Score Predictions: Coventry City vs SAFC
Yesterday at 07:00
The Lads travel to the West Midlands for today's match against our potential playoff rivals and a recent bogey team. How do our writers think the Black Cats will do?
'The Champion' Martin Wanless predicts...
Score prediction: Coventry City 2 Sunderland 3
Sunderland's first goalscorer: Romaine Mundle
I'll probably regret this prediction but I fancy us today.
Coventry have done great since Frank Lampard came in - midweek excepted of course - and I reckon it'll be an entertaining game.
Mundle bagged a super goal on Wednesday. He'll hopefully be back in the starting eleven today and I fancy him to get our first in a tight, end-to-end win.
Malc Dugdale predicts...
Score prediction: Coventry City 1 Sunderland 1
Sunderland's first goalscorer: Wilson Isidor
We haven't been great in the last few games but we've won two and drawn one.
Coventry have been on a good run and have grabbed sixth place (at least for now), but lost to basement battlers Derby last time out.
Both sides should make the playoffs and neither will want to drop points, so I'm going for a draw.
As I'll be there with some of my Midlands exile mates, if we can rise to the occasion of playing a top six team as we've often done this season and get a victory, I'll take that back home this evening and will be happy to be wrong.
Jack Howe-Gingell predicts...
Score prediction: Coventry City 1 Sunderland 2
Sunderland's first goalscorer: Eliezer Mayenda
It didn't work on Tuesday and it took a special goal from Romaine Mundle to spare our blushes against an unexpectedly organised and cheating Preston side.
Hopefully we'll go back to our usual shape and in a bizarre twist, I'm hoping Mayenda gets the nod over Wilson Isidor.
I think he's full of confidence and is causing defences problems with his strength and pace. I love Isidor but he missed another sitter in midweek and with both unlikely to play together, the man in form must get the nod.
Coventry have been in impeccable form — other than a poor result last time against Derby. Perhaps the writing was on the wall after throwing away a two-goal lead against Stoke but make no mistake: they're in tremendous form and we'll need to be at our best to get something.
You feel like we're still going well, with seven points from our last three games, and we can give anyone a match. We shouldn't fear Coventry; instead, we should go out and do what we can do.
Will Jones predicts...
Score prediction: Coventry City 1 Sunderland 0
Sunderland's first goalscorer: N/A
Here we go again. Another trip to Coventry and another chance for them to roll out their 'Sunderland voodoo' and leave us all wondering why we bother.
Until their midweek hiccup against Derby, Frank Lampard's Coventry (full title required at all times) had been tearing up the league, winning nine of their last ten and crashing the playoff party. Meanwhile, we've been ticking along nicely without ever looking truly convincing – like a car with an MOT but a dodgy gearbox.
The last time we met, we played them off the park in the first half…then promptly forgot how to play football in the second. That was before they were 'Frank Lampard's Coventry', though, so maybe the rules have changed.
I hope I'm wrong with my prediction.
Matty Foster predicts...
Score prediction: Coventry City 2 Sunderland 1
Sunderland's first goalscorer: Wilson Isidor
Coventry City. The bogey team of all bogey teams.
It's bad enough that I haven't seen a Sunderland victory in this fixture since I was still at school, but the fact that you have to be in your mid-40's at least to remember a win on their turf is horrendous.
Even when we looked to be ending our torrid run against them earlier this season, we managed to surrender a two-goal lead.
If I ignore those facts, Coventry's record under Lampard doesn't fill me with confidence either, as they've gone from seventeenth to playoff contention in four months, with twelve wins out of twenty.
Roll on 5:00pm, when I can emerge from behind the settee to assess the damage.
Bomber Davies predicts...
Score prediction: Coventry City 2 Sunderland 2
Sunderland's first goalscorer: Wilson Isidor
I'll be heading up to the Midlands this morning to watch this and hoping for something a damn sight better than what we served up in midweek!
Recent games against the Sky Blues have been entertaining affairs, and we seem a different team when up against better opposition.
There's nothing in our recent game to suggest we'll head back up north with three points, but Frank Lampard's side's recent air of invincibility has taken a hit and we may be able to capitalise on it.
In what could be a dress rehearsal for a playoff semi-final, I'm predicting a score draw and I'm hopeful of something quite entertaining.
Gary Winter predicts...
Score prediction: Coventry City 2 Sunderland 1
Sunderland's first goalscorer: Romaine Mundle
The positive is that we're picking up points despite not being at our best, but we've not seen a lot of our best for a while and we've certainly not put it together consistently.
Before the weekend, Coventry had won nine of their past ten league games, so it was good to see that come to an end against Derby. Nevertheless, their form under Frank Lampard is red hot and this is a team we've had real trouble taking three points off of in recent years (since February 2007, to be precise).
This combination makes it hard for me to feel positive about getting the win in what could be a playoff semi-final dress rehearsal. It pains me to go this way but I can see the potential for a loss that we'll hopefully avenge in the playoffs.
Brett Lyons-Davis predicts...
Score prediction: Coventry City 2 Sunderland 2
Sunderland's first goalscorer: Wilson Isidor
Until they lost to Derby earlier in the week, Frank Lampard's Coventry had built up quite the head of steam to get them into the playoff mix, but despite the loss, this one won't be easy.
We all know that they have some strange hoodoo over us.
We played them off the park in the first half at the Stadium of Light then just fell apart in the second, albeit before they were 'Frank Lampard's Coventry'. Given the way we're playing at the moment, I'm not overly convinced that'll end either but I'll be damned if I put us down for a loss.
So, a share of the spoils and Isidor getting himself back among the goals is as optimistic as I can be.
Last time out…
Sunderland grabbed a draw from the jaws of a loss (and to a right bunch of cheating gits) with a wonder goal from Romaine Mundle against Preston — after we fell behind to another goal during which the defence and Anthony Patterson maybe should've done better.
The fact we didn't really get fired up until Preston decided to leverage some pretty disgusting time wasting antics was quite disappointing, but we didn't lose.
I hear the FA are apparently looking into how Preston acted across the 1-1 tie which played out, too.
This afternoon we take on Coventry City and we're hoping to improve our stats against a side who we often do poorly against and that we'll probably see in the playoffs — potentially at Wembley, depending on how the final nine games plus the playoff semi-finals go.
Coventry will want to solidify their slot in the top six and the Lads will want to keep an unbeaten run going.
Will the two sides settle for a draw or go for it? Only time will tell.
Last game predictions
None of the Predictions writers went for a home draw, so the only points this week went to the lads who foresaw Romaine Mundle saving our blushes with a 'goal of the month' contender.
One point for Brett, Matty, Jack and Martin, and none for the rest of the posse.
Latest standings
No major change at the top but we now have a peloton of three people on 27 points contending for joint fourth place!
How the points are awarded
Just a quick reminder of how we allocate points to our match-by-match predictions:
- Correct score = Three points
- Correct outcome (but not correct score) = One point
- Correct first Sunderland goalscorer = One point (no goalscorer is a valid call)
- Possible deductions for being lazy and not submitting on time = yellow card warning, then a two point deduction.
