Sunderland may be sitting in second place in the Championship table, but they’ve got a major problem that Regis Le Bris needs to take care of immediately.
We are now more than a third of the way through the season, and Sunderland are still competing at the top of the tree in the Championship.
However, the Black Cats dropped points again at the weekend against Millwall, with an injury time equaliser spoiling the celebrations for Regis Le Bris’ side.
Sunderland had led since the tenth minute thanks to Aaron Connolly’s first Sunderland goal, but a missed opportunity from Milan Aleksic in the dying moments led to a decisive counter-attack from the home side and a share of the points at The Den.
Le Bris’ team stay right in contention at the summit of the league thanks to Sheffield United dropping points at Coventry City, but Sunderland will need to improve quickly if they are to stay there.
- READ MORE: Sunderland ‘real threat’ just sent one very clear message to Regis Le Bris in Millwall display
Sunderland invite pressure onto themselves
In the latest installment of The Roar on Twitter/X, James Copley discussed Sunderland’s tactical setup and picked out a major weakness that teams seem to be exposing this season.
“The way Le Bris plays, he’s happy for other teams to have the ball,” Copley said. “And that’s okay when Sunderland go a goal up. But when a team is then chasing the game, allowing them to have the ball is a risk.”
While not always an issue, Copley insists this Achilles heel is costing Sunderland valuable points when they’re in winning positions, adding: “We did it magnificently earlier in the season, but sometimes too much of the ball invites trouble and we will concede late goals. We need to see that improve, to have more control, have more of the ball.”
Of all the things we learned from Sunderland’s draw against Millwall, this late slip-up is definitely a pressing concern, and Le Bris needs to ensure it doesn’t become a familiar pattern.
- READ MORE: Regis Le Bris explains why Leo Hjelde was not in Sunderland squad despite travelling to Millwall
Sunderland need to find killer instinct
To be fair to Le Bris, the Sunderland manager is well aware his team need to score that all-important second goal to kill off the game.
Sunderland have one of the highest goal returns in the division, but they have only scored more than two goals on two occasions this season, against Sheffield Wednesday and Portsmouth.
| Position | Team | Played MP | Won W | Drawn D | Lost L | For GF | Against GA | Diff GD | Points Pts |
| 1 |  LeedsLeeds | 16 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 28 | 12 | 16 | 32 |
| 2 |  SunderlandSunderland | 16 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 26 | 12 | 14 | 32 |
| 3 |  Sheff UtdSheffield Utd | 16 | 10 | 4 | 2 | 21 | 9 | 12 | 32 |
| 4 |  BurnleyBurnley | 16 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 19 | 6 | 13 | 30 |
| 5 |  MiddlesbroughMiddlesbrough | 16 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 29 | 19 | 10 | 27 |
| 6 |  West BromWest Brom | 16 | 6 | 8 | 2 | 18 | 11 | 7 | 26 |
The best teams in the league, the ones who will no doubt go on to secure promotion this season, all have the killer instinct to put games to bed when they are in the ascendency.
We have seen Sunderland fail to do this twice now in the last two games, giving up winning positions to both Coventry and Millwall. In an unpredictable league where every point matters, Le Bris will be hoping that wastefulness and those dropped points don’t come back to haunt him come the end of the season.