:

     Good record against City over the past couple of years

     Unbeaten run of five games is longest this season

Reasons to be fearful:

     Poor away record recently

     Too many games without scoring this season

Wolves have often been the side to cause a surprise result or two against the traditional Big Six sides over the past couple of years, and no one has taken more points off Manchester City since the Wanderers promotion three seasons ago.

They have an incredible knack of being difficult to play against, as they’ve shown recently by going five league games unbeaten for the first time this season.

Winning games, especially away from home has been a little harder, with only one win from their last eight on the road.

Eight of their 26 games in the league have passed without Wolves scoring, showing that they’ve had a hard time of hitting the back of net, especially with the injured Jimenez.

Here, they are under no pressure in terms of a relegation scrap, so should be able to just go out and give a top performance.

Star Man – Ruben Neves

Their midfield maestro has been key to Wolves’ improvement recently, and has five goals in his last nine league starts.