Coventry vs Sunderland prediction: Sky Blues to take slender lead into second leg | OneFootball

Coventry City take on Sunderland in the first leg of the play-off semi-finals on Friday night, as both sides look to take a vital step towards promotion to the top flight (8pm, Sky Sports Main Event)

Sunderland’s season ended with a fourth-placed finish despite a run of five straight losses to end 2024/25, though their 76 points was more than enough to secure a play-off spot well in advance.

And the Black Cats will face a Coventry side whose final-day win against Middlesbrough means that they finished fifth on 69 points.

There’s little to separate the two sides ahead of the first leg at the Coventry Building Society Arena, though football betting sites have the hosts at favourite to grab a win, with odds of 27/20 compared to Sunderland’s 23/10.

But though it could be that Regis Le Bris’ side have fallen out of form at the wrong time with those successive losses, Sunderland are still favourites to qualify for the final at odds of 7/10 with Coventry out at 21/20.

Coventry vs Sunderland betting preview: Hosts should take narrow advantage into second leg

Sunderland lost their last five matches of the regular season, with just two wins in their last 10 overall, so it certainly looks like the Black Cats have come out of form at the wrong time.

But though Coventry beat them 3-0 when the teams last met – at the Coventry Building Society Arena in March – the Sky Blues have had a similarly poor run to end the season, winning just four out of their last 10 including defeats to relegated Luton and Plymouth.

Despite this, Coventry have failed to score in just two of their last 10 outings, while Sunderland have failed to score in six of their last 10.

To that end, we’re going with the Sky Blues to take a slender advantage into the second leg, with a Coventry win to nil offered at 5/2 on betting sites.

Coventry vs Sunderland tips: A tight affair at home for the Sky Blues

As mentioned above, Sunderland have failed to score a goal in six of their last 10 matches, and that includes three of their last five away games.

In addition, six of Coventry’s last 10 games have only seen two or fewer goals scored, while that figure is eight out of 10 for the Black Cats.

Betting apps are favouring the likelihood of fewer goals in this one, and to that end we’re going for under 2.5 goals in the game, which is offered at 8/15 with William Hill.

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