Overview
With this match scheduled, Manchester City fans could think that this will be one of their easiest matches in the Premier League this season. In contrast, Sunderland fans seemed to be prepared for a heavy defeat.
After all, this is a team that has dominated English football for nearly a decade, compared to a team that was promoted last season and only finished fourth in the Championship.
However, after 14 rounds, everything seems to have changed completely. City are second and have won their last two games, but their defence has shown many weaknesses.
Meanwhile, Sunderland are emerging as one of the best newly promoted teams in Premier League history. They have won 23 points from 14 games - just five behind City - almost equal to the total points of two other newly promoted sides, Leeds United (14) and Burnley (10) combined.
Regis Le Bris's side caused a big surprise when they beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, and drew with Arsenal and Liverpool, suggesting they have every chance to create a shock against Man City.
Meanwhile, The Citizens have scored eight goals in their last two games against Leeds and Fulham, but have also conceded six. They were equalized 2-2 at home to Leeds despite leading by 2 goals, before Phil Foden managed to score the decisive goal in extra time.
Just 4 days later, when leading Fulham 5-1, Man City played too defensive and were lucky to win 5-4, thanks to Josko Gvardiol's excellent clearance right on the goal line in the 98th minute.
The complication is further compounded for Pep Guardiola as his team will have to visit the Bernabeu to Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League next week.
Guardiola often uses Premier League games as a rotation and gives stars a break before the big matches in Europe. However, it is difficult to imagine that he can fully rely on the substitutes to win against Sunderland at the moment.
In the away match against Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League, when Guardiola made many changes to the squad, Man City lacked cohesion and had to accept defeat. This is a mistake that Guardiola wants to avoid repeating, and there is likely to be at most one change in the starting lineup when facing Sunderland at the Etihad.
When a newly promoted team starts the season well like Sunderland, experts often wait to see how long the "bubble" will break. However, "Black Meo" seems to be different.
The defeat to Fulham last month, when they only achieved 0.17 expected goals (xG), was expected to stall their season. In the next match, Sunderland were behind by 2 goals in just 15 minutes against Bournemouth, but they did not give up.
Instead, Sunderland fought strongly, turning the game around to win 3-2 at the Light Stadium. They then improved their defense significantly when they drew 1-1 with Liverpool at Anfield.
Head-to-head record
Man City have won their last 6 Premier League games against Sunderland, with their most recent meeting being a 2-0 away win in March 2017.
Sunderland have never won away from home against Man City in 13 Premier League meetings. The last time they won at Man City's top flight was in December 2021 at Maine Road.
At the Etihad, Man City have never lost to Sunderland in the Premier League in 11 meetings. Only Newcastle United (20) and West Brom (12) have had a longer losing streak against Man City at the Etihad.
Score prediction: Man City 3-2 Sunderland
The match between Man City and Sunderland takes place at 22:00 on December 6 (Vietnam time).
