Sunderland v Man City Preview

Sunderland finally put a halt on a fourteen match winless run with an emphatic 4-0 victory over Bolton in midweek. After they made an impressive start to the campaign, it was a bleak spell that saw them freefall down the Premier League table and should it have continued, relegation would’ve been a live threat. The win had been coming though as the Black Cats were unbeaten in four games prior to the long awaited midweek win and they’re looking for back to back wins for the first time in fifteen months. Sunderland will be without their skipper Lorik Cana who faces suspension after accumulating 10 bookings but David Meyler is available after a ban. Other absentees could be Lee Cattermole, Kieran Richardson and Jordon Henderson due to injuries.

Despite winning 4-3, Man City’s first encounter with Sunderland this season coincided with the end of the road for Mark Hughes as City manager. Three months down the line, City are looking likely candidates for the precious fourth spot with them being three points behind but having two games in hand of Spurs who currently sit in fourth. There was no hangover from the FA Cup exit at Stoke as they brushed themselves off and set about smashing Chelsea’s impressive home record when running out 4-2 winners at Stamford Bridge last weekend. It was a fantastic performance from City who were the first team to come away with three points from Chelsea this season and a reproduction of anything like that show will capture all three points at the Stadium of Light. City are boosted by the return of Patrick Vieira after a three match ban but Emmanual Adebayor remains suspended. Kolo Toure could be recalled after his recent knee injury but Michael Johnson and Martin Petrov are still sidelined.

Sunderland may have broken their recent duck but City should prove to be a much bigger and more potent threat than Bolton were so we’ll take the Sky Blues to grab all three.

Stakes 5/10 on Man City at 2.25 with Bet365. Click here to place your bet!