Sunderland v Manchester City: Is it a Four-Gone Conclusion the Black Cats will Win?
Premier League safety looks assured for the Black Cats after 3 successive wins and now North-East bragging rights are on the agenda with just 2 points separating them from their black and white neighbours. The visit of a meandering Manchester City side who look for all purposes to be already packing for their summer holidays should see another 3 points for the home side at the Stadium of Light. Perhaps the Citizens will bump into the Tottenham squad who packed up and flew away to sunnier climes it seems several weeks ago.
Black Cats Emulating Past Heroes
Sunderland are on their best top flight winning run since the 1999/00 season when Peter Reid’s Black Cats side finished 7th. It’s been nearly 9 years since Sunderland last recorded 4 successive Premier League wins, in fact that season they recorded 5 so Roy Keane’s side have to go some to emulate that success. The 1999/00 Black Cats side included the likes of Kevin Phillips, Niall Quinn, Stefan Schwarz, Gavin McCann, Steve Bould and Thomas Sorensen. The class of 2008 may not boast a striking partnership to rival that of Quinn and Phillips but there have been signs that their 2 big money forwards are starting to find their feet in the Premier League. Kenwyne Jones ended a personal 10-match goal drought by scoring in the last 2 games whereas Michael Chopra has scored twice in the last 3 games both as a substitute.
Solid Form at the Stadium of Light
Unlike most of the struggling sides Sunderland have a strong home record. They’ve recorded 8 wins including impressive victories over the likes of Tottenham, Portsmouth and West Ham. Only the top 5, Villa and Man City have won more home matches this season. However, the Black Cats have also been beaten by five teams at the Stadium of Light though those defeats have come against top 8 sides Liverpool, Manchester United, Everton, Chelsea and Blackburn. City may be 9th but they’re not playing like a side that are that high in the table so don’t expect them to grab the points.
Sven Makes W- Ron-G Move?
City were linked to Ronaldinho in the press this week but whether another creative luxury player is what they need is highly debatable. To be fair, I’m not sure the former World Player of the Year would fancy a mid-table Premier League outfit with no European football on offer after the dizzying heights of playing for Barcelona. Especially one that has only won 2 of their last 12 games (6 defeats). One thing’s for certain, City need to find a goal scorer from somewhere next season. After all, they’ve failed to score in 5 of their last 7 matches. Sven Goran Eriksson likes to play with one man up front, so needs a target man with the ability to score goals. It doesn’t take a genius to realise the man they need is Peter Crouch. The Liverpool perma-sub would be the perfect acquisition in my opinion, I’ll give Sven a buzz and let him know, it’s only right.
Despite Man City boasting a record of 5 successive Premier League wins over Sunderland I would back the home side to make it 4 League wins on the bounce as Keane’s side eyes the coveted top North-East club mantle.
Pundit’s Pick: Black Cats on Four-m (home win) Do you agree with this result for your Premier 10 prediction? Play Now>>
Tags: Black cats, Citizens, Manchester City, Premier 10 preview, Premier League, Sunderland
