Thomas is averaging 1.19 shots per 90 in 2024/25 for Coventry. This improves to 1.58 per 90 when only looking at Coventry home matches across the season.

He is a big threat from set pieces, this is an obvious plus, but, those that remember Thomas’ last minute goal at Stoke a few weeks ago will remember that Thomas is also very useful on the ground in terms of getting his shots away.

We expect Coventry to do well in this home leg, and they are favourites in the market for most corners, so we can be hopeful of Thomas getting some ammunition to fire.

He has taken at least one shot in 15 of his 19 starts at home this season, and when he starts he usually plays the full 90 minutes.

Rudoni has really rounded into form over the last few weeks under Frank Lampard and looks to be one of Coventry’s biggest goal threats.

He took four shots on final day, scoring twice, exactly when his team needed him. This made his seasonal average end up at 1.92 shots per 90, again, this does rise to 2.23 per 90 when only considering Coventry home matches.

Rudoni has had at least one shot in 20 of his 21 starts at home, hitting the 2+ target in 14 of his 21 home starts.

With so much being on the line in this match one would expect Rudoni to be one of the key players to step up for Coventry and repeat his recent shooting feats.

The Sunderland midfield general has a big hand in controlling lots of different phases for Sunderland, both in and out of possession.

He is very consistent in the number of fouls that he commits as well. He is averaging 0.97 fouls per 90, so almost exactly one per game, but his last ten games sees Neil running at 1.22 fouls per 90.

This is because he has committed at least one foul in eight of his last nine starts, ten fouls in total. With Coventry’s strength in the midfield with Ben Sheaf, Matt Grimes, and Jack Rudoni, it is likely that Neil will have to put some pressure on his opponents to make a difference in the game.

Grimes was a surprise January signing for Coventry from Swansea, and, of course, his fouls were not a key reason for his signing, but his record since signing make Grimes an enticing bet for one foul in this first leg.

He has averaged 0.66 fouls per 90 in a Coventry shirt, but, again, it is his recent record which makes this bet seem like good value. His last four starts of the regular season has seen him go 2 (most recent), 2, 1, 1 in fouls committed.

Five of Grimes’ 8 home starts have seen him make at least one foul, and pick up three yellow cards as well.

Hume’s tackle stats are a wonder to behold. There have been multiple matches in the season in which Hume has committed to 5 or more tackles.

He is currently averaging 2.75 tackles per 90 in the season overall, 2.89 when only factoring in Sunderland’s away matches. Only taking Sunderland’s last 10 matches into account, Hume actually averages almost four tackles per 90, 3.84, with a run of 1 (most recent), 3, 5, 4, 6, 1, 6, and 5.

This means that Hume has hit this target for this bet in six of his last eight matches. Hume is likely to be up against Haji Wright in this match, so that is a real challenge for Hume.

It was a surprise to see that Coventry weren’t strong favourites in this market.

Whilst the Sky Blues aren’t the most dominant team in the league in the corners, they do have a decent differential between themselves and their opponents at home. Coventry average 6.57 corners per 90 and concede 3.96 per 90 to their opponents, a differential of over 2.5.

Sunderland also run a positive differential over the course of the season as a whole, but not a strong one. Narrowing this down to Sunderland’s away matches, they run at a deficit, though not a big one, 4.7 corners earned to 5.26 conceded.

This wasn’t a good bet for the majority of the season, but Trai Hume has found his shooting boots in recent weeks.

His seasonal average in the Championship stands at 0.69 shots per 90, which is perfectly fine for this price for a shot. However, when you narrow down the criteria to the last 20 matches, Hume’s average is 0.94 shots per 90, in the last 10 matches this rises still further to 1.11. This makes his price for this match look some value.

What has changed? Hume has been on some attacking free-kicks and indeed scored from one as well, he also has a goal from open play recently. In all he has taken shots in five of the last six matches he has played.

We know coming into this that Sunderland are in poor form. It has been well documented that they secured their play-off position very early into the season, and have not actually been able to re-establish that form in the final part of the season.

However, there really has been a malaise in performances as well as results. Sunderland have lost their last five, but within that they have only generated 1 xG of chances in one of those matches. They haven't managed to create 1 xG in six of their last seven away matches either.

Coventry have not had that issue. It has been eight home matches since they failed to generate at least 1 xG, they average 1.79 xG overall this season and 1.99 over their last ten home matches.

Home advantage could be crucial in the tie so Coventry will be looking to get themselves ahead before travelling to the Stadium of Light.