Sunderland expert shares ‘biggest struggle’ for Regis Le Bris ahead of play-off semi-final vs Coventry City

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Sunderland head into the play-off semi-final against Coventry, with the first-leg approaching on Friday night, suffering a worrying run of form.

Sunderland may have booked their Championship play-offs semi-final spot against Coventry, but the Black Cats finished the season in relegation form.

Regis Le Bris’ side face Coventry in the play-off double-header on Friday evening, on the back of a five-game winless streak, which was compounded by their final day 1-0 defeat to managerless QPR.

Frank Lampard’s Sky Blues beat Middlesbrough 2-0 after a Jack Rudoni brace, to secure fifth-place in the second tier table, and tee-up a semi-final affair with Sunderland in the process.

Sunderland’s worrying run of form heading into the play-offs is a major concern on Wearside, and one Black Cats expert has shared where Le Bris’ side’s “biggest struggle” lies ahead of the semi-final.

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Sunderland expert shares sides’s ‘biggest struggle’ ahead of play-offs semi-final

Since their 0-0 draw at Norwich City confirmed their play-offs place, Sunderland have lost five games on the spin all to opposition below them in the table, scoring only goal in that time while conceding seven.

Relegation form heading into the season-defining fixtures, combined with Sunderland’s worrying head-to-head record against Coventry and their barren play-offs history, does not bode well for Le Bris and his side’s Premier League promotion prospects.

Enzo Le Fee admitted Sunderland haven’t been good enough ahead of the play-offs, proven by their form spiraling downwards, and one Black Cats expert has shared the “biggest struggle” for Sunderland currently that could have a pivotal impact on their play-offs campaign.

Chief Sunderland reporter Phil Smith said told the Sunderland Echo: “Moving forward I think the biggest struggle again is that Sunderland are struggling to create anything of note, in any phase of the game,

“Whether it’s when it’s a bit more open and those opportunities that we’ve seen in the past, that they’re really good at, in transition they’re struggling to make the most of that.

“What they’re certainly struggling to do is to make the most of the possession that they have. I thought yet again, it was way too easy for QPR to defend their box.

“Yet again, we know Sunderland aren’t the biggest and most physical, side set pieces are never going to be a huge strength. But there was so many corners that just yielded nothing.”

Looking past the QPR defeat ahead to the semi-final, Smith continued: “I think that’s a big problem. Maybe the slight consolation we can take is that the Coventry game is going to look very different,

“I think Coventry will have a really front-footed style and will look to attack, it’s probably not going to be a game where Sunderland have 65% of the possession, and they’re getting loads and loads of corners from that,

“So maybe that particular concern isn’t going to be a huge worry going into the first leg, it could be in the second leg of course if Sunderland are chasing the game, so it’s a big worry for me.”

Sunderland’s stats over recent games, compared to the reverse fixtures earlier in the campaign when Le Bris’ side looked like title contenders, lay bare the stark depreciation in their attacking outputs.

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Sunderland’s attacking statistics show downturn in form ahead of play-offs

Sunderland analyst ‘AltEnding’ highlighted that Sunderland’s expected goals on target metric, measuring the likelihood of scoring when looking at on target shots, was registered at 10.2 in the 12 games since Leeds United away (2-1 defeat) and before QPR (1-0 defeat) on the final day. The Black Cats’ goals scored during that time was nine.

Against the same teams during the first half of the 2024/25 second tier season, Sunderland managed 19.6 on target expected goals metric, whilst finding the net on 18 occasions in that period.

The glaring issue for Sunderland in the second period of the campaign is clear, given the 40 percent downturn in shots on goal, that being Le Bris’ side don’t take enough shots, fashion the same quality of chances or convert half as often as they did during the opening months.

Sunderland have scored just three goals in their last eight games, with two of those being stunning solo efforts from Trai Hume’s free-kick against West Brom and Eliezer Mayenda’s solo strike at Bristol City.

If Le Bris doesn’t solve the Black Cats’ attacking output they will remain toothless in Friday night’s semi-final clash at Coventry.