Sunderland vs Manchester City Prediction: New Year, same old City

Manchester City begin 2026 with a difficult trip to the Stadium of Light to face Sunderland, who are unbeaten in front of their own fans this season (20:00 GMT, live on Sky Sports Main Event).

City emerged as 3-0 winners when the sides clashed in December at the Etihad Stadium and have won each of their last eight encounters with the Black Cats across all competitions. Read on for my Sunderland vs Manchester City predictions, as well as the latest team news and match odds.

Team News

Sunderland will be missing a number of players due to Afcon commitments - Habib Diarra, Bertrand Traore, Chemsdine Talbi, Noah Sadiki, Arthur Masuaku and Reinildo Mandava are all away on international duty with their respective nations.

Ajibola Alese and Daniel Ballard remain on the treatment table for the hosts.

Omar Marmoush and Rayan Ait-Nouri remain unavailable for City while they represent Egypt and Algeria, respectively, at the Africa Cup of Nations.

Oscar Bobb continues to recover from the hamstring injury he sustained against Brentford in December, while John Stones, who's missed Man City's last six matches due to a leg injury, remains on the treatment table.

Jeremy Doku has missed City's last four matches but he could return against the Black Cats.

Sunderland vs Manchester City Odds

City are 4/9 favourites for Thursday's contest, giving them an implied win probability of 69.2%, the draw is 18/5 and Sunderland can be backed at 7/1.

Both teams to score is 10/11, while over 2.5 goals is available at 8/13.

Manchester City to win and both teams to score @ 15/8

City are in formidable form and have the bit between their teeth heading to the Stadium of Light.

Pep Guardiola's men are on a run of eight consecutive wins across all competitions, and have scored at least twice in each of those games, although they shipped eight goals during that run.

As mentioned in the introduction, City cruised to a 3-0 nil when the sides met at the Etihad but I'm expecting a closer contest on Thursday given Sunderland's home record. So, let's back a City win but both teams to score.

Granit Xhaka to receive a card @ 13/5

Granit Xhaka and yellow cards tend to go hand-in-hand.

The Swiss international has already been cautioned four times this season, including against the likes of Arsenal and Manchester United. I wouldn't be surprised to see him end up in the referee's book as he'll be up against some of the best players in the league here.

The former Arsenal man has also committed 16 fouls in 18 appearances in the Premier League this term, averaging 0.9 fouls per 90 minutes.

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