​Manchester City boss Enzo Maresca has outlined that Sunderland will be his side’s “toughest” game of the season so far on Sunday afternoon, whilst also making some controversial comments on the Black Cats’ Arsenal loss. Sunderland head to the Etihad Stadium in solid form, having drawn 1-1 at Brentford before pushing reigning Premier League champions Arsenal to the brink before submitting to a 2-0 defeat, and then beating Eredivisie leaders AZ Alkmaar 1-0 in midweek to begin their Europa League campaign with a historic and hard-fought win. However, Sunderland’s opponents City are in even more impressive form, having beaten bitter rivals Manchester United 1-0 last weekend in the Premier League before battering Championship outfit Norwich City 5-0 on Wednesday evening to advance comfortably in the Carabao Cup.For Sunderland, City will pose a similar challenge to the Gunners amid their unbeaten run under Maresca’s new stewardship, but the former Chelsea boss has paid Regis Le Bris’ Sunderland side some huge compliments ahead of this weekend’s Premier League meeting. Sunderland players celebrate Enzo Le Fee’s goal vs AZ Alkmaar (Action Images via Reuters)Man City boss Enzo Maresca Praises Sunderland and Regis Le BrisHistorically and form-wise, City head into Sunday’s visit of Sunderland as firm favourites for victory, considering that the Citizens have not lost a league home game against the Black Cats since January 1998.However, the unbeaten run and historic dominance in favour of City will not deter Sunderland from their quest to get a result from last season’s Premier League runners-up, who are buoyed by their prideful performance in defeat to Arsenal and their momentous first European football win in over five decades. As a result, both teams will be fancying themselves for a result, and City boss Maresca has made clear that Le Bris’ Sunderland side will be City’s “toughest game since the start of the season.”In addition, he explained that Sunderland did not deserve to lose against Arsenal despite the 2-0 scoreline because of their mammoth performance. In his pre-Sunderland press conference, Maresca said: “I watched them the last two days, three or four games. I know them, how strong they are, and have the feeling we need a top performance to beat them, be 100% to win.“I watched the game live against Arsenal, then again the last two days. If you watch, you can realize how strong they are. I think personally that they didn’t deserve to lose that game. – “They are very strong, very well coached. They already have time together, you see what they want to do on and off the ball.“My feeling is on Sunday it will be the toughest game since the start of the season. If you watch them, you are not surprised [at how well they have done], because you will realise how good they are, on the ball, off the ball, how aggressive they are, the amount of duels that they win every game.“The team got promoted then [qualify f