Manchester City V Wolverhampton Wanderers

English Premiership 2009/2010

Manchester City V Wolverhampton Wanderers

Kick-Off: Saturday 22nd August – 15:00 GMT 

Venue: The City of Manchester Stadium

The critics have been out from the off ahead of the eagerly awaited season at Manchester City but it was the City players who did all their talking on the pitch last Saturday when Mark Hughes guided City to an opening day victory away at Blackburn Rovers. The incentives are certainly there for City to record yet another domestic victory as it would take them level with league leaders Tottenham Hotspur and put them right into contention for a possible top four finish.

Man City are short priced favourites to do the business in this fixture after impressing in their first outing of the new season, that doesn’t really surprise us. They certainly posses the players to challenge the English hierarchy but it’s all about the pace of which Hughes can get his squad to gel. City have been blessed with a brace of easy fixtures and they look set to take advantage of both providing they at least equal the level they reached last Saturday.

After securing their first points of the season, Wolves won’t want to lose their winning feeling and will have high hopes of winning back-to-back games in the league when they attempt to overhaul the free spending Man City at The City of Manchester Stadium this Saturday. Mick McCarthy’s players will be acclimatised with the Manchester surroundings after taking on Wigan in midweek and succeeding so that will certainly work in their favour. That victory over Wigan Athletic will leave the players in a buoyant mood although their midweek celebrations could soon come to an abrupt end as they face the first of the two Manchester clubs with real quality.

Andy Keogh has the honour of scoring Wolves’s first goal of the 2009/2010 season but more importantly for Wolves, it was the goal that added three points to the board. Their performance on the night backed up the result and Wolves really could of won by more were it not for some lacklustre finishing. That’s out only criticisms of this Wolves side right now. Their forwards are vastly inexperienced and when it boils down to the pressure moments (One-on-One’s) Ebanks-Blake clearly showed he wasn’t up to the task and he’s their more talented of forwards. It will take another goal from Midfield and another valiant defensive displays for Wolves to take a share of the spoils with another away victory out of the question for the time being.

Head-to-Head: Man City W:0 Wolves W: 1 Draws: 1

The pair haven’t clashed in the league since way back in the 2003/2004 Premiership. However, back then it was Wolves who enjoyed this fixture, winning at Molineux and pulling off what was a surprise draw in Manchester in an enthralling 3-3 draw. Will those results prove lucky for Wolves and spur them on to a big point in Manchester again?

Match Verdict: City to make it two on the bounce with another victory – 7/10 Coral

Wolves did enjoy this fixture several seasons ago but times have certainly changed since and it’s now Man City who are the heavy favourites to end Wolves hopes of securing back-to-back victories. City maybe as short as 1/3 with some firm but considering the amount of talent Mark Hughes has at his disposal, that could potentially be a steal. The City fans are already dreaming of playing in Europe against the very best but before that happens City will need to do the ‘nitty-gritty’ stuff against the weaker sides.

Match Odds:

Manchester City – 7/19 Coral

Wolverhampton Wanderers – 11/1 Bet365

Draw – 4/1 SkyBet

SoccerBetting Tip: Sean Wright-Phillips to Score Anytime – 4/1 WilliamHill