Manchester City travel to the North East as they look to keep the pace with Arsenal at the top of the Premier League. Sunderland stand in the way of reducing the deficit to two points and a tough encounter awaits, with the Black Cats unbeaten at home so far this season.City find themselves five points behind the Gunners, after the leaders thrashed Aston Villa before the New Year and the Blues will need a top notch performance at the Stadium of Light if they are to stay in the hunt.As usual, our team are here to give us their views and opinions. Here’s what we think this week.SaulA tough match vs a surprisingly good side. Sunderland have played well all season and are in the top half of the table. City will be favorites, an away match on NYD will be tough, so give me a slight 2-1 win. Sunderland 1-2 CityWillSunderland had a very strong start to the season but in the last month or so have shown a couple of signs of vulnerability.They’ve lost a chunk of their squad to AFCON and I expect City to take advantage.Sunderland 0-2 CityThomasNew Year’s Day at the Stadium of light. City took care of Sunderland at the Etihad just a few weeks back. I expect more of the same in the new year.Sunderland 1-3 CityPete13 years ago today, title-chasing City went to the Stadium of Light and lost 1-0, so it’s time to erase that particular memory. City took some time but eventually dismantled the Black Cats just a few weeks ago. They will have to be patient, but I think they will take it.Sunderland 1-3How we did against ForestIt was a good result against Forest, with City getting some festive help from the Christmas Cherki (sorry) to take the points.Will picks up extra points for the right number of goals scored and Saul will lament the Blues not getting a third, which would have given him a perfect prediction. Let’s not mention Thomas and Pete, who were probably drunk when making their predictions (Pete definitely was thinking it would be 5-0).Here’s the table: