Erling Haaland, Phil Foden and Jeremy Doku absent from Manchester City starting XI against Wolves | OneFootball

Manchester City attacking trio Erling Haaland, Phil Foden and Jeremy Doku are missing from Pep Guardiola’s starting XI against Wolves on Saturday, as per a report.

City are eyeing their first Premier League triumph of 2026 against bottom-of-the-table Wolves this weekend, having won twice in their last seven games in all competitions as they enter the contest in the backdrop of successive losses to Manchester United and Bodo/Glimt.

Marc Guehi completed his £20 million transfer to the Etihad Stadium from Crystal Palace on Monday and after being ineligible to feature in Tuesday’s UEFA Champions League loss in Norway, the 25-year-old England international is expected to start on his Manchester City debut against Wolves.

Guardiola dealt with a long list of absentees in the Arctic Circle in midweek as all of Antoine Semenyo, Matheus Nunes, Ruben Dias, John Stones, Josko Gvardiol, Mateo Kovacic, Nico Gonzalez and Savinho missed the matchday squad, with Jeremy Doku also deemed unfit to come on by Guardiola despite the Belgian being on the bench.

City enter Saturday’s 15:00 UK kick-off with Wolves seven points adrift of Premier League leaders Arsenal, who will welcome a Manchester United side full of confidence to the Emirates Stadium on Sunday evening after the Reds claimed a 2-0 derby win over Guardiola’s men at Old Trafford last weekend.

Ahead of Manchester City’s Premier League meeting with Wolves, Lazy FPL has revealed on X that Erling Haaland, Phil Foden and Jeremy Doku are not starting for the Blues at the Etihad Stadium.

Haaland and Foden started against Bodo/Glimt, with Doku still returning to full fitness after spending a few weeks on the sidelines in the last month – prompting club officials to intensify their pursuit and complete the £64 million signing of Semenyo from Bournemouth.

Manchester City’s leadership group – comprising Haaland, Rodri, Haaland and club captain Bernardo Silva – spent over £10,000 to reimburse 374 travelling fans in Norway this week after the Blues put in an embarrassing display in a 3-1 loss to Bodo/Glimt.

Doku trained with the Manchester City first-team squad as normal in the days leading to Saturday’s visit from Wolves, but Guardiola and his coaching staff are erring on the side of caution in phasing the 23-year-old back to action.

City cannot afford many more slip-ups in the title race as they go head-to-head with a formidable Arsenal side led by Mikel Arteta, with three points an absolute must at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.

Guardiola will be desperate to have his injured players return to action in the coming weeks as the Blues navigate a tricky run of fixtures that will go some way in determining whether City can steer the ship around and put a winning run together.

The jury remains out on whether Manchester City can finish the season with silverware, though the January additions of Semenyo and Guehi will surely bolster the eight-time Premier League champions’ prospects of a successful second half of the campaign.