by Ian S. Palmer
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Manchester City will be trying to bounce back from Monday’s big 2-1 loss to Arsenal in London on Monday when they host Sunderland this weekend. The match takes place at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester on Saturday, December 26 and is an important one for both sides. City has been losing some ground at the top of the table and as usual, Sunderland is in a relegation fight again this season. Neither team can afford to drop points in this fixture, but one or both of them are going to come away disappointed.
Manchester City vs Sunderland – bet365 Soccer BETTING LINE:
- bet365 currently lists Man City as the favorites at 2/9 with Sunderland 13/1 and a draw at 6/1
Manchester City vs Sunderland – Head to Head
- Man City beat Sunderland 4-1 on the road last campaign in the League Cup while edging them 3-2 at home in the Premier League and 4-1 away in the return match in the northeast. Sunderland’s last win came in late 2013 when they downed City 1-0 at home in the league. Overall, these two sides have met 141 times with Man City winning 66, losing 50 and drawing the other 25. Sunderland has won twice in the past nine matches.
Man City enters the weekend in third place in the standings with 32 points, which is six behind league-leading Leicester City. They have 10 wins, two draws and five losses on the season with 33 goals scored and 19 allowed. They’ve played nine games at home with seven of them being wins and the other two being losses. City has scored 25 of their 33 goals this campaign at home and has allowed 11 against there. They’ve won five of their last six at the Etihad with the other being a defeat. They also have seven clean sheets this season and have been shut out three times.
Sunderland sits in 19th position in the 20-team league with just 12 points. They’ve managed just three wins this year along with three draws and 11 defeats. Sunderland has scored 18 goals and allowed a league-high 33 against. They have just one win on the road with a draw and seven defeats with nine goals for and 24 against. They’ve kept three clean sheets so far this season and have been shut out on six occasions. The team has a win and five losses in their last six away encounters.
Sunderland enters the match with a relatively healthy side as Sebastian Larsson is the only player expected to miss the outing due to injury as Lee Cattermole should be back in the lineup. As for Man City, Samir Nasri is still out, but Vincent Kompany, Fernando and Pablo Zabaleta could all be healthy enough to play. City should have no problem finishing in the top four this season, but with five losses already in their first 17 games they can ill afford to drop many more points if they hope to take a serious run at the Premier League title.
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