Wolves v Manchester City Tips: City's poor record against Wolves set to continue

Manchester City will be the last Premier League side to start their 2020/21 campaign as they travel to the Black Country to take on Wolves on Monday evening. Nuno Espirito Santo’s side completed a double over Manchester City last season, with his side claiming the spoils 3-2 at Molineux in December. 

Pep Guardiola will be without Sergio Aguero and Bernardo Silva for the game, with the attacking duo sidelined through injury. There’s also doubts over the fitness of Aymeric Laporte and Riyad Mahrez due to the pair contracting Covid-19 and missing a large chunk of pre-season. 

Spanish wing-back Jonny is the only absentee for Wolves as they look to make it two wins from two after a convincing 2-0 win against Sheffield United seven days ago.

Having a look at the match result prices for this one and I’m rather surprised to see Wolves given just a 14% implied win probability with odds of 6/1. The draw is available to be backed at 7/2 with a win for Manchester City priced at 1/2 with most bookmakers. Liverpool have already been cut from 9/4 into 6/4 in the Premier League winner market and City will need to be quick out the traps to avoid giving away an early lead.

There have been 39 goals across just eight Premier League games this weekend and I’m hoping the trend continues this evening live on Sky Sports at 20:15pm. I’ve picked out three football tips that I like the look of for the game, which can be found below.

Wolves/Draw,  Double Chance - 1.5pts @ 9/5 Betfair Exchange

Romain Saiss 1+ shot on target - 1pts @ 5/1 Paddy Power

Jimenez & De Bruyne 1+ shot on target, Marcal & Rodrigo to be carded - 0.25pts @ 80/1 Paddy Power

I’m expecting Wolves to have another superb season with Nuno at the helm and for my first selection on Monday night I’m backing them in the double chance market - meaning if Wolves win or draw the game this bet will land. Liverpool already have six points on the board this season and Pep Guardiola will be demanding no slip-ups from his team as he cannot afford to let Klopp’s side take an early lead as was the case last year. 

However, Manchester City lost nine league games in the 2019/20 season, in comparison to losing just four in the season prior. Two of those nine losses were inflicted by Wolves, a side who they clearly have struggled against, only winning once in the last four attempts. 

Due to their involvement in the latter stages of the Champions League, City have been back in training for considerably less time than Wolves and I think we could see a similar situation here to Manchester United v Crystal Palace on Saturday - with one team having much better match fitness than the other due to a short pre-season. Wolves to win or draw is currently top-priced on the Betfair Exchange at 9/5, with other firms taking no chances on the hosts with 6/4 on offer.

My second selection for the game comes in the form of Romain Saiss to have one or more shots on target, available at the boosted price of 5/1 with Paddy Power. The Moroccan, who can play centre-back or in a defensive midfield role, popped up with two goals last season but stepped up in the first game of this campaign with a goal and a Man of the Match performance.

Saiss took three shots in total against Sheffield United last Monday with two of those hitting the target. At six foot two inches, Saiss is no shrimp and can be a serious threat from set-pieces. He’s overpriced in my eyes to have a shot on target against the Cityzens at Molineux on Monday, and for that reason I’ll be having a dabble on the 5/1 on offer from Paddy Power with others such as SkyBet going just 7/2.

Rounding off this trident of tips for Wolves v Manchester City is a speculative 80/1 shot made up for Raul Jimenez and Kevin De Bruyne to have one or more shots on target with both Rodrigo and Marcal to be carded. 

Raul Jimenez was the only player for Wolves in the 2019/20 season who averaged over one shot on target per game with the Mexican registering 44 in total. The 29-year-old scored 17 league goals last term and is also the penalty taker for Wolves. At 1/2 to have a shot on target, Jimenez is very much the cornerstone of this 80/1 shot.

Kevin De Bruyne was crowned the PFA Player of The Year last term, and rightly so in my opinion after I tipped up the Belgian to win the award for BettingOdds.com back in June. KDB averaged 2.8 shots per game last season and combined that with 13 league goals. We all know his qualities and I’m backing him to land one on target against Wolves.

Moving onto the cards and the first player I’ve opted for is new Wolves signing, Marcal. Last season the Brazilian was awarded three yellow cards in six Champions League appearances, and two red cards in 11 league games for Lyon. He was booked at Bramall Lane on debut for his new club and looks a good prospect to pick up another against strong opposition on Monday night.

The final element of this longshot is Manchester City’s Rodrigo to be booked by referee Andre Marriner. No Manchester City player was booked more times than the Spaniard in the league last season and he’s one who doesn’t mind a cynical foul to break up play. I always feel Wolves are a threat on the break with the pace of Adama Traore and his counterparts and it would be no surprise to see Pep employ a stop at all costs strategy to stop this.

Good luck to those following the selections this evening. Staking can be key at this time of year and I’d always err on the side of caution at the start of the season when finding form and selecting trends can be a lot more tricky. As always, please remember to gamble responsibly