The first major piece of domestic silverware is up for grabs this weekend – The Capital One Cup Final will be taking place at Wembley Stadium on Sunday afternoon. Manchester City are the obvious favourites to take the cup back up North with them, but after last years upset for City in the FA Cup final, against Wigan, I highly doubt they will be counting their chickens just yet.
Sunderland v Man City – Wembley Stadium | Sunday 2nd March 2014 | 14:00 GMT
It’s obvious that City are the favourites here along with their goalscoring power and steady back line.
Having lost to Barcelona 2-0 last week in the first leg of their Champions League knockout game, City will be eager to remind their fans just what they are capable of. Despite the 2-0 deficit on aggregate in that game they are still in with a chance of winning 4 trophies this season. Those being the Premier League title, the FA Cup, Champions League and obviously the Capital one cup.
City are missing their Argentine front man Sergio Aguero heavily though. Their league form has stuttered since he sustained a hamstring in January, but the game this weekend will definitely come too soon for him, much to the delight of the Sunderland fans.
The black cats are in a relegation battle in the league and will hope that regardless of the outcome of this game they will be able to continue their steady form, a run of form that should see them safe in the Premier League for another season at least.
Our Prediction
We are predicting a Manchester City win, but we believe it will be a closely fought affair despite the obvious difference in the quality of both sides. Final Score: Manchester City 2 – 1 Sunderland.
Verdict
A closely fought affair with Sunderland taking the lead before Man City show their class and score 2 second half goals.
Form (in all competitions)
Sunderland WWWLWL | Man City WLDWLW
Possible Lineups
Manchester City (4-2-2-2): Hart, Zabaleta, Kompany, Dimichelis, Kolarov, Toure, Fernandinho, Nasri, Silva, Negredo, Aguero; Subs – Pantilimon, Dzeko, Navas, Jovetic, Clichy, Milner, Lescott
Sunderland (4-1-4-1): Mannone, Bardsley, Brown, O’Shea, Alonso, Cattermole, Johnson, Sung-Yueng, Colback, Borini, Fletcher; Subs – Ustari, Giaccherini, Altidore, Gardner, Celustka, Larsson, Vergini
