Manchester City’s continued disappointment saw them beat 3-0 at Tottenham midweek and slip down to 8th in the league. Mark Hughes is under pressure now but an out-of-form Sunderland team could help out on Saturday.

Manchester City

They lacked effort. They made mistakes defensively. They lacked ideas up front. You’d expect more from a team who has over £100,000,000 worth of investment when they go out on the pitch. The fault is going to be on Mark Hughes’ shoulders and he’s the one that’s going to lose his job if they don’t turn things around swiftly. They missed Shaun Wright-Phillips going forward and defending on Wednesday as well as Craig Bellamy’s work rate. Gareth Barry was unable to give Sylvinho enough cover and time and again he couldn’t stop Aaron Lennon getting past. That created the opening 2 goals and many other chances. It’s fair to say Sunderland don’t have a right winger with that pace to cause similar problems this weekend. I would expect Steve Bruce to setup his team to attack at Sylvinho though who is the weakest part of their defence. Sunderland have their own defensive issues with Lorik Cana suspended and Lee Cattermole unlikely to last 90 minutes on his return. Manchester City must attack Sunderland who are vulnerable in this game and need to rebound from Wednesday with a big win. It’s a shame Shaun Wright-Phillips is a doubt because he would have had a field day against Kieran Richardson. There are goals for City in this game and whoever starts alongside Carlos Tevez is due a performance to pay back some of the money spent on them.

Form
DDWDL

Injuries/Suspensions
Nigel de Jong (suspended)
Joleon Lescott
Michael Johnson
Wayne Bridge

Sunderland

A 2-0 home defeat at the hands of Aston Villa leaves Sunderland on the brink of the bottom half. It’s 3 defeats in 4 now for the North East’s only Premier League side with just 1 goal during that spell, since beating Arsenal 1-0. They’re relying too much on Darren Bent for goals, with Kenwyne Jones not finding the net since returning and Andy Reid guilty of missed opportunities on Tuesday. Lee Cattermole made a return from the subs bench in that game for the final 20 minutes and Steve Bruce will be praying he can play at full strength for 90 minutes in this one with captain Lorik Cana suspended. They’re not a bad defensive unit, but that will be tested without Cana in this one. I would expect City to test them regardless of one absentee! That may allow Stephen Ireland to dominate from midfield as well as Carlos Tevez playing off the striker. All in all this could be a long afternoon for Sunderland if Manchester City can get it right mentally.

Form
WLLDL

Injuries/Suspensions
Lorik Cana (suspended)
Bolo Zendon
Anton Ferdinand
Craig Gordon

I expect Manchester City to bounce back from their midweek defeat with a top performance here. Although most of us have expected more from Manchester City this season and been let down so far. Mark Hughes must have got under their skin by now and they must be ready to take advantage with a couple of defnsive players missing for Sunderland.

Best bet: Manchester City to win 4/7