Coventry City vs. Sunderland: Championship Playoff Predictions

Coventry City and Sunderland will face off on Friday night in the first leg of their Championship playoff semi-final at the Coventry Building Society Arena. Both sides enter the tie in contrasting forms.

The Sky Blues head into the clash on a high after defeating fellow playoff contenders Middlesbrough, while the Black Cats extended their poor run with a disappointing loss to Queens Park Rangers.

Previous Matches and Head-to-head

Frank Lampard has transformed Coventry's season since replacing Mark Robins in November, lifting the club from 17th to a strong finish. The Sky Blues have only lost to promoted Leeds and Burnley under his leadership and now host Sunderland in a key clash at the CBS Arena.

Jack Rudoni has been a standout, scoring nine goals and providing 12 assists, while top scorer Haji Wright aims to end a six-game league drought. Coventry recently secured a big 2-0 win over Michael Carrick's Middlesbrough.

Sunderland, despite securing a playoff spot weeks ago, have stumbled to the finish line, losing six straight, including Saturday's 1-0 defeat to QPR. The Black Cats are winless in their last three away games, and top scorer Wilson Isidor has gone 13 matches without a goal.

Coventry will look to capitalize on Sunderland's poor form as both sides clash on Friday night.

Coventry City x Sunderland Team News

Oliver Dovin, Coventry's starting custodian, is sidelined with a knee injury. Thus, Ben Wilson will likely start in goal for the first leg.

Due to injury, the Sky Blues will be without two attacking options: Ephron Mason-Clark (foot) and Norman Bassette (hip).

With Victor Torp out with an ankle injury, the hosts will likely start signing Matt Grimes and Ben Sheaf in the engine room in January.

Also, Sunderland are still playing without several key attackers; Ian Poveda (leg) and Romaine Mundle (hamstring) are both scheduled to return to the team around the middle of May.

The back injury that Jayden Danns suffered while on loan from Liverpool has completely cut short his time with the Black Cats at the Stadium of Light.

Our predictions

Coventry City to win @ 2.30 on Sky247.ng

Coventry is riding high at the CBS Arena and looking to have a huge first-leg lead against a struggling Sunderland on Friday night. If they want to stay in the playoffs, the Black Cats need to step up their game, and we don't see that happening in the East Midlands.

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