Wolves v Manchester City: Premier League – live! | Football

32 min: Bravo has just had a wobble. Jimenez put the press on the substitute goalkeeper, who walloped the ball out of play. There’s also been confirmation that a drinks container was thrown at Sterling after the City forward scored.

30 min: Boos are cascading down from the Molineux stands. It’s a moody atmosphere now. One thing I can say is that City’s approach after going a man down was laudable. They continued to probe patiently and were rewarded for sticking to their gameplan. It’s up to Wolves to play with greater intensity now. They will have to wear City down.

28 min: Well, what an odd 10 minutes that was. There were so many delays but ultimately if you look back at each incident VAR probably got them right, even if the awarding of the penalty and the demand for it to be retaken appeared overly fussy.

Well this is incredible. Rui Patricio goes the same way again and saves … but this time the ball lands back at Sterling’s feet and the City forward taps home. The Wolves fans are hopping mad and a supporter appears to have thrown something on to the pitch.

23 min: Rui Patricio dives low to his right and saves it from Sterling. But hang on. It’s going to retaken. There was some encroachment it seems.

22 min: After a number of checks it is given! I can understand why but it seems harsh. Sterling will take it.

20 min: City appeal for a penalty as Mahrez goes down in the box. Atkinson waves it away. It looked like Mahrez threw himself down after a Dendoncker’s arm leant on his shoulder but from another angle it appears that Mahrez’s heel was clipped accidentally. I don’t think it’s a penalty but VAR are checking it.

19 min: Jimenez flicks the corner on at the near post, Doherty flicks the ball at goal from a tight angle but Bravo collects comfortably.

17 min: It looks like Sterling has gone up front on his own in a 4-1-3-1 formation. Although that formation could change 99 times before the game is done. Wolves win a corner after Traore wallops a cross against Mendy.

15 min: Moutinho knocks a tame free-kick straight into Bravo’s midriff. We’ll see how good City are in possession now they are down to 10 men.

13 min: Ederson trudges off while we’re waiting for Bravo to get changed. It’s Aguero who is sacrificed after only 13 minutes. Bravo will face a free-kick from 25 yards out on the left side of the box when he comes on. Kyle Walker would definitely save it.

11 min: My oh my! Coady pings a long ball to Jota, catching City napping after the restart. Ederson comes rushing out of his box and after Jota knocks the ball over the City keeper, Ederson collides with him. It was a definite red.

8 min: Mendy and Dendoncker have clashed heads. I think both should be OK but they’re getting checked over as you can’t be too careful. It came after Traore was tracked by Sterling, who nudged the Wolves winger over deep in the City half. Nuno wanted a foul and after looking at a replay it looked like Wolves deserved one.

6 min: Traore stretches his legs for the first time. It came after Coady pinged a long ball forwards that City only half cleared. Jimenez found Traore to the right of him. The winger found the byline but just overran the ball by a few inches. Goal-kick. It’s all very tame.

4 min: The game has very quickly settled into a Manchester City exhibition in sterile possession. But after a couple of minutes Otamendi wallops the ball out of play under pressure to huge cheers from the home fans.

3 min: Justin Kavanagh is not a fan of 2019-20 Pep: “What with the sarcastically exaggerated handshakes to officials, and now the faux letters to the League in thanks for Yuletide fixture congestion, Pep Guardiola is becoming a bit of a footballing Ebenezer Scrooge. He needs a visit from Don Revie (the ghost of fixture pile-ups past) or even Jürgen Klopp (pile-ups present…and yet they’re still winning) to get over himself. Otherwise I foresee his ghost of Christmas future as being the next Mourhino (and one of them is enough for any narrative).”

1 min: Manchester City get the game under way. They’re shooting from left to right on my TV, so make a picture of that in your heads. Sterling immediately tries to dribble his way into a shooting position on the left corner of the 18-yard box, but Doherty gets an important foot in the way and halts his progress. That’s a sharp start by City.

Here come the teams. Wolves, in black tracksuit tops covering their glorious gold shirts, are led out by the underrated Conor Coady. Manchester City, in 1980s-style light blue/dark blue tops over their famous sky blue shirts, are marched out on to the turf by captain Fernandinho. There’s a cracking atmosphere. The home fans are up for this. So am I!

It’s almost time for kick-off and it’s like middle earth at Molineux, where the air is dripping with mist. It’s a proper football night.

David Wall preferred the good old days of, um, 2016: “I know it sounds a bit curmudgeonly but am I the only person who feels something is missing from the past two and a half seasons where you effectively have to win every game in order to win the title? True, City and Liverpool hitting such prolonged periods of excellence is admirable, but are either side one that supporters will really love in future? It used to be the case that you could lose a number of games in a season but, if you put together a run of 10-12 wins from around March you’d be in with a good chance of the title. It meant that in the first half of the season you could relax a bit when watching matches, just enjoy them, because you knew that the odd dropped points could be caught up later on. But now it’s tension from the very first game, with any draw becoming a major set-back, and any defeat almost a crisis. I suppose Liverpool supporters won’t complain when they get the title at the end of the season, but they were more fun to watch when they had a little inconsistency, and a poor performance might not just end in a win nonetheless.”

Nuno speaks: “Manchester City are an outstanding team with outstanding players. Let’s not forget that we have to play. We have to play. They are a very good team and they will test us.” It doesn’t sound like Wolves are going to sit back does it? This could be very entertaining.

I’m watching highlights of Kevin De Bruyne. The incredible thing about him is that whenever he shoots, if he misses, it is only by inches. You never see him sky a shot or wildly overhit a pass. Everything is measured. If he’s off target the likelihood is that one of his shots or passes will still cause the opposition an awful lot of trouble.

Pep Guardiola speaks: “Wolves’ consistency for two seasons is incredible,” he says. Of trying to stop Adama Traore he has this to say: “It’s impossible. You need a motorcycle. He has a pace that no other player in the world has.” On the subject of fast-tracking Aguero back into the starting lineup after injury, he says he didn’t have a choice as to whether he should play him or not. “Jesus was sick.”

Adama Traore’s great fun isn’t he? He plays football at a million miles an hour. Every dribble is like a thrash-metal solo.

There’s a nice interview with Nuno playing on Amazon at the moment. He credits his managerial nous to being a reserve goalkeeper for such a long time. He says he learned “bench experience” sat on the sidelines watching managers make mistakes. Carlo Nash should be a modern-day Shankly if this is true.

In case you’re wondering why Gabriel Jesus is missing from City’s squad, he’s ill. That’s why you should get your winter flu jab, folks!

Harry Redknapp believes Liverpool ended City’s title hopes last night. Is that true? It’s staggering to even be talking about the title race being over before we’ve entered the new year. If there’s one team that can put a run of wins together long enough to close the gap and make it interesting it’s City. But Liverpool have taken 79 points from a possible 81 going back to last season. That’s ludicrous really.

Is Guardiola taking a risk starting Agüero tonight? As good as he is, he’s been out for the best part of five weeks. He does tend to pick up recurring injuries. Mind you, if he’s only 90% fit he will still be lethal given half a chance.

Wolves: Rui Patricio, Dendoncker, Coady, Saiss, Doherty, Neves, Joao Moutinho, Jonny, Traore, Jimenez, Jota. Subs: Vallejo, Bennett, Pedro Neto, Cutrone, Ruddy, Ruben Vinagre, Kilman.

Man City: Ederson, Walker, Fernandinho, Otamendi, Mendy, De Bruyne, Rodri, Bernardo Silva, Mahrez, Aguero, Sterling. Subs: Bravo, Gundogan, Zinchenko, Jose Angelino, Joao Cancelo, Foden, Garcia.

Referee: Martin Atkinson (W Yorkshire)

Predicting lineups at this stage of the season can be tricky but at least the two players I mentioned in my preamble are starting. I’ll take that. They are two very strong starting XIs.

Hello! The feast of festive football continues, readers – and this evening’s game could be a Christmas cracker. Wolves’s pace on the counterattack led to a surprise 2-0 win at the Etihad in October as City’s defence produced a showreel of errors and uncertainty whenever the visiting team attacked. Adama Traoré scored both of Wolves’ goals and since then he has had a target on his back, with teams using rotational filth to limit the winger’s impact. Will City follow suit? They’re not shy of a tactical foul or two are they?

Manchester City can’t afford to drop any more points if they are to have any hope of reeling in Liverpool but with Kevin De Bruyne starting to hit top gear City are likely to improve in the second half of the season. If he can bring his brand of outrageous footballing geometry to the table this evening, one expects Wolves will ship a goal or two. Despite City playing some exquisite football as they beat Leicester last time out, Pep Guardiola has been in a bit of a grump in the buildup to this game. “I wrote a letter to the Premier League to say thank you [for the fixture congestion],” he deadpanned. “We are going to the fridge after Wolves to get ready for Sheffield United.”

City play two games in less than 48 hours but Wolves have it even worse. They play Liverpool – at Anfield – only 44 hours and 45 minutes after the final whistle blows this evening. That may be one reason Pep is miffed. His side will face a fresher Wolves team and Nuno Espírito Santo might fancy picking up points in this match more than the next one – which could make for some wild entertainment.

Kick-off: 7.45pm GMT.