Manchester City vs Wolverhampton Wanderers (Premier League): Match Preview, Team News, Stats, Head to Head, How to Watch | OneFootball

Manchester City play on a Friday night for the very first, and final, time this season against an in-form Wolverhampton Wanderers side.

Last time out, Pep Guardiola and his players secured a place in the FA Cup final for a third consecutive season after beating Nottingham Forest by a 0-2 scoreline at Wembley, setting up a showdown with Crystal Palace on Saturday 17 May.

With only two minutes of play in the capital, Mateo Kovacic found Rico Lewis free in space on the edge of the Forest penalty area, and the Academy graduate scored with a low driven shot to open the scoring and make Manchester City’s life much easier from the off.

Although Forest had their chances – hitting the post three times – it was the blue side that put the ball into the net again in the second-half as Josko Gvardiol jumped higher than Murillo and headed home after a perfectly placed corner kick by Omar Marmoush.

Now back to Premier League action this week as Manchester City take on Wolverhampton Wanderers, who are in their best form all season amid a winning streak of six Premier League matches in succession.

Ahead of our penultimate home game of the 2024/25 season, here is everything you need to know about Friday night’s huge clash in the Premier League.

Match details

Manchester City will host Wolverhampton Wanderers at the Etihad Stadium on Friday night, with kick-off scheduled for 20:00 GMT.

Match officials

The Premier League have announced that Peter Bankes will officiate the clash between Manchester City and Wolverhampton Wanderers, in what will be his fourth outing involving the Citizens this campaign.

Check out the full match officials below!

Team news

John Stones and Nathan Aké remain sidelined with longer-term injuries, while versatile forward Oscar Bobb sustained a minor setback in his ongoing troublesome season with a hamstring issue, as first revealed by Norway manager Stale Solbakken.

Rodri and Erling Haaland are both back in first-team training, but still not ready to feature, Pep Guardiola confirmed during his pre-match press conference. The Catalan manager has also updated that there are no new injury concerns at the club.

As for the visitors, there are six absentees from their squad at present with Leon Chiwone out until late October owing to an ACL rupture while Yerson Mosquera and Enso Medina are not expected to return this season.

Pedro Lima could make a return in the coming days but is likely to miss out of Friday’s clash at the Etihad Stadium alongside goalkeeper Sam Johnstone, while Sasa Kalajdzic has no return date at present.

Head to head

In their most recent duel, Manchester City beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-2 at Molineux after Jorgen Strand Larsen opened the scoring in an early counter-attack, before Josko Gvardiol levelled things up with a wonderful right-footed goal.

Thanks to a late header converted by John Stones, Manchester City came out on top with a crucial three points in the campaign back in October, maintaining a remarkable start to the season that would soon come crashing down over the months that followed.

In the history books, the two teams have faced each other a total of 130 times, with 55 wins for the Citizens, 49 triumphs for Wolves, and 26 draws. At home, Manchester City have an advantage against Friday’s visitors: 37 wins in 65 games.

Statistics

Pep Guardiola has faced Vítor Pereira just once, registering victory. Pereira played against Manchester City twice, losing on both occasions while Guardiola has faced Wolverhampton Wanderers 14 times, recording nine wins, two draws and three defeats.

Wolverhampton Wanderers have scored a goal in each of their last 13 matches, unbeaten in their eight most recent games, winning the past six in a row.

Manchester City have conceded 22 home Premier League goals this season, their most in a season since the 2015-16 campaign (21). They last conceded more at home in a season back in 2003-04 (24).

Omar Marmoush has scored in all of his six Premier League outings at the Etihad Stadium.

Manchester City have an accumulated xG of 67.08 over 540 shots this season in the Premier League. The club, however, has scored 65 goals.

How to watch

In the United Kingdom, the game will be broadcast live by Sky Sports from 20:00 GMT with regional radio commentary available on BBC Radio Manchester.

Those residing in the United States can watch the contest unfold live on Peacock.

You can find the full global TV listings here!

City Xtra will have full live coverage available on our X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, and Instagram channels throughout Wednesday evening, with content also provided on cityxtra.co.uk and YouTube!