Manchester City's Premier League title challenge suffered a major blow after a goalless draw against Sunderland on Thursday.
Pep Guardiola's side would have moved within two points of leaders Arsenal with victory at the Stadium of Light. Instead, a poor performance in their first game of 2026 left City four points behind the Gunners after Arsenal suffered a shock 4-1 defeat to Aston Villa on Tuesday.
The stalemate ended City's eight-match winning streak in all competitions and underlined growing concerns over their cutting edge in attack.
City will try to respond on Sunday when they host struggling Chelsea, who parted ways with manager Enzo Maresca on Thursday.
Guardiola is reportedly close to completing the signing of Bournemouth and Ghana forward Antoine Semenyo, who could do with attacking reinforcements after his team were disappointed by Sunderland's disciplined performance.
City beat Sunderland 3–0 at the Etihad Stadium on 6 December, but Guardiola had warned in advance that the return match would be much more difficult, a prediction that proved accurate.
Sunderland are unbeaten in their first 10 home league matches this season and have now held both City and Arsenal to draws on Wearside.
