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The debate on whether Manchester City were “too disrespectful” in their 9-0 annihilation of League One side Burton Albion largely dominated the newspapers this past week.
Guardiola took no chances with his team selection for the Carabao Cup semi-final first leg with only academy player Eric Garcia given a starting position and Phil Foden on the bench. City’s free-flowing brand of football proved to be too much for Nigel Clough’s side who later claimed that his players at half-time were absolutely wide-eyed and could not believe how good City were.
Next up for them is a home fixture against Wolves which might prove to be a tough task. City were held at the Molineux earlier this season in a tightly-contested match. Nuno Espirito Santo's Wolves side have been catching everyone’s eye this season. Their record against the top six has been good this season.
Chelsea were beaten at the Molineux, Manchester United were held at Old Trafford, while City and Arsenal required late equalizers to earn 1-1 draws. Their most recent and most memorable victory came at Wembley in an astonishing 3-1 win against in-form Spurs.
However, in recent weeks, Wolves have been inconsistent with their results, drawing with Fulham and losing to Palace at home. They did beat Liverpool in the third round of the FA Cup and will be looking to catch high-flying City when they visit the Etihad on Monday night.
Team News
Pep Guardiola, in his press conference, stated that both Sergio Aguero and Vincent Kompany are recovering well from the Liverpool game with flu and injury respectively. Both might be in contention for the Wolves game. On the other hand, it seems to appear that Wolves have no injury concerns with Diogo Jota and Adama Traore both available after shaking off their hamstring issues.
Nuno Espirito Santo has heaped praise on Guardiola stating that he has revolutionized the game and even the mentality of other managers. Pep has also stated that he is wary of the threat that their “strong and physical” opponent pose and how good they are at set-pieces and on the counter-attack.
Probable Line-ups
Manchester City: Ederson, Danilo, Laporte, Stones, Delph, Fernandinho, B Silva, De Bruyne, Sterling, Sane, Aguero
Wolverhampton Wanderers: Patricio, Bennett, Coady, Boly, Doherty, Jonny, Moutinho, Neves, Costa, Jota, Jimenez
Prediction
Manchester City 3-1 Wolves.
