Sunderland vs Coventry City Prediction, Odds, Best Bets - Premier League

The bottom two meet in Coventry on Saturday, and Sunderland arrive as road favorites despite a winless run that stretches back to August.

The Matchup

Saturday's game at the Coventry Building Society Arena is nineteenth against twentieth, a meeting of the two sides propping up the Premier League, separated by a single point. Coventry City have 6 points from eight matches and Sunderland have 5, and both clubs have scored just 6 goals all season. It is early for a relegation six-pointer to feel this heavy, but the loser on Saturday spends the week at the very bottom of the table.

Coventry's season has lurched between collapses and one very loud afternoon. They lost 5-0 at home to Brighton & Hove Albion on September 13 and 3-1 at Tottenham Hotspur on October 19, but they also beat Newcastle United 4-1 at this ground on October 12, when Jack Rudoni converted an early penalty and Sidiki Cherif, Ellis Simms and Stephen Mfuni added the rest.

Sunderland's shape is simpler and grimmer: one win, against Fulham on August 30, and none since. Neither club has named its side yet. The expectation is Rudoni, Coventry's top scorer with 2 goals, at the heart of the hosts' attack, with Brandon Thomas-Asante, who has 2 assists this season, alongside him, and Brian Brobbey leading Sunderland's line after he started Sunday's goalless draw with Leeds United.

Key Factors

Brobbey is the whole Sunderland story in attack, and that is precisely Sunderland's problem. He has 3 of their 6 league goals, and every one of them came in a single match, the 5-3 defeat at Manchester City on September 20. Take away that one afternoon and Sunderland have scored 3 goals in seven matches, and they have drawn a blank in three straight games since the Etihad. On the road they are winless, with three defeats in four matches and the only point coming at Brentford on September 5.

The honest case against Coventry is their own home record. They have lost three of four at this ground, and Hull City and Fulham both won here 1-0 in the kind of tight, low-scoring game Saturday promises to be. Coventry were shut out in both defeats, and a side that has failed to score in three of its four home matches cannot treat any visitor as a gift. If Sunderland sit in, frustrate the crowd and nick the first goal, Coventry have shown very little ability to chase a game at home.

Every pick is published with its line before the game. Odds via consensus sportsbooks at time of writing and move constantly. Must be 21+. If gambling is a problem, call or text 1-800-GAMBLER.