Date: 5th March
Kick Off: 4pm
Where: Stadium of Light, Sunderland
Last Time: Sunderland 0-1 Manchester City
Referee: Martin Atkinson
On paper this result should take care of itself. Manchester City are favourites for a reason and should come away with the points. Sunderland, even though they are currently bottom of the table, are no stranger to pulling off unexpected results. The Black Cats will be looking to kick start their annual great escape when they face a free-scoring City side currently sitting second in the table.
Premier League Preview: Sunderland vs Manchester City
Team news
Sunderland will be without on-loan utility man Jason Denayer, who is ineligible to play against his parent club. Also definitely out are long-term absentees Lee Cattermole, Jan Kirchhoff, Duncan Watmore, Paddy McNair and Victor Anichebe. Jack Rodwell is being assessed after suffering a hamstring injury last month. Steven Pienaar is unlikely to feature due to a calf problem. Papy Djilobodji has finished his four match ban and is available, as are Billy Jones and Vito Mannone after recovering from a head wound and illness.
For City, Vincent Kompany and Aleksandar Kolarov are back in contention after recovery from injuries. However, Gabriel Jesus and Ilkay Gundogan are out. Willy Caballero is expected to return in goal and David Silva could also return to the first eleven after being rested in City’s last game against Huddersfield Town.
Current form
A draw against Tottenham at the end of January and a four nil away win at Crystal Palace gave the Wearside faithful hope. Back-to-back defeats, however, have once again left Sunderland bottom of the table. A corner looked to have been turned just four weeks ago but a dreadful performance in a 4-0 home defeat against Southampton brought fans crashing back to earth. Everton then secured a comfortable 2-0 victory at Goodison Park to send their old boss David Moyes home scratching his head, wondering what he could do to improve fortunes.
City have scored 18 goals since the beginning of February and look like out-scoring any team at present. The Citizens are unbeaten since the middle of January when Everton shocked them by winning 4-0. This result is the only slip-up in an otherwise near-perfect 2017. City fans will rightly be confident after seeing their side win their last three league games. They have also scored 10 goals in their last two cup games against Monaco and Huddersfield Town.
Players to watch
As far as Sunderland are concerned, only one man springs to mind: Jermain Defoe. Without his goals this season, the Black Cats could already be down. The striker currently has 14 league goals to his name this season from 64 shots; 40 more than any of his team-mates. The Englishman also seems to enjoy playing against City—he has scored eight goals against them in the Premier League. Only Wigan have allowed him to net more.
22 goals in all competitions and four in his last two games makes Sergio Agüero City’s man to watch. After losing his place in the side and seemingly becoming out of favour, the striker has come back into the side recently and seems intent on staying there. The Stadium of Light seems to be a place the Argentine likes: He has scored four goals in his last three visits.
What a win would mean
A Sunderland win could be priceless. Not only would it keep them in contention with the rest of the teams battling at the wrong end, but the confidence it could give the players could be invaluable. Positives are hard to come by on Wearside, but a positive result here and with a home game against Burnley next—a side who have not won away from home all season—the mood around the club could end up being a whole lot better.
With Premier League leaders Chelsea not playing until Monday, Manchester City have the chance to close the gap at the top. The gap would still be eight points but it could make Chelsea nervous. City have tough games on the horizon. After the second leg of the Champions League game against Monaco, they have to face Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea in consecutive games. Dropping points here would have the potential to make winning the title and even earning a top four place very difficult.
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