Sunderland vs Coventry City: Tactical Preview As Black Cats Face Crucial Clash

Sunderland are set for their most important fixture of the campaign so far with this weekend's trip to Coventry City in the Premier League, in a game which is an unequivocal must-win for Regis Le Bris' side.

Sunderland travel to Coventry on Saturday afternoon, sitting bottom of the Premier League, with Frank Lampard's side just above in 19th place, with both sides desperate to climb out of the relegation zone with an imperative win.

Given the current context of both side's respective seasons, and the historic rivalry between the two sides that was exacerbated by Sunderland's stunning Championship play-off semi-final victory just over two years ago that was the catalystic moment for their Premier League return, the stakes could not be higher heading into Saturday.

With Sunderland picking up just one point from a possible 15 within their last five Premier League games, leaving them at the foot of the table, but buoyed by their point against Leeds United last weekend and their impressive 3-2 Carabao Cup win over Brentford in midweek, nothing less than three points is acceptable for the Black Cats at Coventry.

Both Coventry and Sunderland have suffered at the start of the Premier League campaign, with Lampard's newly-promoted side struggling to deal with the top flight's depth of quality, and Le Bris juggling the demands of the Europa League and several injuries issues.

Ahead of this weekend's clash, Coventry have conceded 15 goals in the Premier League, the third-highest in the top flight, whilst netting six.

Lampard's side also sit joint-bottom of the table in terms of clean sheets with just one, picked up in their away win at Nottingham Forest back in September, thus highlighting that there is defensive fragility for Sunderland to attack at this weekend.

In terms of the Black Cats' defence, Sunderland have conceded just one less goal than Coventry with 14, and have kept one more clean sheet at two, but have also looked somewhat toothless in attack with the same six goals scored tally within their opening eight league games. 

Where Sunderland can hurt Coventry in Saturday is in the Black Cats' final third, as the attacking output for Le Bris' side in the Premier League seems to be the final missing element to a potential resurgence in form.

Sunderland's goalless stalemate against Leeds, spearheaded by dangerous centre-forward Dominic Calvert-Lewin, showed that the resolute defensive identity that the Black Cats became known for last season in their return among England's elite has resurfaced this season at long last.

Against Leeds, Sunderland created several openings, with Brian Brobbey and Nilson Angulo both going close to getting the better of Leeds shot-stopper James Trafford, but the quality of those chances were not as clear-cut as Le Bris would have hoped for.

So far this season, Sunderland have created 17 big chances, the seventh-highest in the league, but are underperforming their expected goals at -3.7, proving that the next step for Le Bris' side is to turn their chances into goals, and consequently wins, in the league.

Interestingly, Sunderland's midweek cup victory over Brentford showed the ruthlessness in attack yet again, with the Black Cats far more intense and quicker in their attacking actions on Wednesday, and that tactical improvement must continue this weekend.

With Coventry having an average possession of just 37.3 percent in the top flight so far this season, the onus is on Sunderland to attack with this same dynamism from midweek to net their first league goal in their last 270 minutes of league action to secure a much-needed win at the CBS Arena on Saturday.