(Football news) Reigning champions Manchester City have the opportunity to move on top of the Premier League table if they defeat Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday. Pep Guardiola’s team recently defeated Borussia Dortmund 2-1 in the Champions League but haven’t played a Premier League fixture since September 3 due to Queen Elizabeth II’s passing. Wolves will be looking to give Diogo Costa an opportunity this weekend as Raul Jimenez is currently underperforming and Sasa Kalajdzic suffering from an ACL injury.
Two weeks ago, Wolves secured a 1-0 win over Southampton with Daniel Podence finding the back of the net in first-half injury time, which was the team’s only win of the season. Bruno Lage’s side are currently unbeaten in three Premier League fixtures but their lack of potency in attack has meant that they are 14th on the table, having scored only three goals. However, Wolves have a solid defence, conceding just a single goal at the Molineux Stadium and four in total so far, which means City will have to be clinical in front of goal to get a result in this fixture.
As for City, they remain a point behind Arsenal and have the opportunity to take the top spot before the Gunners face Brentford on Sunday. The reigning champions remain unbeaten in eight games across all tournaments and have won four of their last five games, winning 15 and drawing six since their defeat to Tottenham last August. Wolves had defeated Manchester City at the Molineux in December 2019 but City have defeated them four consecutive times since then, with their most recent being a 5-1 victory.
In team news, Wolves will have Sasa Kalajdzic out of action while Chiquinho has undergone surgery due to a knee problem. Costa could make his Wolves debut while Hwang Hee-chan also remains an option but Raul Jimenez is unavailable. As for City, Aymeric Laporte is back in training but is unlikely to feature in this match which means that Ruben Dias will feature in defence. Phil Foden and Bernardo Silva are expected to return in attack at the expense of Jack Grealish and Riyad Mahrez. A victory for Manchester City is the only realistic outcome from this fixture.
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