John O'Shea will be key if Sunderland want to stop Negredo and Aguero

Manchester City

Date: Saturday 10th November

Venue: Stadium of Light

K.O: 14.05

With yet another international break fast approaching, this weekend will be the final chance for a fortnight for sides to put themselves into as good a position as possible before the squad disappears into all corners of the world again.

Manchester City are the visitors to the Stadium of Light this weekend, with both sides having endured differing seasons thus far, City enjoying a position towards the top of the table and having qualified from their group in the Champions League, while Sunderland struggle down the bottom of the table having recorded just one league victory all season.

Team News:

Sunderland

Gus Poyet has just one injury concern currently, with goalkeeper Kieren Westwood the only likely absentee with his neck injury, so Vito Mannone will continue between the sticks for the Black Cats.

However Sunderland have other absentees, with Lee Cattermole and Andrea Dossena both set to serve the second of their three match bans following an ill-disciplined display against Hull last weekend. But after Paulo Di Canio’s summer splurging, Poyet has plenty of options at his disposal, so will just need to decide who is worthy of a place in the starting XI.

Manchester City

City have a few injury concerns as they look to build on two results that have seen them score 12 times in the past two games.

Steven Jovetic and Vincent Kompany will both be absent until after the international break, and they could well be joined on the sidelines by Fernandinho, David Silva and Javi Garcia, after the trio picked up a mixture of knocks and mild strains during the midweek destruction of CSKA Moscow.

Manchester City in the Premier League away from the Etihad Stadium

Recent Form

Sunderland have endured a miserable start to the season, having won just one of their opening ten games, while they have recorded an average possession of just 45%, displaying as to why they are sitting in 19th currently.

Only seven goals have been recorded so far, with three coming from set pieces. This may well be their best chance again of coming away with anything against in-form Manchester City.

City themselves have enjoyed a thoroughly good week, scoring seven against Norwich last weekend, before adding a further five against CSKA in the Champions League.

However, it is worth noting that they have won just one game away from home in the league this season, having lost at Chelsea, Aston Villa and Cardiff, while Stoke were also able to take a point away from them.

O’Shea’s average defensive actions

Players to Watch:

Sunderland – John O’Shea

One of the few that played regularly under Di Canio that has yet to be discarded by Poyet, the former Manchester United defender brings a wealth of experience to the Sunderland back four that he will have call upon if he’s to keep City’s in form forward line at bay.

O’Shea has won 70% of his headed duels and 88% of his tackles so far, while making 67 clearances and eight blocks as Sunderland have regularly found themselves under some serious pressure at the start of the season. He will need to up his game even further if Sunderland are to take anything away from this match.

Negredo’s shot conversion rate

Manchester City – Alvaro Negredo

The signs are there that his partnership with Sergio Aguero is beginning to blossom and one might suggest that Manuel Pellegrini’s decision to field just one of them proved to be their downfall at Chelsea two weeks ago.

The Spaniard has amassed eight goals in league and European duty, and having hit four goals in the past 135 minutes of action, he will be full of confidence. Negredo has managed just 15 shots so far this campaign, but has converted 26.7% of them, while his shot accuracy of 53% puts him ninth in the table of regular strikers in the Premier League.

Prediction

City’s past two games makes them clear favourites for this match, but their away form this season gives cause for concern, with just the one win, at West Ham, to show from their travels.

But Sunderland have been quite pitiful so far and with Gus Poyet still trying to find out his best side, they are there for the taking. It’s unlikely that we will see anything else than Manchester City victory in this match.

Sunderland 0-2 Manchester City