First place in the Premier League table could belong to Manchester City for a couple of hours should they get the better of basement boys Wolverhampton Wanderers on Sunday afternoon.
The reigning champions came up trumps in a five-goal thriller with Fulham before the international break, while their cellar-dwelling visitors lost an eight-goal extravaganza to Brentford.
Match preview
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Never far from the off-field headlines, a chaotic international period for Man City saw Pep Guardiola and England speculation ramp up - before Thomas Tuchel took the Wembley reins - influential director Txiki Begiristain announce his imminent exit and both City and the Premier League claim victories in their APT rules battle.
On the pitch, meanwhile, the reigning Premier League champions remain undefeated in all tournaments since the new season commenced, although they had to do it the hard way against Fulham, who took a shock early lead at the Etihad through Andreas Pereira two weekends ago.
The ex-Manchester United man's opener preceded a pair of strikes from Mateo Kovacic and a Belgian beauty from Jeremy Doku, though, and while Rodrigo Muniz cut the arrears in half in the dying embers, it was too little too late for Marco Silva's Cottagers to salvage anything meaningful.
Snapping a two-game winless run in the top flight saw Man City stay just one point behind current leaders Liverpool, while also keeping Arsenal at bay on goal difference, but the Gunners could overtake both of their title rivals by beating Bournemouth on Saturday.
However, Guardiola's charges have all the motivation they require to avoid a West Midlands mishap on Sunday; should they claim at least a point this weekend, they will set a new club record of 31 consecutive Premier League games without defeat, having not lost a top-flight game since December 2023.
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In stark contrast, defeats have been the only item on the Molineux menu for a couple of months now, as 20th-placed Wolves welcome the champions on a crushing five-game losing run across all tournaments and a 10-game winless streak in the Premier League.
Gary O'Neil's men had the honour of being involved in one of the games of the season so far at the Gtech Community Stadium a fortnight ago, but their defensive vulnerabilities were laid bare once again as they came out on the wrong end of a 5-3 scoreline, leaving them below fellow one-pointers Southampton on goal difference.
The final third is not where Wolves' issues lie whatsoever - they are on an eight-game scoring streak across all tournaments since an opening-day defeat to Arsenal - but they have let in an alarming 15 goals in their last five defeats, an average of three per game.
While Man City could break their club unbeaten run record this weekend, Wolves are at risk of losing their first four home games of a league season for the first time ever, although the powers-that-be are still said to have complete faith in O'Neil to drag Sunday's hosts to safety.
The 41-year-old was the mastermind behind Wolves' 2-1 upset against Man City in this fixture last season, but the champions have won the other seven meetings between the two sides since the start of the 2020-21 season, including the 5-1 demolition in May where Erling Haaland scored a fantastic four.
Team News
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Prior to the international break, Guardiola was keeping his fingers crossed that both Kevin De Bruyne and Nathan Ake would be back fit for the trip to Wolves, but he has now conceded that the game may come too soon for both of them.
Ake might be in with a slim chance of making the cut, but Rodri is still on his long road to recovery from an ACL injury, while Oscar Bobb should not return from his leg fracture until December at the earliest.
Fresh from becoming Norway's record male goalscorer, Haaland endeavours to build on a record of eight goals from just four Premier League matches against Wolves, although only one of those strikes has come away from home.
Meanwhile, Wolves suffered a new blow during the international break, as Hwang Hee-chan hurt his ankle in South Korea's World Cup 2026 qualifier with Jordan and is now out for a couple of weeks at least.
Hwang joins knee victims Yerson Mosquera, Sasa Kalajdzic, Enso Gonzalez and Boubacar Traore in the medical bay, although O'Neil might finally have teenage defender Bastien Meupiyou available for selection.
Hwang's issue would not have impacted O'Neil's attacking selection either way; Jorgen Strand Larsen and Matheus Cunha - who could become just the third Premier League player to lose five consecutive games that he had scored in - will shoulder the offensive burden again.
Wolverhampton Wanderers possible starting lineup:
Johnstone; Semedo, S. Bueno, Toti, Ait-Nouri; Bellegarde, Lemina, Andre, Gomes, Cunha; Larsen
Manchester City possible starting lineup:
Ederson; Lewis, Akanji, Dias, Gvardiol; Kovacic, Gundogan; Silva, Foden, Doku; Haaland
We say: Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-4 Manchester City
Even though Man City have conceded the first goal in four of their last six Premier League games, they have won a division-high 10 points from losing positions this term, and Sunday's match is surely a foregone conclusion from the off.
As clinical as Wolves can be up front, O'Neil's men are extremely frail at the back and will likely suffer a home humbling at the hands of Guardiola's champions.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Ben Knapton
