1 Aguero chasing goals record
Sergio Aguero reached another major milestone this week.
His two goals in the win over Huddersfield saw him overtake Neil Young, Bobby Marshall and Mike Summerbee in becoming City’s highest post-war FA Cup goalscorer.
But the Argentine has plenty of targets left to achieve.
He needs 20 more goals to become the Club’s all-time leading scorer – and the way he is going, he could be close come the end of the season.
He’s looked razor sharp on his last two outings – bagging two against Monaco before his FA Cup double in midweek – and he will fancy his chances of continuing his form against a leaky Sunderland defence.
When Aguero is at his best, City have an edge few Premier League sides can match.
2 Yaya to return?
Yaya Toure was rested on Wednesday against Huddersfield, with 19-year-old Aleix Garcia stepping in and anchoring City’s midfield.
Garcia was excellent – but Toure is likely to be brought straight back into the side given his form since returning to City’s starting lineup with two goals at Crystal Palace back in November.
He’s playing much deeper than he has ever done since his move to the Etihad back in 2010 – but his performance level over recent months has been extremely high.
Toure, one of the finest passers the Premier League has ever seen, has offered protection to the back four and helped City keep possession.
He may be 33, but he’s still a significant part of this City squad.
3 Wing twins
Pace in wide areas has been a hallmark of Pep Guardiola’s success at Barcelona and Bayern Munich and he is repeating the trick here in Manchester.
In Leroy Sane and Raheem Sterling he has two of the best young players in Europe - and two of the quickest in the Premier League.
Both have been in sensational form in recent weeks, with opposition sides struggling to keep them quiet for any length of time.
They’re exciting to watch and both bring match-winning capabilities. They are very much the present and the future of the football club.
4 Beware the Black Cats
Sunderland may be bottom of the table but, as Guardiola pointed out at his press conference on Friday, both Tottenham and Liverpool have failed to win at the Stadium of Light in 2017.
The depth of quality in the Premier League means the old cliché of there being no easy games rings truer than ever before.
5 City in fine form
The win over Huddersfield on Tuesday continued City’s excellent form in 2017.
Guardiola’s side have lost just once since the turn of the year, winning eight and drawing two.
It’s seen them progress to the last eight the FA Cup, move up the Premier League table and put themselves in control of their Champions League quarter-final with Monaco.
Momentum in football is key. A win at Sunderland would maintain it nicely ahead of some big games in the coming weeks.
