Manchester City v Sunderland predictions

Match	Date	Selection	Bet	Odds	Bet now
Manchester City v Sunderland predictions Premier League England, England	06/10/2012 13:45	full time result	Manchester City Win	1.29	Bet at B
Betting prediction was written by Anton

MANCHESTER CITY – SUNDERLAND PREDICTIONS AND PREVIEW: BETTING STATS

Man City has not had the most impressive start to the season in their attempt to retain the EPL title. They have picked up 12 points from 6 matches but have drawn half their games, some you would have expected them to win. In all competitions they have only won one of their last five games and have been outplayed in Europe twice. In their 10 total matches they are yet to keep a clean sheet and 7 of them have finished on over 2.5 Goals.

Sunderland are undefeated in the EPL this season also after 5 matches. They only have 7 points however after 4 draws back to back to start the season and they just got their first win last week at home to Wigan. Goals have been hard to come by for them with just 5 in the 5 games but their defence has been solid with 4 conceded. Just one EPL match this season has finished with over 2.5 Goals.

TEAM NEWS AND RUN OF PLAY

City have really struggled defensively this year which is a big surprise considering their title winning team was built on a rock solid back line. They have experimented throughout the season with a back 3, which I feel has not worked for them at all and the players constantly look uncomfortable and are found out of position. They are much better suited to a back 4 and should stick with it for an extended period of games until the team finds it’s form defensively again and gets some clean sheets. Going forward City have Aguerro back to full fitness and are as dangerous as ever, they have scored in every game this season and I don’t expect that run to end this weekend.

Sunderland are a well organised team under Martin O’Neill but they lack flair going forward. Everything they do in the final third goes through Steven Fletcher and without his 5 goals in 4 matches this year they’d be in dire straits. No other player in their squad has managed to get a goal this season, which is far too much reliance on one player.

MANCHESTER CITY – SUNDERLAND PREDICTIONS: 1X2 BETTING PREVIEW

It is no surprise that Manchester City are very strong favourites at home. They have not lost in the EPL at home since December 2010, a span of 32 games, and they have won 29 of them. If they stop messing around with their defensive formation I expect an easy win against a Sunderland side who lack goals from anyone other than Fletcher.

Visist bet365 to get 1.29 on a Machester City home win.

MANCHESTER CITY – SUNDERLAND PREDICTIONS: ASIAN HANDICAP PREVIEW

If those odds are too small for you and you want something bigger then let’s look at the Asian Handicap market. Here we can see the AH of Man City -1.75, which means City must win by 2 clear goals to win half the bet and half refunded, or win by 3+ goals to win the whole bet. If you are unsure about how Asian Handicaps work then visit our guide here.

I fancy City to win this one easily and will be backing them on the handicap at City -1.75 at 2.1 with BetVictor.

MANCHESTER CITY – SUNDERLAND PREDICTIONS: TOTAL GOALS PREVIEW

As usual when City are at home goals are to be expected. In their past 25 EPL home games, 20 of them have been above 2.5 Goals. This is 80% of games and would correspond to 1.25 in odds. Sunderland may be better organised at the back than most but City have all their attacking options available so I think the over is a strong bet.

Pinnacle are offering a very generous 1.6 on Over 2.5 Goals so I’ll be backing it!