Premier League preview and odds: Manchester City vs Sunderland

Premier League

Football
Published: 11/08/2016

Premier League preview and odds: Manchester City vs Sunderland

August 13 , 2016 17:30pm - Etihad Stadium

Premier League

Two Premier League teams with new men in charge will face each other on the opening day of the season as Pep Guardiola`s Manchester City take on David Moyes` Sunderland at the Etihad Stadium.

Guardiola begins Premier League challenge on home soil

Former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss Pep Guardiola will be aiming to claim his seventh league title in eight seasons as a coach when he begins his first Premier League campaign as Manchester City boss on Saturday afternoon. He won four-straight titles in Spain before finally being pipped to the post by Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid at the end of the 2011-12 season. After a year`s sabbatical, he then joined Bayern Munich where he won the Bundelsiga in all three of his terms in charge.

It has been suggested that the Spaniard must prove himself in England before his greatness as a coach can truly be confirmed so it will interesting to see how he rises to the challenge. First up for Pep’s men is a home game against last season`s relegation survivalists Sunderland. With Sam Allardyce having moved on to become Head Coach of England, the Black Cats have turned to former Everton and Manchester United boss David Moyes to try and steer the team away from yet another relegation battle.

While the City boss has only ever known success, having accumulated 22 trophies in his seven year managerial career, David Moyes only has a Community Shield title and a Third Division title to show for his 18 years as a professional coach.

City have drafted in a handful of new players this summer including Ilkay Gundogan (Borussia Dortmund), Nolito (Celta Vigo), Leroy Sané (Schalke) and John Stones from Everton. Meanwhile, Sunderland have remained quite in the transfer market since Moyes` arrival, with Papy Djilobodji (Chelsea) being the only ne signing so far.

The Manchester side were beaten 3-2 by Arsenal in their final pre-season game, prior to which they beat Borussia Dortmund away on penalties and fell 1-0 away to Bayern Munich. This game will be Guardiola`s first in charge at the Etihad Stadium.

Sunderland concluded their pre-season campaign with a 1-1 draw away to Borussia Dortmund on Friday night to extend their current unbeaten run to 12 games.

Team news

City will be without new signing Ilkay Gundogan and Captain Vincent Kompany. Meanwhile, the visitors will have to cope without the services of Sebastian Larsson.

Recent form (League)

Manchester City: LWLDD

Sunderland: DDWWW

Betting odds and tips

City have strengthened in key areas but will be without two of their star names on Saturday, Even so, they should have no problem seeing off the challenge of a Sunderland side who have yet to add significant reinforcements to their line-up. A convincing home win can be expected.

You can back Man City to score Over 2.5 goals at 10/11 with Bet365

By Neil Morris

Go To bet365
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Any odds displayed within this article were correct at the time of publishing (11/08/2016) but are subject to change.

11/08/2016     © Frixo 2024

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