Capital One Cup: Weary Sunderland and Man City meet again in cup clash

As the Capital One Cup gets underway again, former 2013/14 final foes Sunderland and Manchester City are thrown together once more, each with their respective recent Premier League problems.

The Black Cats may find this Stadium of Light showdown a welcome break from the rigours of league duty, which has so far not been kind to the Mackems, as they currently sit rock bottom.

Sunderland have, however, proven to be a thorn is the side of City during recent seasons, particularly on home soil, where they have snatched 13 points from a possible 18 against their richer rivals.

With their only win of the campaign across all competitions so far occurring in this cup, Dick Advocaat’s team are 5/1 to be victors over 90 mins in this fixture, with intriguing odds of 20/1 for a 1-0 result in their favour, a scoreline which has occurred in four of Man City’s past five visits.

A David and Goliath bust-up may be somewhat of a fairytale this time around, though, as the Northeast outfit are severely struggling and, despite putting three past City last season, the Sky Blues responded by scoring seven to do the double over their opposition.

While Manuel Pellegrini’s men must still be sour about a duo of their own defeats last week, the visitors will undoubtedly be dangerous.

Memories should still be fresh from the Citizens’ 3-1 Wembley win against the Black Cats, and the guests are 17/4 to better that by firing in four or more, as the Black Cats’ backline is yet to keep a clean sheet this season.