Manchester City pay a visit to Sunderland this afternoon as they look to keep up the pressure on league leaders Chelsea.
Pep Guardiola’s side go into today’s game 11 points adrift of the Blues, and they can’t afford to drop points in this sort of fixture if they want to have any chance of lifting the Premier League title at the season’s end. Their position within the top four is also uncertain, with City currently sitting in fourth place, one point ahead of fifth-place Arsenal with a game in hand.
Sunderland are in a desperate scrap at the opposite end of the table. The Black Cats are rock bottom of the table, six points behind 17th place Crystal Palace. David Moyes’ men need to start picking up points if they want to avoid being relegated to England’s second tier.
Despite the importance of today’s fixture, Guardiola has opted to leave talisman Kevin De Bruyne among the substitutes today. Only time will tell if that proves to be a good decision. Here’s how both sides line up in full:
? David Moyes has named an unchanged side for the first time in the @premierleague this season ahead of today’s game v @ManCity pic.twitter.com/CRYaSAIM7C
— Sunderland AFC (@SunderlandAFC) March 5, 2017
TEAM NEWS with @haysworldwide #safcvcity #mcfc pic.twitter.com/sFhN1qTxPl
— Manchester City (@ManCity) March 5, 2017