3 bold Premier League predictions: Leicester hand Liverpool first loss on Boxing Day
1. Wolves beat Manchester City again
This match-up provided one of the earlier upsets of the season when Wolves went to the Etihad and took all three points in a 2-0 win over Manchester City. Wolves thoroughly deserved their win that day as well which will make Pep Guardiola and his side a little nervous about this Friday’s game.
Manchester City suffered a blip which cost them a lot of ground on league-leaders Liverpool and now all that they can do is win to keep their slim title hopes alive. Winning away at Molineux is much easier said than done though and if the Light Blues are to take all three points they’ll need to be at their very best.
Despite going behind to a sublime piece of finishing from Jamie Vardy at the weekend, Manchester City were the better side against Leicester and eventually ran out 3-1 winners after goals from Riyad Mahrez, Ilkay Gundogan and Gabriel Jesus. Those may have been the goalscorers but there’s no doubt that Kevin De Bruyne is the most important player in City’s squad.
The Belgian playmaker is absolutely sublime in every attacking thing he does. His goals are beautiful, his passing is immaculate and he drives brilliantly with the ball – something which is often ignored due to the first two attributes.
If De Bruyne is on his game this weekend then it’s hard to see anything other than a Man City victory this weekend. Nuno will have a gameplan to try and manage the movement of the Belgian and if it’s executed well then this should stop Manchester City’s flow.
That will be the starting point for Wolves and if they can manage this effectively then they can begin to think about attacking of their own. Adama Traore netted twice at the Etihad and whether it’s as a goalscorer or provider, he’s likely to have an impact on this game.
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Diogo Jota will open the scoring for Wolves courtesy of a Traore cross before Raul Jimenez puts them 2-0 up. Sterling will pull one back for City but they won’t have enough to find an equalizer as they watch their title hopes fade away.