Pep Guardiola knows his Manchester City side must dispel pessimistic thoughts after their 3-1 defeat to Bodo/Glimt in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Guardiola watched on as his team were stunned at the Aspmyra Stadium, with Kasper Hogh’s rapid-fire brace doing the damage in the first half before Jens Petter Hauge added a stunning third after the break, while Rodri was also sent off.
Indeed, City suffered their first defeat when they faced a country in a major European competition for the first time since March 2011, away to Dynamo Kiev in the Europa League (2-0 loss).
The defeat came after a poor run in the Premier League, where they took just three points from their last four games, including a disappointing performance in the 2-0 defeat to city rivals Manchester United.
Wolves are the visitors to the Etihad Stadium this weekend and Guardiola has urged his side to change the feeling that everything is going wrong at the moment.
“We have to come back – the results since 2025 are not good, in terms of the Premier League and now here [at Bodo]”, said Guardiola.
“But we are moving forward, Wolves and then Galatasaray. We feel like everything is going wrong, the details, but we have to try to change that.”
“I have no doubts about this match, nothing can be taken for granted, that much is certain.
“United beat us and were better today [Bodo] had momentum. But the team was there and we created it – in transition they are really good.”
Defeat in Norway.
3-1 pic.twitter.com/GhgBecuyG2
— Manchester City (@ManCity) January 20, 2026
However, City will face a tough test against a resurgent Wolves side, who maintained their momentum by holding Newcastle United to a goalless draw last time out.
Wolves became the first side to go four games unbeaten in a top-flight season, while being bottom of the table for that run since West Brom between April and May 2018 (five).
But Rob Edwards’ side remain in 20th place and 14 points behind 17th-placed Nottingham Forest, with the Opta supercomputer giving them a 0.3% chance of avoiding relegation to the Championship.
And while many believe they have met their fate, full-back Hugo Bueno has not ruled out the possibility of his team pulling off the unthinkable.
“We are now 100% solid and more competitive. We are really confident in the work we are doing, but we just have to get those wins,” Bueno said.
“Even though the draws are a good result at the moment, we are not happy because we know we have to get more wins, and for that we will fight.
“Hopefully the next win will be a win.”
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Man City – Erling Haaland
Despite his recent goal drought, Haaland has scored more Premier League goals against Wolves than any other player (10).
He scored exactly one goal, two goals, three goals and four goals in matches against them, one of only three players to do so against an opponent, after Robbie Fowler (against Bolton Wanderers) and Harry Kane (against Leicester City).
Wolves – Matuse van Manen
Since the start of December, 18-year-old Mane has the most goals (two) and goal involvement (three) for Wolves in the Premier League.
The talented teenager also ranks second for most shots (12) hitting the opponent’s penalty area in that time (15).
MATCH PREDICTION: MAN CITY WIN
Man City have won 10 of their last 11 Premier League games against Wolves, the exception being a 2-1 defeat to Molineux in September 2023, with Gary O’Neil in the home dugout.
The Citizens are also unbeaten in their last 30 Premier League games against sides starting bottom of the table (W24 D6), since losing three in a row (against Bolton, Tottenham and West Brom) between November and December 2008. At home they won their last nine against the lowest ranked teams by an aggregate score of 36-0.
Although they have lost just one of their last ten Premier League games (W6 D3), Guardiola’s side are winless in their last four (D3 L1). They last went longer without a win between October and November 2009 (seven consecutive draws under Mark Hughes).
Wolves, meanwhile, are unbeaten in their last four league games (W1 D3) and have earned twice as many points (six) in this series as in their previous 22 games (W0 D3 L19).
However, Wolves have won just one of their 11 Premier League away games against Manchester City (D1 L9) and have lost the last five in a row since a 2-0 win under Nuno Espirito Santo in October 2019.
Furthermore, no team has scored in more different Premier League games this season than Wolves (11). However, Rob Edwards’ side have kept a clean sheet in two of their last three league games, having conceded at least once in each of their previous 23 matches.
OPTA CHANCE OF WINNING
Manstad – 77.4%
Draw – 13.6%
Wolves – 9.1%
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