Manchester City are eased back into Premier League action with a trip to bottom-of-the-table Wolves on Sunday afternoon.
It’s not been all plain sailing for the perennial champions at the start of 2024/25, with a couple of draws ensuring that Liverpool lead the way at this early stage.
Pep Guardiola is still figuring out how to mitigate the absence of midfield lynchpin Rodri, while Kevin De Bruyne has also been sidelined for almost a month. There was plenty of discussion over the manager’s future during the recent break, but Guardiola will doubtlessly be solely focused on securing all three points on Sunday and the Spaniard will be thrilled that his squad returned from international duty injury-free.
Here’s the team he could pick for Sunday’s trip to Molineux.
GK: Ederson – The Brazilian made a few headlines during the break as he speculated over Guardiola’s future, but do we really think Ederson knows who the Spaniard’s successor will be?
RB: Rico Lewis – Lewis is slowly usurping Kyle Walker as Guardiola’s preferred choice at right-back with the veteran defender only becoming more unreliable.
CB: Manuel Akanji – The stout Swiss defender often goes under the radar, but he’s a key figure in this City backline and he should assume a starting role on Sunday.
CB: Ruben Dias – Guardiola has John Stones available this weekend, but he’ll likely retain the Akanji-Dias partnership. The Portuguese international will see plenty of towering Wolves forward Jorgen Strand Larsen.
LB: Josko Gvardiol – The nifty operator has not yet produced the attacking returns we saw down the stretch last season, but he’s arguably been among City’s standout performers this term. Gvardiol is a crucial presence down the left.
CM: Mateo Kovacic – The Croatian star doesn’t score many, but it was his brace which helped City to three points against Fulham last time out. Kovacic, of course, has huge boots to fill.
CM: Ilkay Gundogan – Gundogan has starred in a deeper position before, and he’ll get plenty of minutes alongside Kovacic in Rodri’s absence. The German was excellent in City’s 4-0 thumping of Slovan Bratislava before the break.
RM: Savinho – City have struggled from time to time against deep-lying defences, but Savinho has often been the primary prober. The Brazilian has settled in ever so quickly and could start ahead of Bernardo Silva at Molineux.
AM: Phil Foden – After a subdued international break, Foden will look to kick his season into gear starting this weekend.
LM: Jack Grealish – Grealish was on the scoresheet for England on Sunday, and Guardiola will want the low sock-donning wide man to carry that bright form into the next few weeks with City’s schedule only increasing in demand.
ST: Erling Haaland – Haaland was shackled by Craig Dawson in this fixture last season, but he made up for that quiet display by bagging four in the reverse fixture. He’ll want to see Dawson again on Sunday.
