There is a huge match in the Sky Bet Championship on Thursday evening as the two sides either side of the relegation line in the division battle it out at the New York Stadium as Rotherham United host Coventry City.
The equation for this one is pretty simple. If Rotherham win they could out of the bottom three and Coventry will fill their place. If Coventry win they will move six points clear of the drop although Rotherham will still have two matches in hand. The stakes here are huge.
Where to watch
The game is live on TV and will be shown in full on the Sky Sports Football channel. The build up to the game begins at 6.30pm with the kick off at 7pm.
Rotherham United
This has been a difficult season for Rotherham United on and off the field and as such they are having to play every other day this week to catch up with games. They have battled hard for results on the field while for plenty of the season they have had their issues with Covid-19, twice having to postpone chunks of matches while they dealt with the pandemic. It all leaves them needing to win plenty of football matches between now and the end of the season if they are to avoid an immediate return to League One.
That quest started well on Tuesday night when they came from behind to beat a QPR side who weren’t playing for anything, but you sense this one will be a much harder battle both because Coventry have plenty to play for and also that the match comes about after less and 48hrs recovery time. Rotherham don’t have the biggest squad which doesn’t help but they can take confidence from their last two performances.
Coventry City
It has been a bit of a topsy-turvy first season back in the Championship for Coventry City as well, although where they have come from in such a short space of time I guess that was always going to be the case. A win here would give them every chance of staying up and from there they will be able to build again in the summer and look to push on and establish themselves fully at this level as Barnsley and Luton Town have done this term.
The Sky Blues are on a weird run of losing every other match that they play at the minute, so their supporters might actually be pleased to know that having lost on Saturday, if the sequence continues then they are going to avoid defeat here. That will require a significant improvement on their away form though, which as I highlighted on Saturday is the worst in the division. They arrive here having taken just two points from the last eight matches.
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Team News
Rotherham United boss Paul Warne will have to freshen his side up here after the short turnaround. Richard Wood and Matt Smith are likely to come into the side, as is Lewis Wing, but Freddie Ladapo picked up a knock on Tuesday which could keep him out here.
Josh Pask was stretchered off with a head injury on Saturday so he is not going to be available for the trip to the New York Stadium. Mark Robins is hopeful that Dominic Hyam will be fit to return to the side though.
Betting
I’ve got to think that with this being such a huge match for both sides that we are going to see a pretty tense affair, one which neither will want to lose and might not be prepared to risk losing in the search of winning. A draw doesn’t kill either side it has to be said. It will move Coventry level on points with Derby while Rotherham would remain three points off the drop but have a couple of games in hand of both Coventry and Derby.
Prior to their win over QPR on Tuesday night, Rotherham had scored one goal in their previous four away matches while Coventry have only scored 14 goals on their travels all season. Often when poor teams go at it statistics go out the window and they combine for a high scoring match. I’m not so sure there is enough of a must win element on this one for that to happen though so the best bet as far as I’m concerned is under 2.5 goals.
Tips
WON – Back Under 2.5 goals for a 3/10 stake at 1.73 with Bet365
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