Sunderland vs Manchester City - Premier League preview and odds

Published on: 05/03/2017

Sunderland vs Manchester City - Premier League preview and odds

March 05, 2017 16:00 pm - Stadium of Light

Premier League

Sunderland will look to kick-start their great escape at the Stadium of Light on Sunday afternoon, while visitors Manchester City remain in pursuit of the Premier League title.

Black Cats looking for tonic for relegation anxiety

Once again Sunderland`s Premier League future is hanging in the balance. David Moyes` men are rooted to the foot of the table and go into this weekend`s game knowing that even a win against one of the leagues top sides would not be enough to lift them out of the bottom three.

The Black Cats have little reason to be optimistic, with only Middlesbrough having worst form out of the bottom six teams over the last five games. What`s more, they are without a win at home in 2017 and have only won one of their last nine overall.

Meanwhile, opponents Manchester City will be looking to close the gap on league leaders Chelsea to eight points by bagging their fourth-straight win on Sunday. The Sky Blues still have faint hopes of catching the runaway leaders but will need a strong run-in to stand any chance.

Pep Guardiola`s priority at this stage will be ensuring his side finishes in the top four, while also progressing to the latter stages of the Champions League. They come into this game on the back of a 5-3 win against Monaco in the champions League and a 5-1 thrashing of Huddersfield in the FA Cup.

Team news

The Sunderland treatment room is a busy as ever with Steven Pienaar (calf strain), Jack Rodwell (hamstring strain), Victor Anichebe (knee), Jan Kirchhoff (cartilage), Duncan Watmore (ACL), Paddy McNair (knee) and Lee Cattermole (hip) all out injured, while Jason Denayer is not eligible to play against his parent club.

Meanwhile, City will continue to operate without Gabriel Jesus (metatarsal fracture) and Ilkay Gundogan (knee).

Recent form (League)

Sunderland: LLWDL

Manchester City: WWWDL

Betting odds and tips

City will be favourites but there will be little value in backing the away win. Instead look to the Match Result/Total Goals market where City can be backed to win with a total goals count of 2.5 or more. This outcome has paid out in eight of the Citizens away games so far this season.

You can back Manchester City/Over 2.5 Goals at a best price of 4/5.

By Neil Morris

Published on: 05/03/2017

Any odds displayed within this preview were correct at the time of publishing (05/03/2017 12:06:06) but are subject to change.