Premier League, Saturday, 30/09/2023
No trouble in the league, but out of the EFL Cup? The reigning English title holders, who of course once again play the starring role in our Premier League champions betting, suffered their first disappointment of the season.
On Saturday, it is a matter of “taking revenge” for that, it goes to one of the favourite opponents. Why Betano are the clear favourites, but I’m still betting on a “both teams meet”? You can find the answers to this now in my Wolverhampton Manchester City tip!
It’s always the same with a top club: no matter how good your league record is, if you have to digest a bitter defeat in another competition, you’ll pounce on it!
Manchester City lost 1-0 to Newcastle in the 3rd round of the EFL Cup last Wednesday, with their much-vaunted attack not showing up at all this time.
Where I must of course note at this point: Ortega, Ake, Gvadriol, Akanji, Lewis, Philips, Kovacic, Grealish, Bobb and Alvaraz? The starting line-up was already missing a number of names that are actually indispensable.
In this respect, one may well ask whether this defeat is negligible. In the Premier League, it’s business as usual, the Skyblues have won all six of their matches.
Will there be a point for criticism away from home? City started with a 3-0 win over Burnley, and in the following 2-1 win over Sheffield, the winning goal came a few minutes before the end. The match at West Ham was similar.
Here the defending champions were behind, in minutes 76 and 86 the goals were scored to make it 2-1 and 3-1. It may be only a small chance for the opponents, but away they let something happen twice last time.
Of course I have to single out Erling Haaland at this point. He has already scored eight goals, only failing to score in the 1-0 win over Newcastle on matchday two. Is Wolverhampton an opponent that suits the Norwegian?
Definitely! He scored four goals last season, and at Bet365, another goal would still be worth 1.57 odds. The last six duels have all gone to the Citizens, who have scored 19 times in the process.
3:0, 5:1 and 3:1, the last three away games were anything but boring. In this respect, it is not surprising that our bettors expect quite clear signs with average odds of 1.30 to 9.50.
Wolverhampton Wanderers are only just above the bottom of the table, having picked up just four points. After the 0-1 opening defeat to Manchester United, they suffered their heaviest defeat of the season so far in the 4-1 defeat to Brighton.
Although a 1-0 win over Everton, with former Stuttgart man Sasa Kalajdzic scoring just before the final whistle, gave them their first win, the joy didn’t last long. 2:3 against Crystal Palace and 1:3 against Liverpool, the Wolves quickly landed back on the ground of hard facts.
The 1-1 draw against the promoted Luton side was not really seen as a success either. Twice a lead has been squandered, the defence is a major concern, with at least three goals conceded on three occasions already.
The fact that Wolverhampton last kept a clean sheet in their own stadium against City about 20 years ago fits in with this, of course. Still in 2022/23, quite interestingly, Wolves had the weakest defence with 31 goals.
Both Manchester City and Wolverhampton Wanderers are out of the EFL Cup, which was not necessarily planned. Meanwhile, the fact that the two are putting in completely different performances in the Premier League comes as no surprise.
City have won everything, but have also allowed something away from home recently. With Wolves, it was apparent in my analysis that leads don’t last and far too many goals are conceded at the end.
The direct comparison has also shown some high-scoring matches. Since the underdog has always scored in five games, I still trust them to try their best on Saturday. So, on balance, my tip is:
Wolverhampton and City score!
