Paul Merson explains Gary O’Neil’s main ‘worry’ in Wolves vs Man City score prediction 

The Wolves squad are preparing to reunite after the October international break, with Manchester City up next.

Wolves saw nine of their players leave for international duty, with a break in action a welcomed one for Gary O’Neil.

The Old Gold have endured a disastrous start to the Premier League campaign, sitting bottom of the table on just a point while losing six of their seven matches.

Despite the poor start, the Wolves board are keeping full faith in O’Neil and they’re hoping he can mastermind another miracle this weekend.

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Paul Merson predicts the scoreline of Wolves vs Man City

When Wolves last met Manchester City at Molineux, a Ruben Dias own goal and a strike from Hwang Hee-chan handed the Wanderers a 2-1 victory over the champions.

It was this game where O’Neil first tried a back three and it worked a treat, with the hosts nullifying the threat of Phil Foden, Jeremy Doku and Erling Haaland.

For history to repeat itself, the Old Gold need to dramatically improve their defensive record, having conceded 21 goals in seven matches this term.

With the visitors unbeaten and firing from all cylinders, it’s a difficult ask and Paul Merson unsurprisingly thinks Man City will secure a 2-0 away win.

Predicting O’Neil’s men to keep it tighter at the back than usual, Merson wrote in his column for Sportskeeda: “The worry for Wolves is that they are getting beaten comfortably by big margins. Gary O’Neil is in a situation where he should stop letting in goals and then try to play his football. Wolves are the prime example of scoring goals but not keeping it tight at the back.

“I doubt Wolves can keep City out for long. I feel Wolves will keep it tight at the back compared to their last few games, but Pep Guardiola’s men will find a way, like they almost always do.”

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Man City fixture won’t define Wolves campaign

It isn’t beyond the realms of possibility that Wolves pull off an upset against the champions however, losing the match doesn’t define their season.

Wolves have a run of easier fixtures after facing Man City, including home clashes against Crystal Palace and Southampton, two sides directly above them in the table.

The Wanderers have endured a torrid start to the season, and while some blame can be attributed to the opposition they’ve faced, O’Neil won’t have that excuse to fall back in the next 10 games.

These are the matches that could be season-defining, as failure to start picking up wins could see Wolves bottom at Christmas, and history suggests it is difficult to survive from there.

Hopefully, O’Neil can turn the narrative around at Molineux, starting with a big performance against City on Sunday.