This season has the potential to be the best in living memory for City fans, but it all begins with the visit of Sunderland on Saturday evening. The result that’s up on the boards a couple of hours after kick-off will serve as an early indicator of what we can expect this season, and could be a vindication of the approach City have taken for the last few years, preparing for Pep Guardiola’s arrival.
And the signs are that we could well see that vindication when Sunderland visit. The Black Cats have just had to postpone summer moves to bring in a new manager following Sam Allardyce’s appointment by England, and they eventually plumped for David Moyes, who will be making his first trip to Manchester since he left with his tail between his legs as a 4-1 loser in the Manchester derby three years ago.
However, even with the limited number of signings Sunderland have made, they’ve done well in pre-season – four wins and two draws. It’s not been anything like as smooth sailing for City, with losses to Bayern Munich and Arsenal and a draw to Borussia Dortmund. The only saving grace was a 3-0 victory over St Johnstone in a behind-closed-doors friendly.
The poor pre-season results have led to questions being asked about City – whether they can cope with Guardiola’s style, how the additions of some of Europe’s top managers will impact their chances of success – and the players will be hoping to silence any critics with a resounding performance and result against Sunderland. This is something they are easily capable, having won 4-1 against them twice last season alone.
Unfortunately, there are lingering doubts about some players. Kevin De Bruyne isn’t likely to be fit to play, while Leroy Sane could miss the chance to make his debut due to a hamstring injury which kept him out of the Arsenal friendly. Ilkay Gundogan and Vincent Kompany are also still absent with injuries which they’ve carried since last season.
The Black Cats are also missing some important names, such as Billy Jones (meaning former Blue Jack Rodwell is likely to start at right-back on Saturday) and Jan Kirchoff, who was impressive for much of the second half of last season. Seb Larsson is also set to miss the game. Moyes will be pleased to see that his biggest threat, Jermain Defoe, has got back in training in time to make the trip, and you feel that if anyone will earn points for Sunderland, it would be him. The club could, however, be without Lamine Kone if he completes an £18 million move to Everton before the weekend.
City have some tough fixtures coming up in the next few weeks, including trip to Romania to face Steaua and to Stoke, as well as a visit from West Ham. The first Manchester derby – and the first meeting of Guardiola and Mourinho for four years – is in just under a month. The ideal preparation for those games would be a solid triumph over Sunderland, sticking to the playing style and showing that the new signings, such as Nolito and John Stones, can fit into the team. If those things happen, we’ve got good reason to be expectant about this season.
