Manchester City's tactical evolution looks set to continue on Saturday as they travel to highly rated Premier League newcomers Wolves.
Pep Guardiola has fielded two completely different systems in the first two games of the season and another reshuffle is on the cards for the trip to Molineux.
MAN CITY INJURIES
Kevin De Bruyne is ruled out with a knee injury, Danilo is still recovering from an ankle injury and No.2 goalkeeper Claudio Bravo will miss much of the season with an Achilles injury.
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Fabian Delph is yet to make a match day squad this season and it is understood he is being eased into the campaign following the World Cup and given his previous struggles with muscle injuries.
MAN CITY SUSPENSIONS
Neither side have any suspensions.
MAN CITY POTENTIAL STARTING LINE-UP
We'll be honest with you, this one is anybody's guess.
Guardiola's City line-ups have been incredibly unpredictable ever since he arrived in England, and it is fair to say that this season it will be even harder trying to second guess the Catalan.
His team against Huddersfield last weekend was vastly different to the one that saw off Arsenal on the opening weekend and the XI caused confusion among supporters and journalists when it was published ahead of kick-off.
It is apparent that Guardiola is coming up with new ideas to evolve his side and he has enough options in his squad to field new-look teams from one weekend to the next.
Last weekend he anticipated a game against a deep-lying Huddersfield defence, so picked a number of technical players capable of working in tight spaces. That meant he left fast players like Kyle Walker, Leroy Sane, Raheem Sterling and Riyad Mahrez on the bench.
It will most likely be a more open game against Wolves, meaning some of those players who are capable of getting in behind could come back into the side.
Away from that there are the usual considerations around the strikers - Sergio Aguero, Gabriel Jesus or both - and the centre-backs - Vincent Kompany came back into the side last week, while Nicolas Otamendi is yet to feature. Could Walker come back in at the expense of a centre-back, and if so which one will it be?
For Fantasy Football players it is a minefield.
WOLVES TEAM NEWS
Wolves have taken just one point from their first two games and will have learned some harsh lessons at Leicester City last weekend, when they created chances but failed to convert, and were then caught out at the other end.
The Midlands club have seen the opposition reduced to 10 men in both of their games so far but they have still not been able to win and their task will get no easier on Saturday.
Matt Doherty was taken off with a knock last weekend and will be checked in the build-up to kick-off, while Ivan Cavaleiro will miss out.
OPTA MATCH FACTS
- Wolverhampton Wanderers are set to face Manchester City in the Premier League for the first time since April 2012, with City winning 2-0 at Molineux the month before securing their first Premier League title.
- Manchester City have won five of their last six Premier League meetings with Wolves, losing the other at Molineux in October 2010.
- In the last two seasons when the previous year’s Championship winner has faced the reigning Premier League champion at home in the Premier League, the former has won the match (Burnley 1-0 Leicester City in 2016-17 and Newcastle United 3-0 Chelsea in 2017-18).
- Manchester City have lost only one of their last 29 Premier League games against newly promoted teams (W22 D6 L1), losing 0-1 at Burnley in March 2015 under Manuel Pellegrini. Under Pep Guardiola, they have yet to lose a Premier League match versus a newly promoted team (W9 D3).Manchester City have scored 24 Premier League goals at home this season, double the number they’d scored after six home matches last season (12).
- Manchester City are looking to become the first reigning Premier League champions to win their first three games of the season since rivals Manchester United managed to do so at the beginning of the 2011-12 campaign.
- Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero has scored three Premier League hat-tricks in 2018, including one last time out versus Huddersfield Town – only two players have netted four or more hat-tricks in a single calendar year in the competition (Harry Kane, 6 in 2017 and Alan Shearer, 5 in 1995).
TV COVERAGE & KICK-OFF TIME
Kick off is 12:30 GMT (07:30 ET) on Saturday, August 23 and will be shown on Sky Sports in the United Kingdom. It will be shown on NBC in the United States, and on various channels around the world.
