Coventry City welcome Stoke City to Coventry Building Society Arena in a crunch rearranged midweek Sky Bet Championship clash.
Victory would see Coventry leapfrog Stoke into ninth in the table, although a win by two goals or more plus defeat for Nottingham Forest elsewhere could lift Mark Robins’ Sky Blues up to eighth.
Stoke meanwhile could go eighth themselves with a win if Forest lose elsewhere.
Team News
Ian Maatsen remains ruled out for Coventry with a hamstring injury.
Stoke manager – Michael O’Neill could rotate his squad after Saturday’s defeat against Fulham, with Mario Vrancic and Steven Fletcher looking for a start in this match.
Josef Bursik (quad), Romaine Sawyers (muscle), Jordan Thompson, Harry Souttar (both knee) and Nick Powell (leg) are absent.
Stat Attack
- Coventry have lost just one of their last five league meetings against Stoke (W2, D2, L1).
- Stoke are unbeaten in their five Championship away matches against Coventry (W2, D3), with both wins coming in 2-1 results whilst the three draws all finished goalless.
- Both teams have scored in four of their last five meetings in all competitions.
- Coventry have claimed just one point from their last four home league matches (D1, L3).
- Stoke have kept clean sheets in four of their last five away matches (W4, L1).
Prediction
Having won just one of their last eight league matches, this is a huge must-win for Coventry if they’re to stay in the play-off race, yet they’ve been playing well but have unfortunately failed to break their rut somehow which is a huge concern especially in defence.
Stoke meanwhile were fearless against Fulham on Saturday despite the Cottagers’ free-scoring form and outplaying of the Potters, which is a huge positive that they must bring into this game although defending has been a weak point for both teams.
On that note, this game is crucial for the play-off dreams for both clubs so I am expecting a scrappy battle here but if Stoke start like they did on Saturday but defend better, I can see them winning this fight.
Prediction: Coventry 1-2 Stoke
Result: Coventry 1-0 Stoke