Coventry City welcome Sunderland to the Coventry Building Society Arena this weekend for game week four of the Championship. The two teams aren’t separated by much this early in the season and both will be looking for three points to propel themselves up the table.
Coventry currently sit tenth in the Championship on four points. The Sky Blues have one win, one draw and one loss in their opening three games. Of the six sides on four points, Coventry are only behind Watford due to their goal difference, having scored five but conceded three.
The Sky Blues opened their season with a trip to Championship new boys Leicester after their relegation from the Premier League. Coventry took the lead in the tie through Kyle McFadzean who scored early in the second half. However, Leicester took control of the game and then took all three points through a brace from Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall in the late stages of the game. Coventry’s one win this season came in their first home game against Middlesbrough. Matt Godden, Haji Wright and an own goal from Darragh Lenihan gave Coventry the 3 - 0 win.
Coventry’s latest game was a trip to Swansea. Godden once again put The Sky Blues ahead but within three minutes, Jerry Yates drew The Swans level. Despite having more of the possession, the game ended level with a share of the points.
Sunderland are five spots down from this weekend’s opponents in 15th. The Black Cats have one win and two losses in three games, leaving them on three points. However, of those on three points, Sunderland do sit top of the pile with their superior goal difference.
The Black Cats opened their season with back-to-back losses. The first loss came at home against Ipswich Town. Nathan Broadhead and George Hirst put Ipswich into a comfortable 2 - 0 lead early in the second half. Then to make a potential comeback even harder, Trai Hume picked up a red card sending Sunderland down to ten men. Dan Neil did manage to grab a goal but it came in the 86th minute leaving them no time to grab the draw, losing 2 - 1. The other 2 - 1 loss came against Preston. Jack Clarke converted his penalty, but goals from Will Keane and Mas Frokjaer-Jensen gave Preston the win.
The most recent outing for Sunderland was a win against Rotherham. Though Rotherham grabbed the first goal through Hakeem Odoffin, a double from Jobe Bellingham gave Sunderland the 2 - 1 win.
Coventry and Sunderland have met just 44 times in their histories with the first ever clash coming back in 1930. Coventry have the slight advantage in the fixture with 16 wins in comparison to Sunderland’s 12 wins. A draw is a very common outcome of this fixture with the points being shared 16 times.
Sunderland haven’t beaten Coventry in the last five meetings between the teams, as Coventry have won three times and the two teams have drawn twice.
