Pick of the stats: Sunderland v Coventry City
- Published
Sunderland are defending an unbeaten home record in the play-offs tonight as they look to book a place in the final against Sheffield United.
To overturn a 2-1 deficit from the first leg, Coventry will have to record a first away win in six attempts.
Sunderland's 2-1 win in the first leg was their first victory against Coventry since February 2007, ending a run of 10 games without a win against the Sky Blues (D5 L5).
Coventry have won two of their past five away games against Sunderland in all competitions (D3), having won just one of their first 18 visits to the Black Cats (D8 L9).
Sunderland have never lost a home leg in the EFL play-offs, winning seven of their eight games (D1) at Roker Park/Stadium of Light.
Coventry's 2-1 loss in the first leg was their first defeat in the play-offs (W3 D3). They've won their two previous away legs (4-1 v Notts County and 1-0 v Middlesbrough), with both of these also being the second leg of the tie.
Sunderland lost their final three home games of the regular Championship season, all by a 1-0 scoreline. They last lost four consecutive home games in all competitions in September 2017. They've never done so without scoring.
Coventry were without a win their final five away games in the regular Championship season (D1 L4), having won four in a row on the road before that.
Wilson Isidor and Eliezer Mayenda were on target for Sunderland in their first-leg victory. The last time a Black Cats player scored in both legs of a play-off semi-final was 2003-04, with both Marcus Stewart and Kevin Kyle doing so against Crystal Palace.
Jack Rudoni has been involved in 12 goals in his past 14 appearances for Coventry in all competitions (7 goals, 5 assists), netting their goal in the first-leg defeat against Sunderland.
