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2023/24 English Premier League
Matchday 7
Wolverhampton Wanderers v Manchester City
Molineux
Wolverhampton, England
Saturday, 30 September 2023
Kick-off is at 15h00
Manchester City will be seeking their seventh
Premier League win on the spin when they travel to the West Midlands for an encounter with Wolves at Molineux on Saturday, September 30.
The Citizens maintained their perfect start to the season when they beat Nottingham Forest 2-0 at the Etihad Stadium on September 23 to stay two points clear of Liverpool at the league summit.
The Reds kept pace with Pep Guardiola's side after seeing off West Ham 3-1 at Anfield to remain unbeaten in 2023-24, having only dropped two points thus far in a 1-1 draw with Chelsea on the opening weekend.
Brighton are a further point adrift in third position following their 3-1 victory over Bournemouth as they capitalised on the 2-2 draw between Arsenal (5th) and Tottenham (4th) to leapfrog the North London duo in the standings.
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Wanderers had to settle for a share of the spoils at Luton after they squandered the lead to draw 1-1, while having to play much of the game with just 10 men as a result of Jean-Ricner Bellegarde's red card in the 39th minute.
It was only their fourth point in six matches and left Gary O'Neil's side winless in three outings as they dropped to 16th in the table, three points clear of the relegation zone, with the Cherries (17th), Hatters (18th), Burnley (19th) and Sheffield United (20th) yet to claim victory.
Erling Haaland has picked up where he left off last term, scoring eight goals in his first six games, including a hat-trick in the 5-1 demolition of Fulham. The Norwegian striker is just six goals short of reaching a half century in the Premier League and is well on course to break the record held by Andy Cole, who notched 50 goals in 65 appearances.
Alamy Stock Photo
Hwang Hee-Chan has made quite the impact under O'Neil, bagging three goals already in his first six appearances, equalling his tally of last season. The South Korean striker is hoping to follow in the footsteps of compatriot Son Heung-Minm who rose to prominence at Spurs and won the Golden Boot in 2021-22 after scoring 23 goals.
Guardiola revealed that Rodri apologised for his red card against Forest which meant that City had to play virtually the entire second half with just 10 men.
"He has done it. He has apologised. [He said] Sorry," the Spaniard said of his compatriot, who will sit out the trip to the Black Country.
"Rodri has to control his emotions. I can get a yellow card but Rodri cannot get a red. I don't play, the players in the pitch have to control their emotions."
O'Neil was pleased to get a reaction from his players in the second half at Kenilworth Road after admitting they were nowhere near good enough against Luton for much of the opening 45 minutes.
"My first concern is obviously my group of players and the performance we put in. I was really disappointed with the first 20, 25 minutes," he said.
"I didn't see that start coming for us, because they've given everything so far. It's not that they weren't trying, but we weren't ready for what Luton were about to throw at us and we knew what was coming.
"I took the first 25 minutes badly because that's not what I expect to see from the team. Then we get a foothold and sort of find our way back into the game, it settles down, and we have a crazy moment from Jean and from that moment we're backs against the wall, and we have to fight with 10 men.
"To be fair to them, from that moment, and I asked them big questions at half-time, they managed to deliver so fair play to them, and they deserved to win the game in the second half."
Head-to-Head (Last Five Premier League Meetings)
Matches - 5
Wolves - 0
Man City - 5
Draws - 0
Premier League Matchday 7 fixtures:
Saturday, September 30
12h30: Aston Villa v Brighton & Hove Albion
15h00: Bournemouth v Arsenal
15h00: Everton v Luton Town
15h00: Manchester United v Crystal Palace
15h00: Newcastle United v Burnley
15h00: West Ham United v Sheffield United
15h00: Wolverhampton Wanderers v Manchester City
17h30: Tottenham Hotspur v Liverpool
Sunday, October 1
14h00: Nottingham Forest v Brentford
Monday, October 2
20h00: Fulham v Chelsea
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