Sunderland boss Martin O’Neill is unable to call upon the services of Marcos Angeleri, Fraizer Campbell, Craig Gordon and Michael Turner due to their respective knee injuries. Simon Mignolet is also out with an injury to his face, while Asamoah Gyan is out on loan with UAE club Al-Ain.
Connor Wickham and Kieran Richardson are both doubts due to injury and illness respectively, but the former Aston Villa boss expects the latter to be fit in time for the game against the league leaders.
Titus Bramble and Phil Bardsley are also doubtful of making it in time for this clash, which means the Northern Irishman may have to make changes to his back line.
Meanwhile, Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini has no injury-related concerns and has all his players available. But he is likely to make some changes and rotate a few players in light of the upcoming game against Liverpool, one which the Italian was unhappy about due to the tight nature of the club’s schedule when compared to that of their opponents.
Gareth Barry, Edin Dzeko and Adam Johnson may be brought back into the starting line-up to ensure the team remains fresh, as all three players started from the bench in the previous game against West Bromwich Albion at the Hawthorns.
The former Inter boss may also choose not to give a run-out to Micah Richards, instead keeping him fresh for the game against Liverpool while retaining Pablo Zabaleta at right-back.
- The hosts have beaten City only once in their last 12 meetings in the league. But that lone victory came last year at home.
- The Black Cats have also conceded 27 goals in the last 12 Premier League games between the two teams.
- Sunderland have conceded 223 goals against City in all competitions throughout the course of their history, while scoring 194 times in the process.
- Manchester City have scored 53 goals so far in the Premier League, which is more than any other team at the moment. If they continue to score at their present rate, they should be able to create a new record in the top-flight.
- They did, however, fail to score in their last game against West Bromwich Albion at the Hawthorns.
- David Silva (pictured right) currently leads the assists rankings with eight to his name.
- Roberto Mancini’s men have had a minor hiccup on the road in the context of their recent outstanding form, having been unable to win any of their last three games away from Eastlands.