Man City v Sunderland Betting Preview
Will it be to the north east or the north west that the first domestic piece of silverware will be heading to on Sunday? Manuel Pellegrini’s quadruple-chasing (more realistically treble-chasing) City are favourites to claim the honours at Wembley, but the Black Cats have had something going for them in Cup matches this season. They only have to look back at Wigan’s win over City in last season’s FA Cup final for some positivity. After some big wins on their way to the final, do they have something special left for the challenge of City?
Man City v Sunderland Betting Odds at online bookmaker William Hill
Man City 2/7, Draw 5/1, Sunderland 9/1
Online bookmaker Promotion
Just about all the football betting coverage you could ever need can be found at online betting site William Hill. Not only do they offer great ACCA insurance for your wagers, there is fantastic 0-0 Bore Draw Insurance on the Correct Score and Double Result markets for games that end goalless. You can also grab some great First Goalscorer insurance with the bookie refunding lost stakes on a selection that doesn’t score first, but nets the second goal of the game.
Man City v Sunderland Betting Tips:
Well the Citizens are running as clear favourites here. They have the goalscoring power at their disposal to brush aside most teams, and are expected to cap their trip to Wembley with the trophy. However, that was expected to happen on their last visit there, in facing Wigan in last season’s FA Cup Final, where as heavy favourites, they lost 1-0. It hasn’t been going too smoothly of late for them as well, with goals drying up a bit and they have lost their last two games against the Black Cats as well, including a league defeat already this season. However City do of course have big match winners in their forward ranks, and in the Anytime Goalscorer market, it is City’s players who are dominating. Sergio Aguero is 4/7 favourite, with Edin Dzeko and Stevan Jovetic at 6/5 and a clutch of other City players at 3/1. They’ll get their chances in the game.
However, they have only managed to find three goals in their last five matches in all competitions though and their form has gone patchy. It started with that home defeat against Chelsea in the Premier League, which seemed to shake them up a bit. With just two wins in their last five games in all competitions, it’s not the kind of form you expect from City and they only scraped a 1-0 home win over Stoke on the weekend too. They have struggled to find a winning touch against the Black Cats recently too, having won one of their last five against the Black Cats now. So perhaps this may not turn out to be the big goal fest that everyone is expecting it to be. Under 2.5 goals is trading at a price of 6/4 with William Hill, while over is at 1/2. Pellegrini’s men are strong 1/6 shots To Lift The Trophy.
City fans can take a huge positive after Sunderland’s poor performance at the Emirates against Arsenal on the weekend. Gus Poyet’s men were embarrassed in a 4-1 defeat and were second best all over the pitch. Not a confidence booster ahead of a cup final, but maybe they had one eye on Wembley. The Black Cats have been pretty good in Cup games this season, and they have taken a hard road to the final. They upset Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in the quarter finals and then deservedly won on aggregate in their two-legged semi final against Manchester United. Resilience and grit were both big features of their success in those two ties and they will need all of that again at Wembley. Frankly, if they play as badly as they did against the Gunners on the weekend, they aren’t going to get close to the trophy.
The margin and manner of defeat against Arsenal was a bit of a shock, because they have tightened up defensively very well lately. One of their star players has been Adam Johnson since the start of the year and he is trading at 4/1 in the anytime goalscorer market, alongside Steven Fletcher and Jozy Altidore. Sunderland have posted a W3 D1 L1 record in their last five against Man City and their three wins have all been bya 1-0 scoreline (their last four wins over City have been by that scoreline). There’s a trend and if you fancy it to continue then a Sunderland 1-0 Correct Score is up at a long shot of 28/1. A more realistic City 2-0 victory is trading at 6/1 in the market. Sunderland have only failed to find the back of the net in one of their last eleven in all competitions, and Both Teams To Score is trading at Even money with William Hill. Will they get enough of the ball to trouble the Citizens at Wembley though?
Prediction
Big difference in price for the game and that should tell at the end of the day. Sunderland have been a great cup side this season, but would still have to back City to come away with the win. Maybe tighter than expected, but a City To Win To Nil bet for a price of 5/4 looks good to back the Citizens with.
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Form (all competitions)
Man City WLDWLW, Sunderland WWWLWL
