Manchester City will look to extend their winning start to the season to five Premier League games when they welcome Sunderland to the Etihad this afternoon.
citywho have also won the Champions League and EFL Cup in an impressive start, will be expected to overcome the Wearsiders, but boss Enzo Maresca was earlier sounding a cautious tone.
“I watched them the last two days, three or four games. I know them, how strong they are, and I feel we need a top performance to beat them, to be 100% to win. I watched the game live against Arsenal (in the 2-0 defeat last Saturday), and again the last two days. If you watch them, you can see how strong they are,” he said.
“They are very strong, very well trained. They have time together, you see what they want to do on and off the ball. My feeling is that Sunday will be the toughest game since the start of the season. If you watch them, you will not be surprised (how well they have done), because you will realize how good they are, on the ball, off the ball, how aggressive they are, the amount of duels they win.
Sunderland They will make the trip with confidence after the euphoria of their successful return to Europe in midweek. And manager Regis Le Bris, whose side beat AZ Alkmaar 1-0, was keen to underline the quality of his squad rather than worrying too much about their expensive opponents.
“Manchester City have players everywhere,” smiled the Frenchman. “So if we start looking at their strength, we can’t play. It’s better to focus on us, how can we manage their threat and how can we create threats as well? I think we’re getting better in that area.”
Manchester City v Sunderland recent form and stats
- In front of the city Erling Haaland he has faced 25 Premier League teams and scored against 24 of them. Sunderland is the weirdest.
- City have kept a clean sheet in each of their last four games in all competitions
- City have lost just two of their last 30 Premier League games
- Sunderland have not won any of their 14 Premier League trips to Manchester City
- City won the corresponding fixture last season 3-0
Where to watch Manchester City v Sunderland: TV and online streaming
Manchester City v Sunderland kicks off at 2pm on Sunday. You can watch the game as part of Sky Sports’ Super Sunday and stream it via the Sky Go app.
Details of the global issue can be found at premierleague.com.