Sunderland vs Coventry City – Match Preview

Preview

Over 40,000 fans are expected to be packed into the Stadium of Light for Sunderland’s return to championship football.

The atmosphere will, no doubt be amazing as Sunderland and Coventry have a rivalry dating back to the 1976/77 season, where Sunderland got relegated on the final day due to former Coventry managing director Jimmy Hill delayed kick-off by 15 minutes in order to get the fans in the ground because of traffic congestion.

Sunderland were beaten that day 2-0 by Everton which meant Coventry and Bristol City only needed to draw to ensure survival.

The Sunderland result was announced over the tannoy and both sets of players knew that the score had to just stay at 2-2 to make sure both teams survived.

The Sunderland faithful were furious after this, which engnited a rivalry between the 2 sets of fans.

The Black Cats’ beat Wycombe Wanderers 2-0 in the League One play-off final in May and they will be hoping to keep the feel good factor around the City with an opening day victory over Coventry.

Sunderland haven’t beat Coventry since 2007, were they beat the Sky Blues 2-0 in the Championship.

Back in 2019, Sunderland and Coventry played in one of the most fascinating games in recent times, unfortunately the Sky Blues came out on top in a 5-4 victory at the Stadium of Light.

New signing Ellis Simms could make his debut having signed on Thursday, as Sunderland finally found someone to either help talisman Ross Stewart or give him some competition.

If they are to start, the other new boys such as Alese and Ballard will be hoping to make a good impression on the Sunderland faithful.

Coventry have established themselves since going up back in 2020, so it won’t be an easy game for the mackems, but with a huge crowd backing them, hopefully the Black Cats’ will come out on top!

Prediction

Sunderland 2-1 Coventry

Scorers – Ross Stewart and Alex Pritchard.