Sunderland v Manchester City live here

Gus Poyet
Sunderland manager Gus Poyet (R) will hope his team can repeat their performance of the weekend when Premier League champions Manchester City visit on Wednesday. Reuters

Sunderland welcome Premier League champions Manchester City to the Stadium of Light on Wednesday 3 December.

Where to Watch

Kick-off is set for 7.45pm BST. There is no Live TV or Radio coverage of the match in the UK. Catch the highlights of the match on BBC One and BBC One HD at 10:30pm GMT.

Overview

Sunderland welcome Premier League champions Manchester City to the Stadium of Light on Wednesday evening. This game comes straight after the Black Cats held league leaders Chelsea to a goalless draw at the weekend.

Gus Poyet's side will come into this game with a lot of confidence after the stalemate against the unbeaten Blues. The manager will be tempted to select the same side that put in a performance that not only impressed Gus Poyet but also Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho.

Sergio Aguero
Sergio Aguero will be keen to help his team end their losing run at the Stadium of Light on Wednesday Getty Images

Meanwhile, Manchester City come into this game following a comfortable victory over highfliers Southampton, a win that took them above the Saints into second place, just six points behind Chelsea.

Manuel Pellegrini will be happy with the way his players have stepped up and put in some impressive performances in recent games.

But, he will be aware that Sunderland are a tough team to beat at home and no one knows it better than the defending champions, who have failed to beat Sunderland in each of their four visits to the Stadium of Light. They have lost each of their last four fixtures by the same 1-0 score line.

Another worry for the manager will be the fitness of captain Vincent Kompany, who limped out at the end of the game against the Saints, and to compound that, defender Eliaquim Mangala is suspended as he received his marching orders following two yellow cards in the same game.

The Cityzens will be keen to put an end to their losing run against Sunderland and make up some more ground on the league leaders in this busy Christmas period, which will see games coming thick and fast.

What Managers Say

Gus Poyet [on holding Chelsea to a goalless draw]: "That is the greatest feeling for a manager. That is what I enjoy about this job – when you achieve what you think your players can achieve. Sometimes you try something and it's a disaster, you were wrong. But I enjoyed seeing my team enjoying defending. We didn't try to be clever and just played the game in a certain way."

Manuel Pellegrini [on the rest of the Premier League season]: "We can complain about a lot of things from this team this year. But the only thing we cannot complain about in the squad is the spirit, the personality, the character and the ambition to continue winning. We have to play 25 games more. It is a lot of points and nobody knows what will happen in the future."

Betting Odds (888Sport.com)

  • Sunderland to win: 6
  • Draw: 7/2
  • Manchester City to win: 10/21

Team News

Sunderland

  • Injured: Van Aanholt (shoulder), B Jones (hamstring), Giaccherini (ankle)
  • Doubtful: N/A
  • Suspended: N/A

Possible XI: Pantilimon; Vergini, O'Shea, Brown, Reveillere; Cattermole, Rodwell; Johnson, Larsson, Wickham; Fletcher

Manchester City

  • Injured: Dzeko (calf), Kolarov (calf), Silva (knee)
  • Doubtful: Vincent Kompany
  • Suspended: Eliaquim Mangala

Possible XI: Hart, Zabaleta, Demichelis, Boyata, Clichy, Toure, Fernandinho, Lampard, Nasri, Navas, Aguero

Manchester City FC Sunderland AFC