Sunderland claimed a surprising point at the Etihad stadium last season and it proved to be very crucial in the club staying in the Premier League.
In fact, they have had a very good record against reigning Premier League champions Manchester City both at home and away from the Stadium of Light.
Manager Gus Poyet is looking to continue this record going forward when his team visit the Etihad stadium on New Year’s Day.Poyet must have gone through a turbulent 2014 but he is looking forward to a positive 2015. He says that there is no reason why Sunderland cannot look forward to getting more than just a point against the champions.
Manchester City recently dropped the two points against Burnley at home, which came as a major shock given that they were leading 2-0 going into halftime. City have had some surprising results like these in the past andPoyet reckons that the game is not over until the referee blows the final whistle. A number of former City players like Adam Johnson and Jack Rodwell could feature on January 1.
City continue to be without star striker Sergio Aguero, butPoyet says that the club have quality throughout the pitch and the absence of the Argentine should not hurt them much.
“City have quality everywhere but it’s easier to play them without Aguero.He was different class when we played them here and we could not cope with him.But we know what we did wrong that night and why we lost. We need to perform much better.What happened at City was the beginning of the miracle.There were mixed emotions after the game because the feeling was we’d lost a big chance,” said Poyet, who also revealed that former goalkeeper Oscar Ustari played a huge role in the draw with City last season.