Sunderland’s previously impressive defence has come unstuck in the Championship in recent games.

But what should manager Tony Mowbray do to plug the gaps in his rearguard, and get the Black Cats’ season back on track?

We’ve crunched Sunderland’s defensive data to see what the stats say is Mowbray’s best backline ahead of Saturday’s trip to Luton Town

The Black Cats have switched systems frequently this season under both Alex Neil and Mowbray, switching between a five and four-man defence.

And injuries to his only two out-and-out senior strikers, Ross Stewart and Ellis Simms, have forced Mowbray to experiment more generally with his team formation and systems.

But the stats clearly show that Sunderland have been more successful when starting with a back five.

Having won 50 per cent of the games they have played with that defensive system, they have only one victory from four games played with four at the back.

But who does the data suggest should make up Mowbray’s starting defensive five?

Right wing-back: Lynden Gooch

Gooch has featured 14 times for Sunderland this season – all at wing-back or full-back.

The American international averages 1.5 tackles per game, the same as his main rival in that position, but his 0.8 interceptions per game give him the edge over the Northern Irishman.

Gooch also has a far better attacking output – averaging higher in every aspect of offensive statistics, albeit while playing considerably more minutes.

Right centre-back: Luke O’Nien

O’Nien’s stats in 2022-23 confirm he is well worth his place at right-sided centre-back.

Having made the third most appearances of any Sunderland player this season, O’Nien – most often played in midfield in previous seasons – has played at centre-back in all these games.

The 27-year-old’s stats confirm his willingness to put his body on the line, with a team-high 1.3 shots blocked per game, and identical data on successful defensive clearances to Danny Batth.

Central centre-back: Danny Batth

The experienced Batth has proved this season that he can still cut it at Championship level.

Having played for all but four minutes of Sunderland’s Championship games this season, Batth’s first-choice status in the defensive lynchpin role is underlined by his stat of 3.4 successful clearances per game.

Batth, at 6ft 3in, is also an essential presence in defending set pieces who has prevented Sunderland’s vulnerability at corners and free kicks from costing them even more heavily.

Left centre-back: Aji Alese

Since breaking into the first team, Alese has been an impressive addition to Sunderland’s starting XI.

The summer signing from West Ham defender has the highest average rating on whoscored.com of any Black Cats defender (7.24).

Alese also averages 1.6 interceptions and 2.7 clearances per game along with 1.8 tackles – again, the highest of any Sunderland defender.

For a centre-back, Alese also has a decent attacking output with 0.9 key passes and 0.6 shots per game.

Left wing-back: Dennis Cirkin

The combative 20-year-old is averaging 1.8 interceptions and 1.9 tackles across his 11 Championship games so far, and boasts the same number of tackles won per game as Gooch, at 1.5.

And Cirkin’s willingness to get on the front foot is underlined by his being Sunderland’s most fouled player this season – winning 2.1 free kicks per match.

Check out the piece that was published in the Sunderland Echo.