Man City Set for Firm Top Grip with Wolves’ Visit

Top of the league Manchester City can put some early pressure on Liverpool and Chelsea by beating Wolverhampton Wanderers at the Etihad Stadium today. While their defeat away at RB Leipzig was undoubtedly disappointing, City have been in fine fettle in a league context of late, winning the five games since their surprising loss to Crystal Palace last month

Having seen their seven-game unbeaten run come to an abrupt end midweek, Manchester City welcome Wolverhampton Wanderers to the Etihad Stadium today in the Premier League.
Pep Guardiola’s men went down 2-1 to RB Leipzig in midweek, while the visitors were undone by a late Liverpool winner at Molineux last weekend.

Man City’s status as Champions League Group A winners was already confirmed before they travelled to RB Leipzig for an inconsequential clash on the final matchday, with the German side benefitting from that new manager bounce following Jesse Marsch’s dismissal.

The Bundesliga outfit under the tutelage of Achim Beierlorzer ended City’s seven-game winning run in all competitions thanks to strikes from Dominik Szoboszlai and Andre Silva, with Riyad Mahrez’s header not enough to threaten a late comeback.

However, City’s 3-1 victory over Watford – thanks in no small part to an astounding Bernardo Silva performance saw them take advantage of Chelsea’s defeat to West Ham United and reclaim top spot in the Premier League table – one point clear of second-placed Liverpool.

The reigning English champions have now prevailed five times in a row in the top flight – scoring at least two goals in each game and even at this stage of the season, their title destiny is already in their own hands ahead of a hectic winter period.

Guardiola’s side have been far from perfect on their own patch this term, but they welcome Wolves to the Etihad on a four-game winning streak on home soil and in no mood to let their midweek defeat sour their fortunes domestically.

Wolves became the latest victims of a last-minute Divock Origi winner last weekend, but Bruno Lage must have thought his luck was in when Diogo Jota somehow blasted the ball at Conor Coady when he otherwise had the whole of the goal to aim at.

However, Origi came off the bench to smash home Liverpool’s winner in the fourth minute of second-half injury time, which represented Wolves’ third game without a win or a goal in the Premier League as their European dream took yet another hit.

Having now overseen a bitter downturn in fortunes with just one win from their last five in the top flight, Lage has work to do to pull his side back into top-six contention as they sit eighth in the standings – two points behind seventh-placed Arsenal and three behind Manchester United.

A paltry tally of just one goal from their last five games highlights where the problems lie for this Wolves side – who have not had many problems shutting up shop in defence – although only one of their last six away games has ended in defeat.

Man City comfortably saw off Wolves 4-1 at the Etihad last term after claiming a 3-1 win at Molineux a few months before, and this week’s visitors to Manchester have lost six of their last nine visits to the Citizens’ headquarters.

Meanwhile, Chelsea will aim to bounce back from a difficult week when they welcome Leeds United to Stamford Bridge for today’s Premier League fixture.
The Blues have now dropped to third in the table, while Marcelo Bielsa’s side occupy 15th spot after drawing 2-2 with Brentford last time.

Having been knocked off their perch both domestically and continentally in recent weeks, Chelsea’s stellar start to the campaign has since plateaued with just one win from their last four games in all competitions, and even then Watford gave them a good run for their money.

Before throwing away the lead twice in a 3-3 thriller with Zenit St Petersburg – which saw them forced to settle for second in Champions League Group H – Chelsea conceded another trio of goals in the capital as West Ham United ran out 3-2 winners in a pulsating London derby.
Manchester City and Liverpool both took advantage of the Blues’ slip-ups to usurp them in the table, with Chelsea now two points behind the table-topping Citizens and one behind Liverpool as they occupy third spot in the rankings.

The Zenit thriller marked the fifth game in six that Chelsea have managed to net at least two goals, but Tuchel pulled no punches at the final whistle, seemingly angered by his side’s ‘change in behaviour’ when holding onto a slender lead.

Chelsea have also been held to draws by Burnley and Manchester United in their most recent Premier League home games, but not since the days of Guus Hiddink have they played out three consecutive top-flight stalemates on their own turf.

Leeds may not be losing as many games in the Premier League now, but their affinity for stalemates continues to bedevil them, and they had to rely on the last-minute heroics of Patrick Bamford to rescue a point against Brentford at Elland Road.

After Shandon Baptiste and Sergi Canos had cancelled out Tyler Roberts’s opener, Bamford – making his first top-flight appearance in nearly three months due to a serious ankle injury – was in the right place at the right time to prod home and send the home crowd into delirium.

That point has not done much good for Leeds’ prospects of pulling themselves away from danger, though, as the Whites occupy 15th place in the table on 16 points – six clear of Burnley having played a game more than the 18th-placed outfit.

Bielsa’s side have now lost just one of their last seven Premier League matches – although that did come away to a London club in Tottenham Hotspur – and not since 1980 have Leeds managed to get one over the side boasting the tag of European champions.

Leeds did manage to hold Chelsea to a 0-0 draw at Elland Road last season, but they lost 3-1 at Stamford Bridge in December 2020 and have only won one of their last 10 meetings with the Blues, which came back in the 2002-03 Premier League season.