Sunderland Sunderland

Man City Manchester City

WHEN AND WHERE

Pep Guardiola’s side travel to Tyne and Wear for our Premier League clash at the Stadium of Light on Thursday 1 January, with the game scheduled for kick-off at 20:00 (UK).

The game will be shown live in the UK on Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Ultra HD, NOW TV and Sky GO.

You can also keep across all of the action via mancity.com and our official app, as well as the key moments on X/Twitter: @ManCity.

Supporters living around the world can find out how they can tune in via our global TV listings below, courtesy of liversoccertv.com.

Teams

CITY XI: Donnarumma, Nunes, Dias, Ake, O’Reilly, Nico, Bernardo (C), Savinho, Foden, Cherki, Haaland

Subs: Trafford, Reijnders, Doku, Rodri, Gvardiol, Khusanov, Mukasa, Lewis, R. Heskey

SUNDERLAND XI: Roefs, Hume, Mukiele, Alderete, Cirkin, Xhaka (C), Geertruida, Le Fee, Mayenda, Adingra, Brobbey

Subs: Patterson, Neil, Rigg, Isidor, Mundle, Hjelde, H. Jones, O’Nien, Tutierov

Next Fixture

All fixtures

Thu 01 Jan

Premier League

Sunderland

20:00

GMT

Man City

Matchday kit

City are set to wear our home kit for our trip to the Stadium of Light. For a limited time only, the kit is 50% off!

Shop the 2025/26 Home Kit now - while stocks last

Opposing manager - Regis le bris

Born and raised in Brittany, the former centre-back’s playing career started with Quimper and Ligue 1 side Rennes before he returned to the lower divisions with Laval and KSK Ronse.

After ending his playing career he studied for his coaching badges and then took a degree course in sport 
physiology and biomechanics. He followed that by taking a university diploma focused on the mental aspect of training elite athletes.

Alongside his studies he guided the Rennes Under-19 squad to their national title, before joining Lorient as a youth coach and then reserve team coach.

After stepping up to his first senior role at Lorient, he guided them to 10th place in Ligue 1, he then left the following season to join Sunderland.

Frenchman Regis Le Bris had an immediate impact after being named Sunderland boss in the summer of 2024. With the Black Cats recording a 100 per cent record in the opening month of the Championship season.

They ended the campaign in fourth place and earned their spot back in the Premier League following a dramatic play-off final victory over Sheffield United at Wembley.

Pep guardiola PREVIEW 

Pep Guardiola says Jeremy Doku may be in contention to feature away at Sunderland on New Year’s Day but confirmed that John Stones and Oscar Bobb remain unavailable.

Speaking at his pre-match press conference, the City boss also revealed that Rodri - who returned to the matchday squad for last weekend’s 2-1 win at Nottingham Forest for the first time in two months - could be in contention for some vital match minutes .

Doku has not played since our UEFA Champions League win at Real Madrid earlier this month.

But Guardiola offered a positive update on the Belgian winger’s progress as well as Rodri’s fitness.

“Rodri has come back. Maybe he can play a few minutes. We need it desperately. Doku maybe. John and Oscar no,” said Guardiola.

Stones has been sidelined since our Premier League win at Fulham at the start of the December.

Bobb meanwhile was forced off against Brentford in our Carabao Cup quarter final win.

Rayan Air-Nouri and Omar Marmoush are also unavailable for selection as they are away on Africa Cup of Nations duty with Algeria and Egypt respectively while Mateo Kovacic is continuing his rehabilitation from an ankle injury.

Danger men

Eliezer Mayenda hit ten goals and provided five assists in the Championship last season - including two goals in the play-offs, with one of them coming as an equaliser in the final at Wembley.

The versatile youngster also opened the Black Cat’s Premier League account this season, with his 61st minute goal against West Ham on the opening day.

Enzo Le Fee is a creative force in the middle of the park and the summer signing provided a masterclass against Bournemouth, as he sparked a magnificent comeback from 2-0 down against the Cherries. 

A penalty netted by Le Fee halved the deficit before half-time and sparking the turnaround. The win moved Sunderland up into fourth place in the Premier League table, having picked up 22 points from their 13 games so far.

Former Arsenal man Granit Xhaka has been a standout for the Mackems since joining from the Bundesliga and has emerged as a fan favourite since being named club captain.

As expected, he’s been heavily involved and recorded four assists and a goal against Everton so far.

Previous meeting

Last time out

We faced Nottingham Forest on Boxing Day as Rayan Cherki’s 83rd minute winner secured a 2-1 victory.

Tijjani Reijnders fired us ahead three minutes after the break when he calmly finished a well-crafted move.

Before Omari Hutchinson equalised from close range six minutes later.

With time ticking down, Cherki who also provided the assist for Reijnders’ opener, drilled a low volley through a crowded penalty area and into the net.

The victory was our eighth on the bounce and briefly took us top of the Premier League before Arsenal’s 2-1 win over Brighton later in the afternoon.

Global TV listings

Supporters around the world can find out how to tune in to watch the match live by clicking here, courtesy of livesoccertv.com.

Listings correct as of Thursday 1 January.

Sunderland v city app coverage

Minute-by-minute text updates will begin in our Matchday Centre two hours before kick-off, while our Matchday Live show will begin from one hour 15 minutes before kick-off.

Shaun Goater and Nedum Onuoha will join Natalie Pike as they offer full analysis before, during and after the action.

During the game you can also listen to live audio commentary from Alistair Mann and Michael Brown while our text commentary continues.

You can also follow the action live with our Matchday Centre on mancity.com and our official app, as well as the best of the action on X: @ManCity.

Make sure to have push notifications turned on, so you can be alerted to key moments in the action, including goals, red cards and the team news.

A comprehensive match report, highlights and Full Match Replay (via CITY+) will follow across the evening.