Borini asks Sunderland to exploit City's 'shaky' defence

Basement side Sunderland have won just one of their past nine league games, while third-placed City are coming off three successive league wins but Borini is confident his team can adapt to City's playing style.

(Reuters)

"They seem a little shaky at the back because of the way Guardiola wants them to play -- but don't take that as a criticism because that's the way he's won titles in the past," the 25-year-old told Sunderland's website (www.safc.com).

"He has his philosophy and that won't change this weekend, so we have to take advantage of that in any way we can.

"We need to frustrate them and if that means we have to be defensive, then so be it because we have to stop their influence on the game."

Sunderland are involved in the relegation scrap for the fifth season in a row and Borini said his team could use the experience of past campaigns to escape the drop once again.

"What we've done in the past few years has been down to what we've done on the pitch," the Italian added.

"We know we don't have to play brilliant football to stay up, but confidence is key in modern football and you saw what Leicester did last season when they had it, so we have to stay strong."

(Reporting by Aditi Prakash in Bengaluru; editing by Amlan Chakraborty)