Manchester City vs. Sunderland: Confirmed Line-ups

Gus Poyet made two changes from the goalless draw at Aston Villa, as Will Buckley and Jack Rodwell come in for Steven Fletcher and Lee Cattermole. Fletcher drops to the bench while Cattermole misses out altogether due to a groin injury.

Connor Wickham shifts to a central striking role, a position where he scored two goals in the corresponding fixture last season. There is a surprise return to the bench for Cabral, with Liam Bridcutt missing due to the head injury he picked up against Villa.

Sunderland (4-3-3): Costel Pantilimon; Santiago Vergini, John O'Shea, Wes Brown, Billy Jones; Seb Larsson, Jack Rodwell, Jordi Gomez; Adam Johnson, Connor Wickham, Will Buckley.

Subs: Vito Mannone, Sebastian Coates, Cabral, Ricky Alvarez, Emmanuel Giaccherini, Jozy Altidore, Steven Fletcher.

Manchester City make four changes from their 2-2 draw at home to Burnley, with Willy Caballero, Gael Clichy, Yaya Toure and Stevan Jovetic replacing Joe Hart, Aleksander Kolarov, Fernando and James Milner.

Manchester City (4-2-3-1): Willy Caballero; Pablo Zabaleta, Martin Demichelis, Eliaquim Mangala, Gael Clichy; Yaya Toure, Fernandinho; Jesus Navas, David Silva, Samir Nasri; Stevan Jovetic.

Subs: Joe Hart, Aleksander Kolarov, Bacary Sagna, Dedryck Boyata, Frank Lampard, James Milner, Scott Sinclair.