Premier League: City’s Time to Put Down a Marker

Manchester City vs Wolverhampton Wanderers

When Manchester City entertain Wolves at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday, Pep Guardiola’s team have a great chance to put in a statement performance.

With the Sky Blues periodically misfiring in the league, there has been a fair amount of chatter on the terraces in England that Guardiola is targeting the Champions League above all else. But to suggest he would live with handing over his league crown is the stuff of nonsense.

Guardiola’s team can win a historic fifth title in six seasons and a third on the bounce, and the manager, not to mention his players, is not about to pass up on that opportunity without a serious fight.

Second placed City have a crunch match at home to Tottenham Hotspur on Thursday and are now in a fierce Premier League title race with Arsenal eight points clear, Newcastle launching a genuine challenge, and Manchester United also catching up on the rails.

The Red Devils missed a chance to go second in the table on Wednesday, drawing 1-1 away to Crystal Palace, instead still sitting behind the Sky Blues on goal difference and having played a game more.

At the other end of the table, Julen Lopetegui’s Wolves are in a relegation battle, currently in 16^th, but there have been signs of improvement recently and they should have enough to pull away from danger.

But Sunday’s clash with the title chasers is about as tough as it gets and the hosts will be keen to show who’s boss, not just to Wolves but also to the rest if the league.

Talking Points

Sky Blues’defence back to full strength

For the first time this season, the Premier League 2023 betting odds have drifted away from the Etihad Stadium and Arsenal are now the favorites at an odds-on price at 1.85 to win a first title since 2004, but the Sky Blues are still well in the hunt at odds of 2.30.

A defeat to Southampton in the Carabao Cup and then another loss in the Manchester Derby, which handed the initiative to the Gunners, was something of a reality check to the Sky Blues who seemed to be aiming, as usual, for a quadruple.

Centre-backs Ruben Dias and John Stones were missing for both those games and, while there was a huge amount of controversy surrounding Bruno Fernandes’ late equaliser in the Derby, Manuel Akanji and Nathan Ake were both back peddling as the United strikers piled forward.

On Thursday, Guardiola announced that both Stones and Dias were fit to face Tottenham, though Dias may start on the bench due to the length of his lay-off.

Stones – one of the most consistent defenders in Europe – is likely to start, and that will make scoring one goal, never mind two, a more difficult task for their opponents.

Sarabia can help to lift Wolves away from danger

Wolves are at SBOTOP odds of 3.25 to be relegated with three teams, Bournemouth, Everton, and Southampton, worse off and with Nottingham Forest and Leicester City within touching distance.

Since the arrival of Lopetegui as head coach in November, there has been a sense of renewed optimism around the club and the Wolves have been hard to beat since the post-World Cup restart.

And this week, the signing of Spain international Pablo Sarabia could turn out to be one of the best moves of the January window. The 30-year-old winger has made a £4.5-M move from Paris Saint-Germain and has penned a two-and-a-half-year deal at Molineux.

Lopetegui knows the player well having coached him at the Spain U21 level and he will be a top quality addition to Wolves’ creative unit which already boasts talents including Daniel Podence and Ruben Neves.

Sarabia was on loan at Sporting Lisbon last season where he scored 21 goals and made 10 assists, and that type of form will have Wolves fans drooling.

History

Manchester City have won 16 of the last 29 meetings with Wolves, who have won 10 and there have been just three draws. And City have been dominant in recent times, winning the last five meetings with a goal difference of 16 to three.

Both teams want an upturn in Premier League 2023 results for obvious but very different reasons.

The Sky Blues have three wins, one draw, and two defeats (before the Spurs game) while Wolves have one win, two draws, and three defeats over that period.

Betting Tip

Wolves are at 1.96 to win with that two-goal advantage, but 12.04 to win without any handicap. A rare draw at 6.76 seems unlikely to me as I’m expecting a backlash.

Wolves are improving and lost narrowly to Manchester United in the league and Liverpool in an FA Cup replay in recent weeks. But the Sky Blues can be an irresistible force when they click through the gears, as Chelsea discovered just 12 days ago when they were thumped 4-0.

And Guardiola will demand a response against both Spurs and Wolves to get his title challenge back on track.

4-0 to City again at a price of 9.64 is well in reach, and Wolves will have better chances for points in the rest of the campaign.

 

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