Sunderland

Position 8th, 9-6-9 (33 points, +9 goal differential)

Home Record: 5-4-3, +8 goal differential

Recent Form: WLWWW

Last Meeting: Arsenal 2 Sunderland 1 (October 17, 2011)

Crucial match .

I imagine there will be people angry about this but City have won every single home game this year, right? So quite what we were supposed to do about that I'm not sure. People talk about our record at Eastlands but that was before City became CITY and, well, honestly...

The shame was that the game was over before it had begun, Adam Johnson managing to fall over Chris Baird in the area to win a dodgy penalty to make it 1-0, then Baird put through his own goal to make it two before we'd even started to play.

Former Manchester City manager Mark Hughes has told the Premier League leaders that his Queens Park Rangers side can help them claim the Barclays Premier League title if they loan out-of-favor striker Carlos Tevez to the West London outfit.

Hughes has entered the bidding for Tevez's services after the links to both Milan clubs, PSG, and most recently, even Liverpool, broke down without significant progress.

Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish has dismissed suggestions that the club approached Manchester City over the weekend with a proposal to swap Andy Carroll for exiled Argentine Carlos Tevez.

Carroll, who has struggled continuously with form and fitness since his £35 million move from Newcastle United in last year's January transfer window, recently spoke about his determination to make a mark at Anfield.

Manchester City midfielder Gareth Barry has sent a strong message to the club's doubters, asserting that for all the criticism over their massive spending spree and unproven title credentials, the Citizens have delivered on the promises made to him.

Speaking ahead of the decisive leg of City's Carling Cup semifinal against Liverpool tonight, Barry revealed that he strongly considered moving to Anfield in 2009 before choosing the Eastlands based largely on a commitment to build for the future.

Shooting practice with Danny Morphine Ep.22 Spurs Spurned by Off The Post on Mixcloud What. A. Week. As if all the drama at Eastlands and United's training game at Arsenal wasn't enough, it's the Off The Post Podcast's 50th show! We can only assume the powers that be at Premier League HQ anticipated such a [.

Manchester City maintain their lead at the top of table and also widen their gap with third place team, Tottenham Hotspurs after Roberto Mancini's team edged passed Harry Redknapp's boys this Sunday.

Controversial Italian striker, Mario Balotelli arrived as City's savior in the match after scoring the winning goal deep in injury time.

Manchester City went six points clear at the Barclays Premier League summit after a late penalty conversion from Mario Balotelli ensured a thrilling 3-2 win over a resilient Tottenham Hotspur at the Etihad Stadium.

After a slow first half, the hosts came alive at the beginning of the second, with goals from Samir Nasri and Joleon Lescott creating a comfortable two-goal cushion.

THFC1882 welcomes another new guest writer. I've been wanting this guy to write for the blog for ages and finally he's found the time. Here's Adam Nathan with his preview of Tottenham Hotspur's crucial visit to Manchester City.

Spurs travel to the Etihad on Sunday to face perhaps their fiercest competitors for the Premier League Title in Manchester City.

Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Luka Modric firmly believes that his side can win away to league leaders Manchester City this Sunday despite the hosts having a perfect record at the Eastlands this season.

Modric, who endured a shaky start to the campaign due to being distracted by a potential move to Chelsea, has rediscovered his form of late and after scoring in the Spurs' 1-1 draw against Wolves, he is approaching the clash with City with a strong mindset.

Glen Johnson is the subject of much discussion after Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini slammed a tackle he made during Liverpool's 1-0 League Cup semi-final win at Eastlands. Johnson leapt into a two-footed tackle on Joleon Lescott during a fiery second half. Enraged, City boss Roberto Mancini suggested that Johnson's tackle was a far more [.

Steven Gerrard gives Liverpool the edge at 13mins

Liverpool will go to the second leg of the Carling Cup Semi Final with a 1 goal advantage. A penalty given away by Stefan Savic's foul on Daniel Agger, appearing to be slight accidental contact, however there was no questioning the decision.

Shortly after facing a home defeat against their city rival Manchester United in the FA Cup, another disappointing episode arrived for Manchester City as they suffered a similar outcome in the Carling Cup against Liverpool on Wednesday.

This second defeat in a row obviously stunned the Eastlands, but coach Roberto Mancini remains positive with his team's strength as he even believed that his team can reverse the result in the second leg.

Mario Balotelli has given Beckham that is Brooklyn Beckham a signed Manchester City shirt which Dad David Beckham reportedly wiped his nose on! Balotelli met Beckham during Sunday's thrilling Manchester derby at Eastlands which United won 3-2 and progress to the 4th Round of the FA Cup. The pair shook hands and exchanged [.

Manchester United's luck seems to switch around in the Derby as they get their revenge over Manchester City with a 3-2 victory in the third round of FA Cup with Wayne Rooney bagging two goals.

The Red Devils victory was however filled with a little bit of controversy as Man City were forced to play for pretty much the whole match with 10 men after Vincent Kompany received a pretty harsh straight red card.

Without question, the tie of the FA Cup 3rd round this weekend is the Manchester Derby on Sunday afternoon as the Premier League's top side, Manchester City take on bitter rivals and the team second behind them in the table, Manchester United, at Eastlands. City are of course the FA Cup holders having ended their [.

By CALEB SONNELAND

Omar Gonzalez, fresh off the plane and training with Nürnberg, was given a Bundesliga welcome by compatriot, and now teammate, Timmy Chandler in a crunching tackle — one that left the former with an injured knee.

Though the extent of the injury is yet to be confirmed by the club, Gonzalez is seen pictured on the pitch in pain as a club physio examines his left knee.

Manchester City 3: Aguero 10′, Y.Toure 33′, Milner 75′
Liverpool 0

Manchester City make the gulf in cutting edge clear at the Eastlands, putting three past Liverpool and pushing themselves ahead at the top. Liverpool looked good for spells, particularly between the first and second City goals, but couldn't do anything with their possession and scarcely threatened Joe Hart's goal.

Taking only a point in their last league match forced Manchester City to lose their gap in the top of the table with Manchester United, as Sir Alex Ferguson's team have now equaled Mancini's sided points, only to lose out on goal difference.

Revealing the causes of Man City's recent slip, the club's goalie, Joe Hart, admitted that they're beginning to feel the pressure in becoming the league leader and also team to beat in England.

In form Tottenham Hotspurs striker, Emmanuel Adebayor, who arrived in a loan deal from Manchester City apparently believes that his team might find a patch to catch up with City this January, mainly because of the African Nations Cup.

Adebayor is confident that the departure of Yaya Toure along with Kolo Toure to defend their respective country, Ivory Coast, in the upcoming competition set to be held at Gabon and Equatorial Guinea.

Wayne Bridge apparently didn't really enjoy the statement made by his manager at Manchester City, Roberto Mancini, who sort of hinted that the player's persistence in staying with the Eastlands is only because of money.

In contrary to Mancini's previous explanation about how Bridge continuously refuses several offer, the wing back insisted that it's the club who worried more about cash than he ever did.

Season's greetings Arse addicts. It's been an unusual kind of week with two away games yielding mixed results. Yet we've probably found more praise for our performance in defeat at Eastlands than we did for our somewhat serendipitous victory at Villa Park. Football is a funny old, blah, blah, blah etc.

There is no doubting manager Kenny Dalglish has made a big impact since his return to his beloved Liverpool and the Scotsman would love nothing better than to secure some silverware in his first full season back in charge at Anfield.
The Merseyside outfit have splashed the cash under Dalglish which in turn has created some strength in depth at Anfield; something that was lacking for a number of years previous under the likes of Rafa Benitez and Roy Hodgson.

Manchester City continue their winning run after last weekend's victory over Arsenal by gaining another important victory, this time against Stoke City at Etihad Stadium.

The result brought the Eastlands closer in getting the half season champion as they would need one more victory to seal that temporary morale boosting achievement.

Robert Huth is aware that walking out of Eastlands with a result tomorrow night will be a massive challenge for Stoke City as they visit Premier League leaders Manchester City.

The Potters have won all of their last four league matches while also progressing to the next stage of the Europa League.

Arsenal's 1-0 defeat over Manchester City on Sunday casted doubts on Arsene Wenger's head over the Gunners' chance in battling for the league title with City this season considering the point gap between them are a bit too far at the moment.

However, Wenger confirmed to their fans that his team will continue to give their shot until things finally becomes impossible as although acknowledging that chasing the Eastlands would be difficult, there's always a chance since the season is still long.

Carlos Tevez is in trouble again after being caught on video mocking Manchester City by saying "Fuck them" whilst onstage with Argentine musician Jimenez Rufino Tevez has been frozen out of the limelight at Eastlands after his refusal to come on as a substitute during Manchester City's 2-0 defeat to Bayern Munich in their UEFA [.

Difficult drawing for premiership teams didn't only happened in the Champions League but also in the second rate European competition, Europa League, where all three English representatives are being paired with tough sides.

Manchester United will be facing fellow Champions outcast, Ajax Amsterdam, while Manchester City are set to battle last season's champions Fc Porto and Stoke City got pretty much the toughest one with Valencia at sight.

While Manchester City are in one of the toughest Champions League groups in recent memory, their performances have shown that while money may be able to buy domestic success, European pedigree is a priceless commodity.

Just ask Roman Abramovich. He and Jose Mourinho brought Premier League titles and FA Cups to Stamford Bridge almost immediately after the Russian oligarch pumped many millions into the club, but the Champions League title remains elusive to this day.

... Brad Gregory. Congratulations to Brad who triumphed over the two nights of the Heineken Star Player League this week by predicting the outcome of events in the Napoli v Manchester City match and the Bayer Leverkusen v Chelsea game in the Champions League. Brad is now on his way well, not just yet [.

Manchester City convincing performance in the premier league this season gave the impression that they will stroll their way in winning the title, especially with the ability to still hold unbeaten record until 12 matches.

However, this condition doesn't fear Manchester United's defender, Phil Jones, who is expecting that the Eastlands will soon drop points especially in the upcoming matches where Roberto Mancini's side are set to face difficult opponents in the premiership.

A pretty disappointing results gained by two Manchester teams in their Champions League campaign as league leader, Man City, were unsurprisingly beaten by Napoli 2-1 at San Paolo, while Man United only managed a draw against Benfica at Old Trafford.

The results puts both teams' position in their group in a lot of trouble as there's a solid chance that the two might not make in through the next round, considering the tough competition they're facing.

How do Newcastle United fit into the Premier League landscape? And will the City result affect us? Saturday's defeat was disappointing, although hardly surprising. I'd be very surprised if any team takes points off Manchester City at Eastlands this season. The fact that we only let in one goal in open play, looked fairly solid [.

Adam Johnson has signed a new four-year deal with Manchester City, putting an end to Kenny Dalglish's alleged interest in capturing the England winger for Liverpool.
After arriving at Eastlands from Middlesbrough in January 2010, Johnson has impressed with some very creative, sparky performances.

Competition time One lucky OTP reader will win a pair of tickets to the Manchester City v Bayern Munich match at Eastlands on 7 December. We're still talking about events from last time the two teams met, so it promises to be a great match. We've teamed up with Heineken StarPlayer to offer this fantastic [.

Manchester City's success in leading the premier league table and also maintaining their unbeaten streak have really earned them plenty admirers, but one of their important players, Yaya Toure, revealed that record is not actually something they're after.

Toure confessed that being undefeated is not something that his team's are thinking about as for the Ivory Coast international, acquiring success with the Eastlands is what matter the most.

City talisman Yaya Toure stated in a recent interview that his team can match the Arsenal of 2004 and go unbeaten in this years Premier League.

He said in a launch of Puma's African National Cup kits, "We hope we can continue unbeaten, we are playing fantastic football."

Although the blue side of Manchester have enjoyed an excellent start to their campaign- the obvious highlight beating United 6-1 at Old Trafford, I simply do not believe City have what it takes to match Arsene Wenger's supremely talented side.

David 'Merlin' Silva. Almost as popular at Eastlands as Mario 'Fire Hazard' Balotelli. Image via facebook.

Not much changes happens in the top of Premier League on Saturday as Manchester City holds their current five points lead over second place Man United, while Chelsea and Newcastle still battles on for the third place.

However, things isn't actually easy on Saturday especially for the league leader, who can consider themselves a bit lucky in managing to nick a win against Queens Park Rangers (QPR) which City's striker, Edin Dzeko, believed as their toughest test so far.

Liverpool boss Kenny Dalglish has warned his team they must not take newly promoted Swansea City lightly when the clubs clash on Saturday.
The Scot believes the Reds have squandered too many points against sides promoted from the Championship in recent years and hopes to avoid a repeat against the Welsh team.