Rayan Cherki drops to the bench as Guardiola makes five Man City changes vs Wolves | OneFootball

Manchester City return to the Etihad Stadium to take on Premier League basement boys Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday afternoon.

After suffering back-to-back defeats against Manchester United and Bodo/Glimt, Pep Guardiola’s side will be determined to bounce back against Wolves this weekend.

Both sides last met on the opening weekend of the season, when City swept Wolves aside with a comfortable 4-0 win at Molineux.

Much has changed since then. City ended 2025 in excellent form, putting together an eight-game winning run that had Arsenal constantly looking over their shoulders at the summit.

However, the new year has brought frustration rather than momentum for City, who have won just two of their first seven games in 2026.

City’s woes went from bad to worse in midweek when they suffered a humiliating 3-1 defeat against Norwegian powerhouse Bodo/Glimt.

They were punished for their complacency and uncharacteristic lack of fighting spirit despite heading into the game as overwhelming favourites.

The players clearly felt they let their supporters down, with senior figures such as Erling Braut Haaland and Rodri pledging to refund travelling fans as a gesture of apology.

City will now be hoping they can get back to winning ways, although Rob Edwards’ side are unbeaten in their last four league games (W1, D3).

How Man City could line up

Gianluigi Donnarumma starts in goal, while Marc Guehi makes his Premier League debut for City since his £20 million move from Crystal Palace.

The 25-year-old will partner Abdukodir Khusanov at centre-back, with Nico O’Reilly and Matheus Nunes as full-backs.

Rodri should anchor the midfield with Bernardo Silva, while Jeremy Doku and Antoine Semenyo start on either side of Phil Foden.

Despite being the ‘best City player‘ on the pitch in the defeat to Dortmund, Rayan Cherki will likely start the Wolves clash on the bench while Haaland leads the line.