After a 3-1 victory away to Watford last Saturday, Manchester City have risen to the top of the EPL table where they sit with 35 points. They have now managed to win six consecutive matches in the league and have only lost two matches this season. They are still behind Chelsea and Liverpool in the race for the top-scoring team in the league, but after Thomas Tuchel’s team conceded three goals last weekend Manchester City now boast the best defense along with the Blues. The Sky Blues have only conceded nine goals the entire season and despite conceding in all of their last three matches it’s not impede them from winning those clashes thanks to a very potent attack that’s averaging over two goals per match. Bernardo Silva’s two goals against Watford has made him the top-scorer for his team and the fourth best in the league, while Phil Foden is next best for Manchester City with three goals. Prior to last week the Sky Blues won 2-1 at Villa Park, won 2-1 at home against West Ham, won 3-0 at home to Everton and won 2-0 away to Manchester United.
Wolves put in a huge performance at the Molineux against Liverpool last weekend, but sadly they couldn’t hold on till the very end and went down 1-0 after a 94th minute goal by the visitors. Their loss against the Reds sends them down to eighth spot on the table with 21 points and they have now failed to win in their last three EPL clashes. With just three goals conceded in their last five matches and just 12 goals conceded the entire season it’s quite clear that Wolves’ defense is their strength. Big names like Leicester, Spurs, West Ham and Manchester United have all struggled against their defense and have had to settle for either a draw or a 1-0 victory. However, having a solid defense is not enough in this league and with their attack being unable to consistently find the net one can see why they are not higher up on the table. They’ve only managed to score one goal in their last five matches and this includes matches against the likes of Norwich and Burnley who are very poor defensively. Although I commend them on their defensive performance this season, they will need to get something going on attack if they are to have a chance at playing in Europe next season as picking up one point per match is not going to get them there.
Manchester City narrowly leads the head-to-head in the last five EPL matches with three wins, while Wolves have won the other two. The last time these two teams met was in March this year at the Etihad where the Sky Blues stormed to a 4-1 victory which featured a double by Gabriel Jesus. The last time Wolves picked up a win against Manchester City was just under two years ago at the Molineux, while their last victory at the Etihad was a 2-0 win that same season – their only victory ever at this venue in the club’s EPL history.
Prediction
Wolves have pulled off some good results against some of the top teams in the league but they generally seem to do this best at the Molineux. I can’t see them pulling off another big result at the Etihad considering their current lack of goalsoring and City’s strong defense. At best they may be able to score one goal in the match, but with Manchester City averaging at least two goals per match right now I can’t see a single goal being enough to secure a win or a draw. The Sky Blues have won all of their home fixtures except for a draw against the Saints and a loss to Crystal Palace. Their loss against Crystal Palace came as a result of some poor discipline and as long as they don’t go down that same road against Wolves it should be a comfortable win for the men from Manchester. I think City should win by at least two goals and since the odds are way too low to back them for just a win I will have a stab at them to win by exactly 2-3 goals. Bernardo Silva is on fire now for the home team and as expected the odds for him to score a goal in the match are not too generous. He is available at over even money, but for me the better value looks to be Raheem Sterling to score the first goal since he has been first to score in two of City’s last four matches.
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