Live Football

Manchester City will be looking to find its good form when a suddenly struggling Sunderland side visits on Saturday in the Barclay's Premier League. Manchester City ended a seven match draw streak two weekends ago with a thrilling 2-1 victory over first place Chelsea. Since then, City has failed miserably in its attempt to build off that success. City had to fight back to earn a 3-3 draw against bottom club Bolton at the weekend and then suffered a lopsided defeat against Tottenham at the midweek. Sunderland has suffered through struggles in the past weeks equal to those of City. The Black Cats are winless in their last four with three defeats and a draw. Kickoff between the two is set for 15:00 local time at the City of Manchester Stadium in Manchester, England. Game is live from Canal+ Sport TV channel.

Manchester City was held in check up and down the pitch during the midweek against Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane. The Spurs controlled the flow of the game and never allowed City to find a groove. Niko Krancjar opened the scoring with a goal for Spurs in the 37th minute. Jermain Defoe struck early in the second half to double Spurs' lead in the 53rd minute. City never really challenged Spurs in the second half with Emmanuel Adebayor misfiring on both of City's best chances. Krancjar struck again late in stoppage time after dancing through City's defence and slipping the ball through keeper Shay Given's legs to guide Spurs to a 3-0 victory. Sunderland meanwhile was looking for a victory against surging Aston Villa after a disappointing 1-1 draw against bottom club Portsmouth. Unfortunately for the Black Cats Villa came prepared to play. Emile Hesky scored in the 24th minute and James Milner added a second in the 60th to guide Villa to an easy 2-0 victory over Sunderland.

Manchester City's already shaky defence suffered another blow this week when the team learned that Joleon Lescott is lost for up to two months. The 27 year old defender, who joined City from Everton in August, missed Wednesday's loss against Tottenham after surgeons removed a bone chip floating in his knee joint. Lescott is expected to miss six to eight weeks and his loss is a big blow to a City defence that has been very leaky since November. In City's seven league fixtures since the beginning of November, Manchester has allowed 15 goals in seven games including three goals in each of its last two matches.

Both sides will be eager to gain maximum points from this weekend's fixture. Manchester City's costly draw and defeat this week has seen the club drop out of the top six and land in eighth place, well below expectations for a club that spent as much as City did in the offseason. Sunderland has also seen its poor form in the past month result in the club plummeting down the table and the Black Cats need a victory to avoid falling out of the top 10.