Sunderland vs Manchester City (Premier League): Match Preview, Team News, Head to Head, How to Watch  | OneFootball

Manchester City return to action on Thursday night with a trip to Teeside as they look to make it nine consecutive wins across competitions.

In their last outing, City emerged 1-2 victors from a hard-fought contest at the City Ground against Sean Dyche’s Nottingham Forest courtesy of goals from Tijjani Reijnders and Rayan Cherki. A late strike from the latter rendered Omari Hutchinson’s equaliser trivial and earned an invaluable three points on the road.

Attention turns to a tough away visit to the Stadium of Light as City aspire to maintain their blistering league form and keep pace with Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal, who lead the division at the turn of the year on 45 points.

The calendar is showing no sign of slowing down for the Etihad Stadium club, as they remain firmly in the fight on all four fronts this season, which in turn means they must sail the unforgiving storm of fixture congestion whilst also grinding out consistent results.

The Black Cats come into the game in fine form with just two losses in their last 10 Premier League ties as they continue to shock many and excel under Regis Le Bris despite being newly-promoted to the top flight.

A win on New Year’s Day would be monumental in the context of the title race, as for City it is essential they stay within touching distance of the league leaders and hold firm their spot in the contest for the Premier League crown come May.

Here is everything you need to know ahead of Manchester City’s pivotal clash against Sunderland!

Match Details

Sunderland host Manchester City at the Stadium of Light on Thursday night with kick-off scheduled for 20:00 (UK).

Match Officials

The Premier League have confirmed that Australian official Jarred Gillett will oversee proceedings on Teesside.

Check out the full list of match officials below!

Team News

For the hosts, the African Cup of Nations has had a huge impact as all of Habib Diarra, Bertrand Traore, Chemsdine Talbi, Noah Sadiki, Arthur Masuaku and Reinildo are in Morocco with their respective nations.

The only absentees through injury for Regis Le Bris are left back Ajibola Alese due to a shoulder issue, as well as star centre-back Dan Ballard owing to an issue concerning his ankle/foot. Luke O’Nien is suspended.

For the Blues, the list of those in the medical room remains somewhat problematic, as Mateo Kovacic, John Stones and Oscar Bobb are all ruled out for the New Year’s Day trip to the North-East.

Pep Guardiola pointed out that Jeremy Doku may be in line for a return to action following a leg injury which has seen him sidelined since a trip to Real Madrid on December 10. Rodri is also back and part of the matchday squad.

Omar Marmoush and Rayan Ait-Nouri are unavailable as both Egypt and Algeria continue their campaigns in the African Cup of Nations.

Press Conference Quotes

Pep Guardiola on links to Antoine Semenyo: “You are from Sky, right? Yeah, OK… Good. I have to be careful what I say, because after that it’s completely the opposite of what you write and what you put on the screens… The winter transfer window is completely closed right now. So, it’s Sunderland.”

On Oscar Bobb’s links to Borussia Dortmund: “You can ask Oscar Bobb, not me.”

On Man City transfer rumours ahead of January: “I don’t know any news about anything right now.”

On his ‘one wish for 2026: “Win tomorrow [vs Sunderland]. Simple. My expectations are so low.”

On squad availability and fixture congestion: In terms of the squad, we are not in our best [availability] right now in this tight, tight schedule. But it’s obvious, in terms of points we’re better than last season.”

On fitness updates: “Rodri has come back; maybe he can play a few minutes [vs Sunderland] – looking forward to it desperately! And [Jeremy] Doku maybe, John [Stones] and Oscar [Bobb] no.”

Head-to-Head

In the last clash between these two sides – just 26 days prior to this game – Manchester City cruised to a comfortable 3-0 home victory as defence turned into attack, with both Ruben Dias and Josko Gvardiol getting on the scoresheet before Phil Foden had the beating of Robin Roefs.

Historically, Manchester City have been the dominant force in this fixture, as in the 128 played between the Blues and the Black Cats, they have emerged victorious on 65 occasions, drawing 20 and losing the other 43.

Statistics

Sunderland have lost their last three Premier League home games against Manchester City, having won four in a row against them at the Stadium of Light before this.

Since drawing 2-2 in April 2014, Manchester City have won their last seven Premier League matches against Sunderland, last enjoying a longer winning run against them between December 2002 and December 2009 (nine wins).

This will be the third New Year’s Day meeting between Sunderland and Man City in the Premier League. The Black Cats won 1-0 at home in 2012, while the Citizens won 3-2 at the Etihad in 2015.

Sunderland haven’t lost their first league game in any of the last seven calendar years (W3 D4) since a 1-0 home loss to Barnsley in 2018 in the Championship.

Manchester City have won their first league game in 18 of the last 19 calendar years, including the last 13 in a row. The only exception in this run was a 1-0 defeat to Sunderland on New Year’s Day 2012.

Manchester City have scored in their last 32 Premier League matches in January since a 4-0 defeat to Everton in 2017, netting 28 goals in their last eight in January (W7 D1). It’s the longest run of scoring in January games in top-flight history, while across the Football League only Crewe Alexandra between 1960 and 1972 have had a longer run (36 in a row).

How To Watch

For viewers in the United Kingdom, Manchester City’s first match of 2026 will be available to stream on Sky Sports, with action getting underway from 20:00 (GMT).

For those in the United States, the game will commence at 15:00 EST and will be accessible via USA Network and the NBC Sports app.

Check out the full global TV listings HERE.

City Xtra will have full live coverage available on our X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, and Instagram channels throughout matchday, with content also provided on cityxtra.co.uk!