Another day, another goal for Erling Braut Haaland. Now sitting on a remarkable 11 for the Premier League season, the 22-year-old scored his side’s second in a comprehensive 3-0 win over Wolves following Jack Grealish’s opener 55 seconds into the contest.
Any hopes of Wolves staging a remarkable comeback were dashed when Nathan Collins received a straight red card for an inexcusably high challenge on Grealish, and a 69th-minute strike from Phil Fodencompleted the job for the reigning champions.
Pep Guardiola’s side had briefly returned to the top of the pile with that 3-0 success, but Arsenal’s subsequent win by the same scoreline over Brentford meant that the champions went into the international break in second place – one point adrift of the North London club.
At least one of Arsenal or third-placed Tottenham Hotspur will drop points in Saturday lunchtime’s North London derby, which could potentially open the door for Man City to reclaim their rightful spot at the top of the pile with a 10th successive home win in all competitions.
It comes as little surprise to learn that Man City are the Premier League’s leading scorers on home turf this season – racking up 14 in just three such games and conceding a joint-low two – and all seven of their last top-flight wins at home have been accompanied by at least three goals.
The reigning champions could hardly be better prepared for this contest, but nor could Man United, who would have been disappointed to see the international break come around when it did as they seek to maintain their rich vein of form.
The death and state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II means that the Red Devils will be taking part in their first Premier League fixture for nearly a month this weekend, having lost to Real Sociedad and overcome Sheriff Tiraspol in the Europa League since that 3-1 success over Arsenal.
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Having overseen a dramatic upturn in fortunes at Old Trafford with four consecutive top-flight wins, Erik ten Hagwas handed the Premier League’s Manager of the Month award for September after leading his side to fifth in the table – five points adrift of Man City with a game in hand.
A run of three successive away wins, with three clean sheets to boot, represents a potential recipe for success for Ten Hag at the Etihad, but no man since Sir Alex Ferguson has been able to steer the Red Devils to victory in their first Manchester derby in charge of the club.
Man City did the double over Man United by an aggregate scoreline of 6-1 in the 2021-22 season – inflicting a heavy 4-1 defeat upon their rivals at the Etihad back in March – but no fixture in the Premier League has seen the away side win on more occasions, 21 to be exac
