Wolves can become the first club in history to do one thing by pulling off an upset against Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City tonight.
Gary O’Neil’s Wolves travel to Manchester City tonight attempting to pull off an upset while denting the hosts’ title charge.
It’s the tallest of orders to expect the Old Gold to achieve a positive result against the trophy-winning juggernaut. After all, Pep Guardiola’s men have avoided defeat in their last 42 home matches in all competitions, equalling a club record set between December 1919 to November 1921.
Although their only defeat in 18 league games against teams in the bottom half came against Wolves in September, as O’Neil’s side produced a famous 2-1 victory.
If they can pull off a similar result this evening, Wolves will make history.
Wolves can make history tonight by beating Manchester City
Almost everyone is writing off their chances of taking a positive result back to Molineux, including former Arsenal forward Paul Merson, who has predicted Man City to coast to a 3-0 victory.
There is a glimmer of hope for O’Neil’s men, though, having seen the Englishman tactically outsmart Guardiola in the reverse fixture.
They produced a monumental effort to achieve a 2-1 win over the champions by staying resilient and doing an excellent job of keeping the Citizens at bay.
Despite amassing 23 shots and making over 600 passes, Wolves restricted the champions to just an xG of 0.89, their fourth-lowest of the season.
To stand any chance of nicking a positive result, the Wanderers will need to be near perfect in their collective off-the-ball work and show a ruthless edge on the counter-attack.
If they can carry out those two increments to a high standard, while somehow nullifying the likes of Kevin De Bruyne, Phil Foden and Erling Haaland, they would make history by winning three points.
As per the Premier League, they’d become the first side to complete more than one league double across Guardiola’s entire league managerial career.
Wolves completed a league double over Man City in the 2019/20 campaign as they claimed victories by a 2-0 and 3-2 scoreline.
Wolves record against the Big Six
The challenge of overhauling City’s juggernaut that looks destined to land a record fourth consecutive title is harder than last time, but their record against the ‘big six’ this season will give them confidence.
Wolves have collected the most points of any against the ‘big six’ than any other side, claiming five victories (15 points) and losing five times in the Premier League.
To make it a sixth, they’ll have to completely ride their luck to survive an onslaught of attacks while relying on a clinical edge in attack.
It would certainly be a turn-up for the books if they did manage it, although it is very unlikely they make history tonight.