Overview
Enzo Maresca is helping Man City fly high when winning 6 consecutive matches in three different arenas, scoring 15 goals and keeping a clean sheet in all four recent matches.
In the Premier League, they defeated Man United 1-0 in the previous round despite playing with one less player. Although Haaland's goal was controversial, the efforts of Enzo Maresca's team cannot be denied.
Currently, Man City has a chance to break away from Arsenal - who unexpectedly lost 0-3 at Brighton's stadium. Statistics show that Man City has only lost 2 of their last 30 matches in the Premier League (20 wins, 8 draws).
Man City is even more confident in their chances of winning against Sunderland, because they are unbeaten in all 14 home matches in the Premier League against the team from the Northeast of England (won 12, drew 2). The last time they lost to Sunderland at home was in January 1998 (lost 0-1) at Maine Road.
Meanwhile, Maresca could become the sixth coach to win all 5 of his first Premier League matches when leading a club, after Carlo Ancelotti (Chelsea, 2009), Pep Guardiola (Man City, 2016), Craig Shakespeare (Leicester, 2017), Maurizio Sarri (Chelsea, 2018) and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (Man United, 2018-2019).
With Sunderland, they are still showing a very difficult playing style. Last round, they lost to Arsenal 0-2 in the context of missing a penalty. By midweek, they defeated AZ Alkmaar in a Europa League match.
Now, Sunderland's attention is on the Premier League, where they have 4 points after 4 matches. Sunderland has not won any away matches this season and will experience 3 consecutive away winless matches for the first time since January 2026 if they lose points against Man City.
Sunderland has never won at the Etihad before, they lost 0-3 here in December last year, and have also never won in any match in the last 17 Premier League matches against teams in the Top 2 (4 draws, 13 losses).
Force information
Man City midfielder Phil Foden will be suspended for the second match out of three matches this weekend after receiving a red card in the Manchester derby, but coach Maresca has confirmed that Jeremy Doku "may" play against Sunderland after missing six matches due to a calf injury.
However, Doku is unlikely to start, so Iliman Ndiaye and Antoine Semenyo may be given the opportunity to start from the beginning on both wings. Man City is expected to use a strong starting lineup including players like Elliot Anderson, Enzo Fernandez, Marc Guehi and Ruben Dias.
Erling Haaland will continue to lead Man City's attack. Among the 25 teams he has faced in the Premier League, Sunderland is the only team he has not scored against.
On Sunderland's side, two injured players, Habib Diarra (leg) and Romaine Mundle (knee), are still unable to play, while Reinildo Mandava is suspended after receiving a red card in the defeat against Arsenal.
Omar Alderete will be checked after leaving the field due to a midweek muscle injury. Daniel Ballard is expected to replace him in the center-back position, while new signing Dayann Methalie is likely to debut in the Premier League as a left-back in the context of Reinildo's absence.
Striker Nilson Angulo hopes to regain his position in the main squad to replace Malick Fofana, while Brian Brobbey will replace Wilson Isidor in attack.
Expected lineups of the two teams:
Man City: Donnarumma, Nunes, Dias, Guehi, Gvardiol, Anderson, Fernandez, Ndiaye, Cherki, Semenyo, Haaland.
Roefs, Mukiele, Danso, Ballard, Methalie, Xhaka, Sadiki, Meunier, Le Fee, Angulo, Brobbey.
The Man City vs Sunderland match will take place at 8:00 PM on September 20 (Vietnam time).
