An extended weekend in the Premier League gets underway on Friday evening when Champions League chasing Manchester City welcome Wolverhampton Wanderers to the Etihad Stadium for a key showdown for the home side.
City have caught fire at the right time as they so often do and they go into this one knowing that a win will be four points between them and sixth placed Nottingham Forest. Wolves are only playing the role of spoiler but it is a position they have played well recently.
Where to watch
The match will be shown live and in full on the Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Premier League channels with the build-up beginning at 7pm ahead of the 8pm kick off.
Manchester City
Whatever happens from here on in this will be a disappointing season for Manchester City, as expressed by Pep Guardiola a week or so ago. They can still win the FA Cup and qualify for the Champions League next term but they have risen so high as an entity that they will believe they should be winning multiple trophies in a campaign or competing much better for the very big ones than they have over the course of this season.
One trend which City haven’t got away from is the ability to finish seasons very strongly. They have won four of their last five matches in the Premier League and progressed safely through to the FA Cup final in the midst of that run too and with some key players returning to fitness you get the impression that the Cityzens will do what is needed to ensure a top five finish at the very least. A win here would certainly ease the pressure on that challenge.
Wolverhampton Wanderers
When Vitor Pereira took over at Wolverhampton Wanderers in December, I would imagine their supporters would have struggled to see a situation in which they were safe in the Premier League with four matches still to play, let alone sitting above the likes of Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur, but that really highlights the turnaround under the Portuguese. They have given themselves the luxury of being able to relax in the final month of the campaign and look ahead to next term.
Wolves are now the form team in the Premier League. They have won their last six matches and look to be finishing the campaign with a flourish. It has to be said that those six wins were all against sides in the bottom half so the fixtures have fallen kindly for them recently but they have beaten Aston Villa and Bournemouth under Pereira too. He has tightened them up massively at the back without diminishing their goal threat but that defence might face its toughest test here.
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Team News
It has been confirmed that Erling Haaland and Rodri are back in full training for Manchester City but neither are expected to feature in this match. One man who is available again though is James McAtee after he was suspended for the FA Cup semi-final.
Vitor Pereira has said that he has no fresh injury issues within his squad but the Portuguese is expected to be without England goalkeeper Sam Johnstone once again. Pablo Sarabia could come in from the start should Pereira decide to rotate.
Betting
The expectation is on Manchester City to win this match and I would be surprised if they don’t do it but Crystal Palace went 2-0 up here recently while Aston Villa were seconds away from getting a point here just over a week ago so I’m not that interested in rushing in on the home side, especially with Wolverhampton Wanderers showing no signs of having headed for the beach this season despite securing another campaign of Premier League football.
The bet I like instead is for both teams to score and over 2.5 goals. This landed in the reverse meeting and in both matches between the two last season. Had BTTS been slightly better odds I would have played that on its own but there is easily a situation where at 1-1 City push for the win and Wolves use their pace to threaten on the counter, although in that situation you would expect City to get the job done anyway. Wolves have scored in eight out of nine away games under Pereira including at Anfield and Stamford Bridge while City have conceded in eight of their last 10 home games, a run which has seen Everton and Crystal Palace score here. Wolves have scored considerably more than both this season so both teams to score looks a solid part of the equation and a winner on top at either end would be likely so at the elevated price I’ll take that play.
Tips
Back Both teams to score and over 2.5 goals for a 3/10 stake at 2.05 with Boylesports
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