Sunderland vs Coventry City Prediction ...Middle East

We look ahead to the second leg of this Championship play-off semi-final at the Stadium of Light with our Sunderland vs Coventry City prediction and preview.

It wasn’t supposed to be this way, as far as Coventry City were concerned anyway.

Though Frank Lampard’s side finished seven points behind Sunderland in the Championship, they arrived in the play-offs with more momentum than their semi-final opponents.

The Black Cats appeared to be there for the taking, having lost their last five league games of the regular season, but Regis Le Bris’ men found their form at the right time, securing a 2-1 win in the first leg at the Coventry Building Society Arena on Friday.

A cagey affair came to life when Wilson Isidor raced away down the left in the 68th minute before placing his shot past Sky Blues goalkeeper Ben Wilson, though Jack Rudoni headed in an equaliser just two minutes later.

Again, the momentum seemed to point towards the hosts taking control of the tie, but an under-hit pass back to his goalkeeper from Coventry full-back Milan van Ewijk allowed Eliezer Mayenda to race through and round Wilson to restore Sunderland’s lead in the 88th minute.

Lampard was understandably disappointed after the game, but maintained his team didn’t deserve to lose and was optimistic they could turn things around in Tuesday’s second leg.

“It didn’t happen and so we go again,” the former Chelsea and Everton manager told BBC CWR. “The game may look different on Tuesday and it may feel different at their stadium whether they play the same way.

“But I’m proud of the players, we obviously didn’t get the result we deserved and we didn’t deserve to lose, but we can’t drop our heads and understand there’s loads to play for.”

Le Bris praised their opponents and warned his team against complacency in the second leg.

“It was a tough game, Coventry played really good football,” the Sunderland boss told BBC Radio Newcastle. “We’ll have another tough game at home, so it’s not done.

“It’s really clear the mindset in the dressing room. No complacency. We know we’ll have another tough game, another scenario, difficult opponent, so let’s reset.”

Sunderland have an excellent record on their own turf in the play-offs, having never lost a home leg, winning seven of their eight games (D1) at Roker Park/Stadium of Light.

The first-leg loss was Coventry’s first ever defeat in the play-offs (W3 D3). One crumb of comfort for them, though, will be that they have won their two previous away legs in EFL play-offs (4-1 vs Notts County and 1-0 vs Middlesbrough), with both of these also being the second leg of the tie.

Coventry will be looking for inspiration from Rudoni again after his brace against Middlesbrough on the final day was followed by another goal in the first leg. The 23-year-old midfielder has been involved in 12 goals in his last 14 appearances for Coventry in all competitions (7 goals, 5 assists).

Sunderland ended their poor run of form with that first-leg win, but they also need to find form at the Stadium of Light. They lost their last three home games in the regular Championship season, all 1-0, a score that would take this tie to extra-time. Sunderland last lost four consecutive home games in all competitions in September 2017, while they’ve never done so without scoring.

Having said that, Coventry’s away form also needs to improve quickly. They only won one point from their final five away games in the regular Championship season (D1 L4), having won four in a row on the road before that.

More Championship Reading:

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Sunderland vs Coventry City Head-to-Head

The first leg of this tie was Sunderland’s first win against Coventry since February 2007, ending a run of 10 games without a victory against the Sky Blues (D5 L5).

In the regular season, Coventry cruised to a 3-0 home win over Sunderland on 15 March thanks to a sensational hat-trick from forward Haji Wright. The visitors could only manage one shot on target and six shots in total across this defeat.

Wright also scored for Coventry in the 2-2 draw against Sunderland at the Stadium of Light in November. His goal began a comeback, after Isidor and Dennis Cirkin put Sunderland 2-0 up inside 35 minutes. Rudoni’s equaliser gave Coventry a point in the 84th minute.

Sunderland vs Coventry City Prediction

The Opta supercomputer is anticipating the Black Cats to get the job done on home soil. Sunderland win the second leg in 44.5% of simulations, while a draw that also sees them advance to the final occurs in 26.8%.

Coventry will at least take things to extra-time with a victory, while they will obviously win the tie should they win by two or more goals at the Stadium of Light. Lampard’s side have a 28.7% chance of winning the match, while they reach the final in 19.1% of simulations, meaning of course that Sunderland do so in the remaining 80.9%.

The winner of this tie will go on to face Sheffield United in the 2024-25 Championship play-off final at Wembley on Saturday 24 May after the Blades defeated Bristol City 6-0 on aggregate in their semi-final.

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Sunderland vs Coventry City Prediction Opta Analyst.

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