After falling so far behind champions Liverpool in the Premier League last season, Pep Guardiola knows a fast start is needed this term if his Manchester City side is to challenge for league honours again.
Have no doubt about it, this is a big year for Guardiola. After another failure in the Champions League, he will know that the 2019/20 campaign was nowhere near good enough for City’s demanding owners – for who major silverware is not just a demand, it’s a requirement.
They haven’t been handed an easy opening fixture though, and there are few tougher tests than an away trip to Molineux these days in the Premier League.
Wolves got their season off to the perfect start last weekend, scoring twice in the first six minutes to leave Sheffield United in tatters. Nuno Espírito Santo will have been especially pleased to see star striker Raul Jimenez get off the mark at the earliest possible opportunity.
The West Midlands outfit have had a busy transfer window and have added quality in the form of Fabio Silva, Vitor Ferreira (both from Porto), Fernando Marcal from Lyon and Ki-Jana Hoever (Liverpool).
However, the losses of Matt Doherty and Diogo Jota will be undoubtedly be a worry for Wolves supporters and they will watch Monday’s first home tie with Man City with intrigue see how the squad has been impacted by those departures.
Before the match Rob Catterson from PPTV grabbed our football trader Brian McDonnell to get his beautiful bets for the game and he kindly gave us the benefit of his wisdom. Check it out below:
Man City to win to nil
The first goal will have a huge bearing in this contest and it’s fair to say, Wolves looked very good at Sheffield United last week. If Wolves get the crucial first goal, they can make themselves compact and break quickly – a style that suits Nuno’s side.
But, if City were to net the opener, then we’ve seen Wolves struggle in the past to break down opposition who have stolen a march on them.
We’re expecting Man City to get ahead here on the back of a rest last week. Seven of Wolves’ last eight games have had the ‘No’ result in the Both Teams To Score market come up and we are tipping City to win to nil in this one.
Aymeric Laporte to score anytime
City have a wealth of attacking talent on offer if you are looking for a goalscorer to back, but we are going with a left field selection to do the business.
Even though Wolves didn’t concede last weekend, they did look quite shaky at the back when it came to defending set-pieces. So, we fancy a Man City defender to rattle the net here.
Aymeric Laporte is the one that appeals, and you find him at a tasty price to net anytime.
* Prices on our snazzy new bet widget are bang up to date.
Wolves v Manchester City tips summary:
Man City to win to nil
Aymeric Laporte to score anytime
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