Coventry City and Sunderland meet in Premier League gameweek 9 at the Coventry Building Society Arena (CBS Arena) on Saturday 31 October 2026, kick-off 3pm. The two sides sit 19th and 20th, and the table makes this a rare early-season fixture where a single result could change the look of a campaign.
Two sides at the bottom
Coventry are 19th with six points from eight games, two wins and a goal difference of minus nine. Sunderland are 20th with five points, one win and a goal difference of minus eight. Leaders Man City have 21 points.
Neither side has been prolific. Both average 0.75 goals per game. Coventry concede 1.88 per game and Sunderland 1.75. In points per game it is 0.75 for Coventry and 0.63 for Sunderland.
Sunderland have two clean sheets to Coventry's one, but they have collected 14 yellow cards to Coventry's eight.
Form guide
Coventry have won two of their last five and lost three. Those wins came 4-1 against Newcastle and 1-0 at Nottingham Forest, but the defeats include a 5-0 loss to Brighton, a 3-1 loss at Tottenham and a 1-0 loss to Fulham.
Sunderland's run is harder to read positively: four defeats and a draw. They lost 2-0 to Arsenal, 5-3 at Man City, 2-0 to Brighton and 2-0 at Bournemouth, and drew 0-0 with Leeds United.
On expected goals (the quality of chances created), data via Fantasy Premier League gives Sunderland the edge at 1.43 per game for and 1.88 against. Coventry are on 0.96 for and 1.49 against.
Players and availability
For Sunderland, Brobbey has 3.17 xG and three goals in 463 minutes, while Le Fée has 2.19 xG, one goal and one assist, and 1.77 expected assists. Isidor has 1.67 xG in 207 minutes.
Coventry's main threat by that measure is Rudoni, with two goals from 1.92 xG in 555 minutes. Awoniyi has 1.58 xG without a goal in 285 minutes. FPL lists Rudoni and Diarra as the first-choice penalty takers for Coventry and Sunderland respectively.
FPL lists Thomas as doubtful for Coventry, with a 75% chance of playing. It also has Woolfenden, Amenda, Wright and Eccles as injured, and Dovin as unavailable. For Sunderland, FPL lists Isidor as doubtful with a knock, 50% chance of playing, and Ballard and Mundle as injured.
Sunderland's Kevin Danso, by MFF's card count, is banned for this match only if his straight red card carries the three-match ban for serious foul play or violent conduct.
Head-to-head and prediction
The last six meetings have been tight: two Coventry wins, three draws and one Sunderland win. Coventry won 3-0 at home in March 2025 and 3-0 away in December 2023. The most recent two games were a 2-1 Sunderland win at Coventry on 9 May 2025 and a 1-1 draw at Sunderland four days later.
MFF's match model predicts a 1-0 Coventry City win. It gives Coventry a 37% chance of winning, a draw 28% and Sunderland 35%, which marks this as a close contest.
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