Manchester City vs Sunderland: Granix Xhaka odds to consider this weekend

Manchester City will welcome Sunderland to the Etihad Stadium on Sunday afternoon, with both teams looking to head into the extended international break with a win under their belts.

The start to the season could not have gone any better for Enzo Maresca as the new Manchester City manager. The Cityzens have won all four of their Premier League matches and are heavily backed to make it five-in-a-row on Sunday.

While there is no value in backing a City win on Sunday, there is one market that is definitely worth considering – Granit Xhaka to be carded at 10/3.

Man City vs Sunderland: Xhaka to be carded

As a combative midfielder, the chances of Xhaka being carded are always relatively high compared to most other players, as evidenced by the eight yellow cards he picked up throughout the 2025/26 Premier League season.

Xhaka's recent performances for club and country suggest that yellow cards are only going to become more common as he gets older, too. The Sunderland skipper has been booked seven times in his last 16 competitive outings for club and country at a rate of nearly one every other game, considerably higher than bookies' implied probability of 23.1%.

Even more recently, Xhaka has been booked in each of his last two Premier League outings for Sunderland, making this a bet well worth taking on.

Man City vs Sunderland: Black Cats expected to suffer

Sunderland and Xhaka are likely preparing for a difficult afternoon at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday. While the Black Cats are far from work-shy, there will be plenty of tired legs in the Sunderland ranks following their Europa League opener on Thursday night.

Tired legs often lead to rash challenges, and given how well Man City keep the ball in the middle of the park, Xhaka could quite easily end up doing something reckless.

There is also a chance of Xhaka picking up a time-wasting booking should Sunderland find themselves ahead late in the game.