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Manchester City’s £47.5m signing John Stones could make his debut in defence, with Vincent Kompany out and Nicolas Otamendi nursing a tendon problem.
New manager Pep Guardiola will be without Leroy Sane (hamstring), while Kevin De Bruyne is short of fitness.
Sunderland signings Adnan Janujaz, Papy Djilobodji, Donald Love and Paddy McNair could all feature in David Moyes’ first game in charge.
Sebastian Larsson has been ruled out for six months with a knee injury.
Lee Cattermole, Jan Kirchhoff and Billy Jones are also injured.
There’s been a lot of talk off the pitch regarding whether or not Guardiola can continue his managerial magic in Manchester after success with Barcelona and Bayern. But now the talking has to be done on the pitch as his new look city side makes their bow at The Etihad this evening.
This was a City side that stuttered to fourth place last season and they will have to start much quicker than compared to how they finished last time around if they are to regain the Premier League title which they last won back in 2014.
With many new faces entering the Etihad this summer there will be a lot of focus as to who makes Guardiola’s first starting eleven with new signings John Stones and Nolito all pushing for inclusion.
For new Sunderland manager David Moyes he will certainly have a lot to prove after the failure of his stint at Old Trafford and a pretty forgettable spell in charge of Real Sociedad. His long reign at Everton seems such a long time ago now, and Moyes can’t afford to have a third managerial failure in a row.
But with all the talent at Pep Guardiola’s disposal you can’t see them slipping up in front of their home fans. Nothing less than the perfect start for City this Evening.
