Sunderland v Manchester City Betting Tips, Odds & Preview January 1st 2012

Match Preview

Sunderland

Sunderland did not manage to win their home game on Boxing day, finishing 1:1 with Everton and the team has won just 2 of the last 9 games overall. Currently Sunderland are 15th with 18 points in 18 games, scoring 22 goals and conceding as much. During the same time last season, the team was taking the 5th spot with 27 points, with 6 victories, 9 ties and 3 losses. Last home victory was against Blackburn with 2:1 on December 11th 2011, which was their only second since the beginning of season. Despite the difference in class and players, after United’s defeat last night, Sunderland can hope that they can achieve something similar tonight. Sunderland will be most likely without a few key players: Phil Bardsley, Titus Bramble and Kieran Richardson.

Manchester City

Manchester City did not manage to win their game on Boxing day as well, drawing against West Bromwich (0:0) and letting Manchester United reach the same amount of points. Now that United have lost their match last night, City has the opportunity to gain a lead of 3 points once again. The team has an away record of W5 D3 L1 scoring 25 goals and conceding 11 in those games. City welcomes back Micah Richards who has missed boxing day because of an illness and Alexander Kolarov who was out for a while (6 games). Despite the fact that Manchester City will remain first in the table, no matter the outcome of this game, does not mean that the Citizens will not push for the 3 points and get ahead of their rivals.