Resurgent Sunderland to heap more misery on Man City

Sunderland have won two of their three matches since Paolo Di Canio departed and they look fantastic value at 7/1 to further disrupt fifth-placed Manchester City’s stuttering start to the season.

New manager Gus Poyet has had an immediate impact and already has the fans on his side following a famous 2-1 win over fierce local rivals Newcastle.

Bet on Steven Fletcher to score first at 10/1

A late Fabio Borini strike gave Poyet’s team a deserved win against a Newcastle side which has improved of late and a strike partnership of Jozy Altidore and Steven Fletcher means that they always provide a physical threat up-front.

Although they then lost 1-0 at Hull, that was no disgrace as the Tigers are unbeaten at home and the subsequent midweek Carling Cup victory over Southampton shows that the Black Cats are in good form.

The home side will be without Lee Cattermole and Andrea Dossena who were both sent off against Hull.

However players like Craig Gardner and Sung Yong-Ki are more than capable of stepping up and the former offers a bigger goal threat going forward, having already notched two league goals this season despite only starting five games.

Bet on Sunderland to beat Man City at 7/1

Their opponents Man City are a powerful attacking side but their defensive frailties were evident during a 5-2 Champions League win over CSKA Moscow and their away record this season is poor – they’ve already lost three times in the league, including against two teams in the bottom half.

The continued absence of captain Vincent Kompany really does weaken the City back four and the public manner of the goalkeeper saga is not helpful, both for manager Manuel Pellegrini and for whichever keeper is given the nod.

The key to stopping City going forward has been stopping Sergio Aguero, and the Argentinian has been in prolific form once again this year as he tops the scorer’s charts with eight goals.

When Aguero scores, City usually win, having done so in eight of the nine games where he has hit the net.