Sunderland v Manchester City – Line-ups, stats and preview

Match Preview for Sunderland v Manchester City

Still unbeaten at the Stadium of Light this season, Sunderland welcome Manchester City to Wearside for a Premier League meeting on Thursday night, with the visitors arriving on a six-match league winning run.

Sunderland enter Thursday’s contest knowing opportunities to trouble Manchester City are few and far between, but their home form this season offers genuine encouragement.

The Black Cats are unbeaten in nine Premier League matches at the Stadium of Light, collecting points against several sides currently competing near the top of the table.

Regis Le Bris’s team are on a three-match unbeaten run, keeping clean sheets in two of those fixtures despite a number of absences through injury and international duty.

Draws against Aston Villa and Arsenal earlier in the campaign have reinforced Sunderland’s belief that they can frustrate elite opposition on Wearside.

However, their recent record against City is bleak. Sunderland have lost their last eight meetings with the Manchester club in all competitions and have not beaten them since November 2013. Their last home victory in this fixture came in December 2012.

Manchester City arrive in formidable form. A 2-1 win away at Nottingham Forest last weekend extended their league winning streak to six matches, their longest run since the closing stages of the 2023-24 season.

Team news for Sunderland v Manchester City

Sunderland are without several first-team players due to injury and Africa Cup of Nations commitments. Ajibola Alese and Daniel Ballard remain sidelined, while Habib Diarra, Bertrand Traore, Chemsdine Talbi, Noah Sadiki, Arthur Masuaku and Reinildo Mandava are away on international duty.

Wilson Isidor is expected to feature from the bench, with three of his four league goals this season having come at home.

Manchester City have fewer absences but will still be missing John Stones, Mateo Kovacic, Jeremy Doku and Oscar Bobb through injury. Omar Marmoush and Rayan Ait Nouri are unavailable due to AFCON involvement.

Expected line-ups for Sunderland v Manchester City

Sunderland: Roefs; Hume, Mukiele, Alderete, Cirkin; Xhaka, Geertruida; Rigg, Le Fee, Adingra; Brobbey

Manchester City: Donnarumma; Nunes, Dias, Gvardiol, O’Reilly; Silva, Gonzalez, Reijnders; Cherki, Foden; Haaland

How to watch Sunderland v Manchester City: TV channel, online stream

Kick-off on Thursday is at 20:00 GMT (15:00 ET / 12:00 PT), with live coverage in the UK on Sky Sports Main Event.

Via Now TV, Sky Sports costs £14.99 for a day membership, £28 a month for a 12-month membership or £34.99 a month with no contract.

Sky Sports memberships include access to all 12 live Sky Sports channels and Sky Sports+, which offers live streams and a dedicated channel.

Streaming is available on a vast variety of devices via the Sky GO app.

The stats for Sunderland v Manchester City

• Sunderland are unbeaten in nine Premier League home matches this season
• Sunderland have lost their last eight matches against Manchester City in all competitions
• The Black Cats have not beaten City since November 2013
• Manchester City have won six consecutive Premier League matches
• City have scored at least twice in five of their last six league games
• Rayan Cherki has been involved in five goals in his last four Premier League starts
• Erling Haaland has scored at 23 of the 24 away grounds he has played at in the Premier League

Prediction

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