*All prices are bang up to date with our snazzy widgets, while odds in copy are accurate at time of publishing but subject to change
Sunday’s spectacle of soccer gets underway at the Stadium of Light for Sunderland and Coventry’s first match of the 2022/23 Championship season. Anything can happen at this stage and, well, pretty much anything can happen at any stage when The Black Cats are involved.
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For what it’s worth I think they’ll do okay this season following their League One playoff final win over Wycombe back in May. They’ll be looking to emulate Coventry’s recent trajectory of consolidation after promotion into the second tier. You don’t get much more solid than their 12th-placed finish last season.
The Sky Blues might be dreaming of a playoff push this time around but it’ll take some doing, though the gap between themselves and Luton in 6th was just 11 points so it’s not completely beyond the realms of possibility. Everything’s up for grabs on the opening day so let’s try and make hay with a Bet Builder for Sunday’s Championship fare.
*A Bet Builder with these four selections pays at approximately 23/1 with Paddy Power. CLICK HERE TO ADD IT TO YOUR BETSLIP.
Sunday 12pm: Sunderland v Coventry
TV: Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Football
Sunderland to Win
I’m going to put my neck on the line here and plump for a home win. The Stadium of Light is set to host over 40,000 supporters for this one and The Black Cats had a superb home record last season, albeit in the league below.
I don’t think that can be discredited despite Coventry’s decent away record in this division last season. Sunderland won 16 of their 23 league games on home turf and also got the job done at Wembley in front of a massive crowd.
Maybe, just maybe, they’re starting to shake off that bottler tag. This isn’t the be all and end all for them this season by any stretch of the imagination but a Sunderland Win would go a long way to giving them hope of a decent campaign.
They come here still in high spirits on the back of that promotion, as the ticket sales for Sunday show, and obviously they’ve got recent memories of good form from the backend of last season and an unbeaten record that goes back to February. Coventry, on the other hand, were on the beach nice and early so will have to get themselves going after they recorded three wins from their last 14 league matches.
Over 2.5 Goals
My hunch tells me this could be a 2-1 home win and the numbers back that up as well. Last term The Sky Blues saw 119 goals in their 46 games last season, an average of just shy of 2.6 per game.
Sunderland’s totals are slightly higher with 2.87 per match and 132 goals in their regular season. Given the early-campaign enthusiasm, I think we’ll be treated to a decent match with Over 2.5 Goals in the game.
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Both Teams To Score
Following on from the above I think we’ll see Both Teams Score in this one. Despite a poor run towards the end of last season The Sky Blues did manage to score in four of their last six games. On average they both scored and conceded around 1.3 goals per game, ending with a goal difference of one.
Sunderland scored in six of their last seven regular-season games in 2021/22 but secured promotion on the back of a rock-solid defence, keeping a clean sheet in three of their last four including playoff games. Their averages were 1.72 goals scored per game and 1.15 conceded so Both Teams To Score should have a great chance if those trends continue.
Ross Stewart to Score First
If Sunderland are going to win here then you’d expect Ross Stewart to play a big part. He was absolutely vital to their success last season and he bagged 26 goals in 53 games, 14 more than anyone else on the team.
Swedish hitman Viktor Gyokeres topped the charts for City last term, grabbing 18 goals along the way, but Coventry scored fewer and shared them around more as well. If we’re going to pick Paddy’s pocket in this one we need the home side to go well and if they do just that we’re getting a decent price on Ross Stewart to Score First.
Sunderland v Coventry tips
Sunderland to Win
Over 2.5 Goals
Both Teams to Score
Ross Stewart to Score Anytime
*A Bet Builder with these four selections pays at approximately 23/1 with Paddy Power. CLICK HERE TO ADD IT TO YOUR BETSLIP.
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*All prices are bang up to date with our snazzy widgets, while odds in copy are accurate at time of publishing but subject to change
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