‘Pressure on’… Frank Lampard explains exactly why Sunderland vs Coventry City second leg will be ‘different’

Coventry City boss Frank Lampard has given a tactical prediction ahead of their clash with Sunderland.

The first leg of Coventry City vs Sunderland saw the Black Cats record a 2-1 victory at the CBS Arena after Wilson Isidor and Eliezer Mayenda bagged the crucial goals for the visitors.

From Coventry City’s perspective, it was a difficult tie for them, with Sunderland’s tactics nullifying much of the threat from Frank Lampard’s side.

Sunderland fans have praised the tactical set-up utilised by Le Bris. The Frenchman got it absolutely spot on to out-tactic Lampard by focusing on how to diminish the Sky Blues, especially to do so on away soil.

The set-up utilised by Sunderland certainly took Lampard by surprise, and that has sparked uncertainty ahead of the next game for the Coventry City boss.

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Coventry City boss Frank Lampard makes admission over Sunderland tactical uncertainty

Frank Lampard’s ability to turn around Coventry City’s season since replacing Mark Robins has been incredible, but the pressure will be on for them to turnover Sunderland at the Stadium of Light to keep their promotion hopes up.

With a one-goal deficit to chase, Lampard will likely have to deploy a tactic that will see his side take the game to Sunderland, but this could costly depending on if Le Bris looks to fight fire with fire, or alternatively instructs his side to sit back and defend vigilantly, something that the Coventry boss is yet to work out.

“It will be different in the second leg,” said Lampard, via The Northern Echo. “We don’t know how they’re going to play. Will they want to play so low at home, or will the fans want to drag them forward?

“They know they’re holding the lead, so it’s up to them what their strategy is, and we’ll have to be adaptable on the day to try to find a way, whatever they do.

“If they come out more, they’ll be a different type of threat, playing between the lines, probably with the two number eights, which is how they often play.

“They didn’t do that here, they sat back and waited to counter-attack. They sucked it up, and now they’ve got something to hold onto, but I’ve got no idea how they will approach the next game.

“They may take that approach again at home, we’ll have to see. I think they brought that approach here because of what they felt when they played against us in the league.

“I think they maybe looked at how we’ve been playing here at the CBS, and I understand that. Credit to them. But we’ll look at it for the second leg. If they come out a bit more, we’ll see what that means. There’s pressure on us both in different ways now.”

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Frank Lampard should expect Regis Le Bris to replicate first leg tactical set-up

Based on the previous meeting between the two sides in the first leg of the Championship play-offs, Lampard should expect Le Bris to utilise a similar set-up that will see Sunderland sit back and hope to hit Coventry City on the counter whenever possible.

Sunderland, as Lampard says, will be having to perform in front of a demanding Stadium of Light crowd, but that won’t stop Le Bris from losing sight of the objective, which will be to squeeze out all of Coventry’s attacking intent.

If Lampard’s side is to get any success at the Stadium of Light, it will require patience to work past a Sunderland side that will be set up in a low block, and that will no doubt look to frustrate the Sky Blues side, unless they wait until the inevitable opening in the defence becomes available for them to capitalise upon.