Sunderland's attacking threat compared to Leeds United, Sheff Utd and other Championship rivals

Sunderland have received some minor criticism after failing to win any of their last three fixtures at the Stadium of Light.

Since Wilson Isidor got the only goal of a narrow win against Portsmouth on the first Sunday of the new year, the Black Cats have fallen to a 2-1 defeat in an FA Cup third round defeat against Championship rivals Stoke City before only taking a point in league fixtures with Plymouth Argyle and Watford over the last fortnight. Despite those underwhelming results, Regis Le Bris’ men remain unbeaten on home soil this season - but the former Lorient head coach has admitted there have been shortcomings in his side’s recent performances at the Stadium of Light.

Speaking to The Echo, he said: "We lost a little bit our organisation. At home we want to be dominant and when we have to run after the ball for a long period, rather than focusing on our organisation, we tried to run more and created an imbalance and an advantage for the opponent. "We have different moments in the game and when its a backpass or the opposition goalkeeper starts [a move], we are man for man [in our marking] and I think this is very clear. Sometimes we struggled because they were powerful so they can play long balls and have the ability to maintain possession this way. This happened maybe three or four times during the first half. Our second half on this was much better.

"The second point was our zonal defence - because they have a strong back three plus one, and then many random positions. Our zonal defence was a little influenced by our man for man marking and we lost some positions. We were able to correct this during half time. We asked why our structure was different and why we made this choice [on the pitch], there was no reason - it was just the flow of the game. I don't know the reason exactly, their quality, maybe we are tired but at least we had this experience which is good for the future.”

Despite their recent home struggles, Sunderland actually remain proficient in creating chances at the Stadium of Light and their attacking performances in front of the Wearside faithful is backed up by the stats. The Black Cats have a higher xG (expected goals) than all but three of their 23 Championship rivals and have posted an average of 1.61 expected goals per game during home fixtures this season. That average is only bettered by QPR (1.63xG), Coventry City (1.78xG) and Leeds United (1.99xG) but sits above promotion rivals Middlesbrough (1.48xG), Burnley (1.43xG) and Sheffield United (1.49xG). But where do Sunderland sit in the Championship xG rankings for all games during the current season.

Who has the highest xG in the Championship this season?

24th: Plymouth Argyle - 1.05 23rd: Oxford United - 1.13 22nd: Preston North End - 1.13 21st: Blackburn Rovers - 1.16 20th: Stoke City - 1.19 19th: Derby County - 1.22 18th: Millwall - 1.25 17th: Norwich City - 1.26 16th: Luton Town - 1.27 15th: Swansea City - 1.27 14th: QPR - 1.28 13th: Portsmouth - 1.30 12th: Watford - 1.30 11th: Cardiff City - 1.33 10th: Sheffield United - 1.34 9th: Hull City - 1.34 8th: Burnley - 1.34 7th: Sheffield Wednesday - 1.35 6th: West Bromwich Albion - 1.35 5th: Bristol City - 1.38 4th: Coventry City - 1.45 3rd: Sunderland - 1.49 2nd: Middlesbrough - 1.53 1st: Leeds United - 1.79

Stats provided by FootyStats.org.

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