Sunderland and Manchester City are playing live on the Barclays English Premier League schedule on Tuesday and the match from NBC Sports Network is on the NBCSN Live Extra website starting at 2:45 pm ET from the Stadium of Light as the Citizens try and move up on the league standings heading into the back stretch of December and the New Years schedule.
Manchester City is in second on the league standings and these two teams will play against each other next on New Year's Day and that is a full schedule for the EPL. Man City has some tough games coming up, as they will play against Roma on the Champions League schedule and later they have Leicester City and West Brom on the EPL calendar. The team has no games against Man United, Chelsea or Arsenal coming up and that gives them a chance to move up in the standings over this stretch.
Billy Jones and Patrick van Aanholt will be out for Sunderland and the team may have defender Sebastian Coates in his first league start. Sunderland comes in with some momentum, as they held the top scoring team in the league scoreless for the first time this season. Sunderland pulled a draw with Chelsea at home and kept the team from getting into the net for the first time since May and the team also won over the Blues at Stamford Bridge last April.
Sunderland is at 14th place on the English Premier League schedule this season and Man City knows it can't take them lightly if they are looking to get up into the top part of the EPL table. The team is in fine position now, but Chelsea has been great and they have yet to lose this season on the schedule. Last year the Black Cats pulled a draw last season at Etihad Stadium and that will be on their minds as this matchup starts on Wednesday at the Stadium of Light.
Manchester City comes in over a nice win against Southampton and that was against the team right behind them in the standings. Chelsea is six points clear of the Citizens, while Man City has a lead over Southampton and Manchester United. The standings are getting close behind the Blues and Man United has won four straight and has been moving up the EPL standings.
Man City has lost only once in their last 10 league matches and they have won three straight over all competitions and this is the most consistent they have played all season. City has only lost once away and that came against West Ham and Yaya Toure is looking to get a goal in his third straight match, while James Milner has had success in the past against the team, scoring five ties against Sunderland in Premier League play.
Check here for the Sunderland and Manchester City live coverage.
