The Black Cats have suffered heavy defeats in each of their last two outings against Rotherham United and Sheffield Wednesday to spark some concern among supporters as to the number of goals being conceded by Lee Johnson’s side.
The Wearsiders have conceded 21 goals from their 15 League One games this season and find their goal difference some 13 behind the league’s top three teams.
So just why are Sunderland conceding more goals than their League One promotion rivals? Here at the Sunderland Echo we take a look into the stats behind each club by looking at the amount of shots being conceded by each team per game on average this season with the results likely to cause even further concern among Black Cats supporters.
All stats are courtesy of whoscored.com at the time of writing.
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1. Gillingham - 16.1 shots per game
According to WhoScored stats, Steve Evans' Gillingham give up the most shots per game on average. Picture by FRANK REID Photo: Frank Reid
2. Crewe Alexandra - 15.9 shots per game
The Black Cats hit Crewe Alexandra for four last month with the Railwaymen giving up 15.9 shots per game per whoscored. Picture by FRANK REID Photo: FRANK REID
3. Morecambe - 15.2 shots per game
Morecambe are adjusting to life in League One and have conceded the second most goals in the division behind Crewe (Photo by Charlotte Tattersall/Getty Images) Photo: Charlotte Tattersall
4. Sunderland - 14.1 shots per game
Alarmingly for the Black Cats they find themselves fourth highest in League One when it comes to the average number of shots conceded per game as per whoscored. Picture by FRANK REID. Photo: Frank Reid