They are the only three changes to the side that beat Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday night, with Nathan Ake, Ilkay Gundogan and Riyad Mahrez moving to the bench.
Bernardo and Foden made a big impact as second-half substitutes in that win and will feature from the first whistle today.
Dias sat out that match, but takes his place at the heart of the defence alongside Manuel Akanji at Molineux. It’s a Premier League debut for Akanji, who has been assured in his two Champions League fixtures since joining the Club.
City are looking for a fifth victory in seven Premier League matches so far this season as we build a foundation for the defence of our title.
TEAMS
City XI: Ederson, Stones, Dias, Akanji, Cancelo, Rodrigo, De Bruyne (C), Bernardo, Foden, Grealish, Haaland
Subs: Ortega Moreno, Carson, Walker, Ake, Gundogan, Alvarez, Gomez, Mahrez, Palmer
Wolves XI: Sa, Jonny, Collins, Kilman, Ait-Nouri, Neves (C), Nunes, Moutinho, Guedes, Neto, Podence
Subs: Sarkic, Traore, Hwang, Mosquera, Semedo, Toti, Ronan, Bueno, Campbell
TACTICS
Ederson takes up his role between the sticks, with a defence of John Stones, Manuel Akanji, Ruben Dias and Joao Cancelo in front of him. Stones is expected to continue on the right, the position from which he scored Wednesday night’s equaliser.
Rodrigo remains at the base of the midfield, a position he has made his own. Kevin De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva will play either side of the Spaniard. Phil Foden should start on the right of the front three and Jack Grealish on the left, with Erling Haaland through the middle.
Wolves’ plans
Our hosts will set up in a 4-3-3, with an entirely Portuguese front six. The midfield of Ruben Neves, Joao Moutinho and Matheus Nunes are capable of keeping the ball against any team while Pedro Neto, Daniel Podence and Goncalo Guedes can all play anywhere in the front three - so expect them to rotate.
Former Chelsea and Atletico Madrid striker Diego Costa, Wolves’ new signing, hasn’t made the bench.
WALKER MAKES THE BENCH
In a welcome sight for everyone, the England right-back is back in the squad after missing Wednesday night’s Champions League match. He is considered fit enough to be on the bench.
His absence has meant a move to the right for John Stones, who gave his all in that position in midweek.
However, Aymeric Laporte and Kalvin Phillips are not fully fit so will not feature in the squad today.
Match stats
- After losing both league meetings with Wolves in 2019-20, City have won each of our last four against them by an aggregate score of 13-3.
- Wolves earned their first win in 13 Premier League games against Southampton last time out, while they’re looking to win back-to-back home league games for the first time since November 2021.
- Manchester City are unbeaten in our last 21 Premier League away games (W15 D6) since a 1-0 loss at Spurs in our opening game last season.
- Manchester City have the highest shot conversion rate in the Premier League this season (19.6%). We have also outperformed our expected goals more than any other side this term, netting 20 goals compared to an xG of 13.9 (+6.1).
- No side has scored fewer Premier League goals than Wolves so far this season (3), while they also have the worst shot conversion rate so far this term (4%).
- Against no side has Man City’s Kevin De Bruyne scored more Premier League goals than he has against Wolves (5), with four of those strikes coming in a 5-1 win in this exact fixture last season.
- Manchester City striker Erling Haaland has scored in all three of his Premier League away games – no player has ever scored in their first four appearances on the road in the competition.
