Rodri, after that fanfare, is on the bench with Reigan Heskey, 17, son of the Liverpool legend. Reigan’s brother, Jayden, is also on the City books.
Nathan Ake and Savinho come the City team, replacing Josko Gvardiol and Tijani Reijnders, who both drop to the bench. Doku’s on the bench, though with Antoine Semenyo set to arrive, a big game for Savinho who has been linked with a move.
Eliezer Mayenda for Chris Rigg is the sole Sunderland change, with Dan Ballard ruled out with injury.
Jeff Sax gets in touch: “Happy new year. I am shocked to hear that City are considering Maresca!! It will be like amorim at MU.”
So far today, just one sacking. Maresca does have a good record in the Championship…
Pep Guardiola was so so happy with 2025, a year without a trophy but some really positive signs as it closed out.
Because it’s how you overcome the problems. In this perspective, now every time when I reflect on what happened last season, I’m more proud than ever about what we have done as a club, how we handled the bad, bad situations.
Sunderland: Roefs, Hume, Mukiele, Alderete, Cirkin, Xhaka, Geertruida, Mayenda, Le Fee, Adingra, Brobbey. Subs: Patterson, Neil, Rigg, O’Nien, Mundle, Isidor, Hjelde, Harrison Jones, Tutierov.
Man City: Donnarumma, Matheus Luiz, Dias, Ake, O’Reilly, Silva, Gonzalez, Foden, Savio, Cherki, Haaland. Subs: Trafford, Reijnders, Doku, Rodri, Gvardiol, Khusanov, Mukasa, Lewis, Reigan Heskey.
Referee: Jarred Gillett (Australia)
The glitch in the space-time continuum that is this season’s fixture list means they met just weeks ago. That was the day of the rabona.
Here’s the table, as it stands. Sunderland have had such a good season. City are in the hunt but their points total is significantly lower than in their imperial periods.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arsenal | 19 | 25 | 45 |
| 2 | Man City | 18 | 26 | 40 |
| 3 | Aston Villa | 19 | 7 | 39 |
| 6 | Man Utd | 19 | 4 | 30 |
| 7 | Sunderland | 18 | 2 | 28 |
| 8 | Everton | 19 | 0 | 28 |
Happy new year to the readers. Can Manchester City’s inexorable run continue? Since 29 November, they have won every single match. Arsenal may hope for Pep Guardiola’s team to have a drier January, and for them to slip up at Sunderland. Though perhaps it’s a timely trip with Sunderland shorn of players at AfCon, and with other injuries. It was a brilliant year for the Black Cats, and in Regis Le Bris they have an excellent coach. Taking on Pep is the ultimate test.
Kick-off is 8pm. Join me.