Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Manchester City preview: Gvardiol and Kovacic ruled out of season openerEderson and Savinho unlikely to feature as Brazilian duo linked with moves away from the Etihad
Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Manchester City
Competition: F.A. Premier League
Date: 5.30pm, Saturday 16th August 2025
Venue: Molineux, Wolverhampton
Referee: Jarred Gillett Assistants: S Ledger, M Perry Fourth Official: D Webb VAR: M Salisbury
Odds: Wolves 11/2, Draw 7/2, City 4/9
Tickets: Sold out
TV: Sky Sports
Wolves
Manager: Pereira Vitor
Squad (from): Sa, Bentley, Johnstone, Doherty, H Bueno, S Bueno, Wolfe, Agbadou, R Gomes, T Gomes, Hoever, Lima, Munetsi, Andre, Gomes, Arias, Bellegarde, Larsen, Hee-Chan, Kalajdzic, Chirewa, Lopez, Gonzalez, Mane
Injured: Chiwone, Mosquera, Silva
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Form guide:
Manchester City
Manager: Pep Guardiola
Squad (from): Trafford, Bettinelli, Ederson, Ortega, Dias, Stones, Ake, Ait-Nouri, Gvardiol, Akanji, Khusanov, Lewis, Reijnders, Cherki, Gonzalez, Rodri, Gundogan, Silva, Nunes, O'Reilly, Foden, Bobb, Marmoush, Haaland, Doku, Savinho
Injured: Kovacic
Doubtful: Gvardiol, Foden
Suspended: None
Form guide:
Josko Gvardiol and Mateo Kovacic have been ruled out of the season opener at Molineux through injury. Savinho and Ederson are also unlikely to feature as their futures at City remain uncertain.
Phil Foden and Rodri are, however, available for selection but manager Pep Guardiola urged caution regarding the Spanish midfielder's return to action.
“Rodri is so soon to come back but it is important his knee is perfect,” Guardiola said at Friday's press conference.
“He played Juventus after six weeks in his leg and we try to avoid that now he needs to play minutes in training sessions.
“What we want for him is to come back and to take a step back that would not be good. In this dynamic you can’t get rhythm, it is so demanding.
“He’s made good training sessions and tomorrow he’s travelling. We will decide how many minutes.
“Hopefully he can play minutes in next games then after the international break every three days he can help us.”
City won their last game at Molineux 2-1, with goals from Josko Gvardiol and John Stones. Overall City have won 57 of the 131 games played against Wolves, with 25 draw and 49 defeats.
Predicted line-up: Trafford, Nunes, Dias, Stones, Ait-Nouri, Rjeinders, Silva, Cherki, Foden, Marmoush, Haaland
Score prediction: Wolves 1 City 2
Archives