Manchester City Must Shake Injury Bug, Sunderland Hoodoo to Conserve Momentum

Manchester City enter their midweek clash against Sunderland on a decent roll since the international break. Premier League wins over Swansea and Southampton have been sandwiched around a thrilling come-from-behind Champions League victory against Bayern Munich.

However, not all is well in the champions' camp.

For starters, the Southampton match saw Eliaquim Mangala dismissed for a pair of bookable offenses, meaning he is not available for selection at the Stadium of Light. To compound that, skipper Vincent Kompany limped off at St Mary's Stadium, leaving his availability in doubt:

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PELLEGRINI: "We’ll know this afternoon exactly what Vincent has. He has an injury to his hamstring - we'll see how long it’ll be.”

— Manchester City FC (@MCFC) December 2, 2014"

This adds him to the already decent list of players who are unavailable for the match:

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PELLEGRINI “We continue with the three same players injured – Kolarov, Silva and Dzeko. With Kompany, we'll see tomorrow."

— Manchester City FC (@MCFC) December 2, 2014"

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PELLEGRINI: “Unfortunately Nastasic has a muscle injury in his thigh. I don’t think he will be able to work for a week or more.”

— Manchester City FC (@MCFC) December 2, 2014"

In the case of Matija Nastasic, he hasn't featured for City all season, but with the talent he's displayed in the past, he would've been an easy choice to fill in for Kompany if needed. Instead, partnering Martin Demichelis will be a contingency plan of little-used Dedryck Boyata and full-back Bacary Sagna:

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PELLEGRINI: “We have Boyata working well, we have Demichelis and we have Sagna. We have options and we’ll see which two of them will play.”

— Manchester City FC (@MCFC) December 2, 2014"

Neither solution would be optimal for Manuel Pellegrini, but it's what he's got to work with. He has no choice but to play with the hand he's been dealt. Luckily, Mangala will only miss the one game, and Kompany may be back sooner rather than later.

With a massive showdown in Rome looming next week, that's all City fans can hope for.

As for this one, Sunderland have shown in recent history that they can handle City when they play host. In City's last four trips to the Stadium of Light, the Black Cats have emerged 1-0 victors each time. This includes last season, when City managed just one point from the two league encounters last season—a 2-2 draw at the Etihad—though they did win 3-1 in the League Cup final.

Scott Heppell/Associated Press

Gus Poyet's side enter this clash on a run of three straight league draws, including a morale-boosting scoreless draw with Chelsea. This not only gifted City a chance to tighten the gap in the title race but proved once again that Sunderland can hang with the big boys.

Their three-match draw streak was preceded by a solid 3-1 away win against Crystal Palace, powered by a Steven Fletcher brace. By picking up points in four straight games, they sit 14th in the table with the same amount of points, three clear of the relegation scrap.

On a good run of form and surely brimming with confidence having held the league leaders off the scoresheet, Poyet and his men must surely be looking forward to this one. A chance for a fifth successive home victory over City is not so far out of the question.

This City side is reeling with injury issues, a key suspension and perhaps one eye on next week's Champions League fate-decider.

With three key defenders missing, leaving his side bereft of depth, and a mysterious curse preventing them from taking points at the Stadium of Light, Pellegrini has a lot working against him heading into this domestic encounter.

But as Pablo Zabaleta put it to City's site, "Runs of results like this are there to be ended, and if we play the way we did at Southampton, we have a good chance of coming away with a victory."

It might take a bit of magic from somewhere, but the Argentinian is right. All good things—in Sunderland's case—must come to an end. If City can break down the previously uncrackable Southampton defense, they can do it to Poyet's crew too.

Either way, it'll be a tough fight and one worth watching.

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