Wolves vs Manchester City live updates: Premier League team news, predictions and more – The Athletic – The New York Times

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Manchester City have started the 2025-26 Premier League season with a convincing 4-0 win against Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Erling Haaland opened the scoring to put City in front after the home side saw Marshall Munetsi’s header ruled out for offside. Midfielder Tijjani Reijnders then made it two on his Premier League debut.
Haaland added his second of the game with a sharp finish after a lovely attacking move and then Rayan Cherki also scored on his Premier League debut to make it 4-0.
Tributes were paid to Diogo Jota throughout the day by the Wolves fans in their first league match since the passing of their former striker.
The first two days of the 2025-26 Premier League are in the books and there has already been so much to enjoy — this could shape up to be a brilliant season.
And lucky for you, there are still four more matches to come this weekend.
The biggest of those is, undoubtedly, the one being played at Old Trafford tomorrow, and we will be covering that live.
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Despite the 4-0 defeat, there are a good few positives that Vitor Pereira can take from today's game and that is what he alluded to when he spoke to Sky Sports after the match.
💬 “We faced a strong team, technically strong, individually strong, but we created a lot of chances to score. Of course I'm not happy, but we played with courage. We didn't play just to defend.
“We had our opportunities to score goals and I believe the difference was that when we made a mistake, they punished us. When he had the chance to score, we didn't score.
“We didn't play just to defend. In the end, the result didn't translate to what happened.”
Pep Guardiola was asked, in his post-match press conference, whether he is happy with the amount of players in his squad.
💬 “(We have) too much, too many people. It’s not about (Ederson), today was Rodri and Phil (Foden) and (Mateo) Kovacic and Savinho and Josko (Gvardiol).
“On the bench we had Nathan (Ake) and (Ilkay) Gundogan. I like a deep squad to compete in all competitions but I don’t want to leave players at home. It’s not healthy.
“You cannot create a good vibe or atmosphere to compete. The club has known it since last season but the situation is what it is.”
His two goals today mean that Wolves are Erling Haaland's favourite Premier League opponent — he now has ten goals in just six games against them.
Haaland has played six games against each opponent
Pep Guardiola didn't want to be drawn on singling out too many of his debutants, but today's Player of the Match got a special mention.
💬 “Tijani is an exceptional player, one of the best players from Serie A. He has an unbelievable rhythm.
“The new players have come and we've got a bigger squad, so we'll have to see what happens. We'll have to use the squad because it'll be difficult to sustain the vibe of the team.
“It's a good result to start, no more than that. Last season we started with a win against Chelsea and looked what happened later. We have to be patient and improve.”
I have to say, I was expecting Pep Guardiola to be a little more upbeat when he came out to speak to Sky Sports after the match. There aren't many manager who would oversee a 4-0 win and still find so many things to improve.
💬 “First half good, second not. The attitude was good and many, many things were good. Second half, we punished them in transition but they were better in certain moments. It's good to improve winning 4-0.
“You never know in the first game, we didn't play many friendlies in pre-season. In the second half, we dropped too much but maybe it's normal at the beginning of the season.”
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The Athletic's Jordan Campbell was on hand to deliver The Briefing from Molineux — make sure to check it out below.
GO FURTHER
Wolves 0 Manchester City 4 – How good are Bobb and Reijnders? Is Trafford No 1? What must Pep still solve?
I showed you the table a little earlier on, here are the results from each of today's five Premier League matches.
Reijnders was then asked about training under Pep Guardiola.
💬 “I'm learning a lot, of course. I've got a new view on how to play football and (I have to) quickly adapt and do my best every time. The intensity in training with the team we have, I will definitely get better.”
He spent so much of today's game with a smile on his face and he discussed it afterwards.
“I'm always going on the pitch with a smile, I love football and I enjoy every minute on the pitch. That's what I want to show the fans and starting like this is unbelievable.”
A superb Premier League debut for Tijani Reijnders — the first City player to score and assist on his Premier League debut since Sergio Aguero in 2011. He spoke to Sky Sports after the match.
💬 “It's a really nice start to get a goal and an assist. Especially in the Premier League, it's something I've always dreamed about. Starting like this, it can't be better.
“You don't know what will happen in the first game of the season, how the opponent will play. We did quite well. They put some pressure on us but we stayed calm and it's a good 4-0 win.”
Those of us who opted to captain Erling Haaland rather than Mohamed Salah on FPL may or not be sat with a smug grin on our faces after watching that— and for good reason.
You can never count out the Manchester City striker on the first day of the season.
He now has seven goals in four opening-day matches since moving from Borussia Dortmund in 2022. And I'm sure he'd have fancied his chances of making that eight had he not been substituted in the 73rd minute.
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Erling Haaland was, understandably, frustrated to be withdrawn having scored twice, but replacement Rayan Cherki was able to pick up where the Norwegian left off.
The Frenchman needed just seven minutes and six seconds to open his Premier League account, and it was a lovely finish into the bottom corner from outside the penalty area.
Cherki is the second-youngest player to score on league debut for City after Bradley Wright-Phillips who did it when he was 19 years old, back in 2004.
There has already been lots to be excited about from the opening weekend of the season, and that Tijani Reijnders Premier League debut sits top of the lot so far, for me.
The Dutchman needed 20 minutes or so to get up to speed and then just ran the game from there.
His pass into Lewis before Haaland's opener was fantastic and his finish for the second goal was immense. As if he needed to impress any more, he added a neat assist for Haaland's second.
A fully deserving Player of the Match.
Two days down, plenty more to go.
Eight teams are off the mark on opening weekend and Manchester City are the early pacesetters.
What a result that was for Sunderland earlier, I'm not sure too many of their fans were expecting them to be second in the table by the end of today!
Midway through the first half it looked like City were creaking, but Reijnders inspired them to what ended up a comfortable victory.
Stones was superb, Bobb impressive and Cherki brought fun off the bench at the end.
The chanting of Diogo Jota's name has continued long beyond the final whistle.
The Wolves fans left inside Molineux haven't stopped for the last 20 minutes or so, and they were joined in front of the South Bank by the club's players and staff.
Ruben Dias and Bernardo Silva, former international team-mates of Jota, joined in after the final whistle.
One of many touching tributes throughout the day.
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FT Wolves 0-4 Manchester City
Against the backdrop of those Diogo Jota chants, the final whistle has sounded and brings an end to a brilliant day for Manchester City.
Some seriously impressive performances in there, none better than that of Tijani Reijnders, and they have gone straight to the top of the Premier League table.
Wolves battled well and the 4-0 scoreline feels a little harsh on them, but their season won't be defined by these fixtures.
90+5' Wolves 0-4 Manchester City
Molineux's South Bank are ending the game, as they started it, with songs in honour of Diogo Jota — a reminder that today was about more than the result for them.
90+4' Wolves 0-4 Manchester City
The only thing that could spoil this afternoon for Manchester City is a late injury, and it looks like they might have got one.
Nico Gonzalez, holding off Munetsi, landed awkwardly and looks to have done some damage to his shoulder. The physios were straight on to assist him and, thankfully, it looks like he has avoided anything serious.

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