Regis Le Bris must learn from Liam Manning’s tactics in reverse fixture for Bristol City vs Sunderland

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Sunderland head to Bristol City on Good Friday with a guaranteed play-off place as Liam Manning’s side are fighting to secure a top-six finish for themselves.

Sunderland’s visit to Bristol City will yield a monumental impact on the Championship table.

Regis Le Bris’ Black Cats made their play-off spot mathematically secure with their 0-0 draw at Norwich last week, but their automatic promotion aspirations are all but out of sight.

Liam Manning’s side occupy fifth place heading into the affair and are fighting for every point to secure their Championship play-off place with Middlesbrough and West Brom chasing them down.

In the reverse fixture at the Stadium of Light in December, Le Bris’ side rescued a point in the final moments thanks to Patrick Roberts.

This time around, the Sunderland boss will not want a repeat of his side’s performance seen that evening, which would be a worry despite their semi-final spot being secured.

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Sunderland must not repeat struggles in reverse Bristol City fixture

Le Bris’ side enjoyed 66% of the ball when Manning’s side came to Wearside, but carved out only one big chance with it.

Sunderland’s struggle to create opportunities was present in their most recent defeat against Swansea, with their lack of dynamism or threat in the final third boding a major “concern” for Le Bris.

In last year’s reverse fixture, the story of Sunderland’s second half of the season was laid bare as they failed to make their dominance count.

Via the Sunderland Echo, Manning said last year: “The first half I felt we allowed them too much territory, we were too deep and that’s why we made the change of shape,

“It allowed us to press a little higher. We went with a back four first half and we basically found it difficult to apply pressure higher up the pitch. We switched to a back five at half time which made it 3-v-3 in our last line instead of 3-v-4.

“We committed that extra body higher and wider, which helped us stop them progressing it into wide areas so easily. I think the change did help us.”

Sunderland failed to create any real openings against a resolute Robins backline until Roberts found the net with minutes to spare.

Opposite number Le Bris explained after the 1-1 draw: “We know that we have a lot of work to do to improve this part of the game. We have to be more clinical because, if you don’t score, the opponent can stay in their foundations.

“They just have to counter-attack and know that two or three corner-kicks or free-kicks should be their main opportunity. That was the case [against Bristol City].”

In an ironic sense, Sunderland have looked their most potent this season in games in which they don’t dominate possession, able to use their attacking prowess to best measure.

The Black Cats are 13th in the league for average possession with 48.8%. Yet, they had two-thirds of the ball in the 1-1 reverse clash to no avail as Le Bris’ side struggled immensely to break down the Robins’ low defensive structure until Roberts’ injury-time equaliser.

Months on from the reverse fixture, Sunderland’s lack of clinical edge is still costing crucial points, and Le Bris must change strategy – with that previous clash in mind – or risk another lacklustre attacking display against the Robins once more.

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Sunderland need to become ruthless again ahead of Championship play-offs

Le Bris’ side have lost their clinical edge of late, scoring only two goals across their previous five outings. A far cry from the side which blew Sheffield Wednesday out the water with a 4-0 rout earlier in the campaign.

First-choice Sunderland forward Wilson Isidor has suffered a goal drought, failing to find the net in his last nine appearances, with his service impeded by the injury to Roma loanee Enzo Le Fee.

Le Fee won’t start against Bristol City amid his recent return from the sidelines and as such Sunderland’s void of creative spark in midfield looks destined to continue until the regular season curtails.

With the Black Cats hoping to dodge injuries over defeats, and Manning’s side battling to cement fifth place, the predictions point towards another disappointing attacking display from Sunderland against the Robins.