Cherki should be in line to start here for Manchester City seeing as Phil Foden is a doubt for the opening game of the season. I’m really excited to see Cherki in the Premier League this season, and playing for City should see a slight increase in his shot average from last season, which was already pretty promising. 

Cherki is primarily a creative player, but his goal threat increased massively last season, which is probably what tempted Pep Guardiola to pick up the highly sought-after 21-year-old. Cherki scored 12 goals for Lyon last season, the highest goal tally of his professional career so far. 

Cherki had 45 shots across his 22 starts in Ligue 1 for Lyon last season (1.98 per 90) with 19 of those attempts finding the target (0.84 per 90). Cherki should see a rise in his shot numbers this season, seeing as City are one of the most dominant sides in the Premier League and averaged 15.97 shots per game in the Premier League last season, only Liverpool (17.05) averaged more shots per game than Pep Guardiola’s side last season.

We’ve already had a taste of what Cherki can offer this Manchester City side through their involvement in the Club World Cup. Cherki scored and had four shots across his 121 minutes in the competition, with three of those attempts finding the target.

While questions remain about Manchester City at the back, we can expect the Cityzens to be their usual free-scoring selves this season, starting at Molineux. City scored two goals in this fixture last season and scored two or more goals in 22 of their 38 matches (57.8%). 

Manchester City remained the top scorers at home last season, which shows just how strong their attacking setup is, with Pep Guardiola further reinforcing it during the summer transfer window. It appears as though Guardiola is setting up his side to once again get the most out of Erling Haaland, who scored 30% of Manchester City’s Premier League goals last season. 

City are still a bit shaky at the back, and the continued absence of Rodri in this early part of the season may make it a bit risky to back Manchester City to come away with a positive result, especially seeing as we don’t know how City will react to such a disappointing campaign last season. 

Wolves were far too open at the back last season, they conceded 69 goals across their 38 Premier League matches (1.81 per game), with only the three relegated sides conceding more goals than the Wanderers. 32 of those goals were conceded at home (1.68 per game).

Gomes was fouled in both meetings between these sides last season and boasts a promising fouls won record when looking across his numbers from last season as a whole. 

Gomes is usually associated with his foul committed numbers; he’s priced at 1.1 to commit a foul here and still under 2.0 for two fouls, so it makes more sense to find some value with him in this market. Gomes won 47 fouls across his 36 Premier League appearances last season (1.42 per 90) with the 24-year-old showing real tenacity in the middle of the park for Wolves, which is a style that is perfectly suited to the Premier League. 

When it comes to situations where Gomes could win a foul here, City are likely to continue to leave a lot of space in behind when trying to break through what we can anticipate will be a Wolves low block. This should result in situations where Wolves look to get the ball forward quickly in moments of transition, with Gomes also having a real strength for driving with the ball (0.90 successful dribbles per 90), suggesting that he can offer the penetration that Wolves need here on the break, making him a target for City midfielders.

Omar Marmoush made an instant impact after joining Manchester City in the January transfer window from Frankfurt. Marmoush scored seven goals across his 16 Premier League appearances while averaging 3.73 shots per 90 and 1.29 shots on target per 90. 

Marmoush already had a really promising shot record prior to joining City with the Egyptian registering 77 shots across his 17 appearances for Frankfurt in the Bundesliga (4.77 per 90) with 36 of those attempts finding the target (2.23). 

One aspect of Marmoush’s game which aids our selection is that he takes aim from any angle - 21 of his 49 shots for City in the Premier League last season came from outside of the box (42%), so even if Wolves line up in a nasty low block here, Marmoush should have opportunities to find the target. 

Gvardiol may have a slight position shift this season with the acquisition of Rayan Ait-Nouri who should start at left back. Despite Gvardiol now slotting in as a centre back, he still offers a real shot threat for City from set pieces. 

Gvardiol had 40 shots across his 37 appearances for Manchester City last season (1.10 per 90), which is a record that ranked him in the 98th percentile when compared to other full backs in the Premier League for shots. This record returned five goals for Gvardiol last term. 

Gvardiol scored in this fixture last season, playing as a left back, which also meant that he created three chances in the game. City had 18 corners in that game, so we can expect a few situations to develop for Gvardiol here where he can get a shot away.

Erling Haaland usually starts the season quickly, he had already reached nine goals across his first five games of the 24/25 campaign and another fast start could be on the cards here for the Norwegian goal machine. 

Haaland scored on the opening day of the season against Burnley last year as City ran out 3-0 winners in a comfortable display. This is usually the case for Pep Guardiola, he’s lost just one of his opening games while being manager of Manchester City which was back in the 2021/22 season against Tottenham, who have been a consistent bogey side for Guardiola throughout his time in the Premier League. 

Haaland scored 22 Premier League goals last season, 30% of City’s total goals in the division. Guardiola and Haaland’s tendency to make fast starts to the season should see the 25-year-old build on his three incredibly successful campaigns in the English top-flight.

Joao Gomes is one of the most reckless and aggressive players in the Premier League, you only have to look at his odds for a foul here to see how likely he is to pick up a card in his first Premier League game of the season. 

Gomes picked up nine yellow cards and one red card in the Premier League last season, and was shown a yellow card in this fixture - committing three fouls on that occasion. Gomes’ foul numbers may rise even further this season seeing as Wolves have lost some key players which may mean they are on the back foot more often. 

Gomes’ direct opponent is likely to be Rayan Cherki who should operate just behind the frontline, in the exact position where Gomes will be assigned to protect. Cherki won 34 fouls across his 22 starts for Lyon last season (1.50 per 90). 

Omar Marmoush has hit the ground running at Manchester City since his January move from Frankfurt, making him a strong candidate for 2+ shots on target. In just 16 Premier League appearances, the Egyptian forward netted seven goals while averaging an impressive 1.29 shots on target per 90 - backed by a high volume of 3.73 total shots per 90.

Even before joining City, Marmoush showcased his attacking threat, firing 4.77 shots per 90 for Frankfurt in the Bundesliga, with 2.23 on target, proving his consistent ability to test goalkeepers.

A key factor boosting his chances is his willingness to shoot from anywhere. Last season, 42% of his Premier League shots (21 of 49) came from outside the box, meaning even if Wolves set up in a compact low block, Marmoush will likely find opportunities to get attempts on goal. With his aggressive shooting mentality and proven efficiency, backing him for 2+ shots on target looks an intelligent pick.

I think Cherki is going to be a real handful in the Premier League this season, he has such a unique profile and silk ability to weave between players which are traits which make him a standout player to win a few fouls here. 

Wolves are one of the most aggressive sides in the Premier League, only Bournemouth committed more fouls than the Wanderers in the top-flight last season, and this is a record we could see increase as Wolves may struggle again this term. 

Cherki will be running at a double pivot of Andre and Joao Gomes, who averaged 3.41 fouls committed per 90 between them in the Premier League last season. This is the perfect duo to draw a few fouls from Cherki, who averaged 1.50 fouls won per 90 in Ligue 1 last season, which is another metric we can expect to increase, as the Premier League is more physically demanding than the French top-flight.