The final Sky Bet Championship match between Christmas takes place on Wednesday evening when Coventry City play host to West Bromwich Albion in a clash which has something of a local derby feel to it at the CBS Arena.
Both of these teams have tasted large periods inside the bottom three this season but have pulled themselves clear enough of danger to be looking up rather than down. Unfortunately this one is not on TV anywhere so if you are not going to it you’ll need to rely on social media or score updates.
Coventry City
I think it is fair to say that the World Cup break came at a bad time for Coventry City. They went into it on a run of four straight wins and had completely left the lower end of the table behind them but they have stumbled out of the restart gate with a defeat and a draw which will feel like a defeat to their name since the return. They were 3-0 up on Swansea in that latter game at the weekend only for them to allow the Welsh side to come back for a 3-3 draw.
This is one of those games in hand that the Sky Blues picked up earlier in the season when they couldn’t play a home game. It was that lack of games which had them bottom of the table six weeks into the campaign but such has been their rise that if they are able to win this one then they will move into the top eight and could go into Christmas just a point outside the play-offs, which would cap off a brilliant turnaround to their season.
West Bromwich Albion
This season is going to be put into a number of parts when it is looked back on when it concludes as far as West Bromwich Albion are concerned. The first part of it will quickly be consigned to history which was the bit when Steve Bruce was clinging on for dear life with the club going nowhere, then there was the initial Carlos Corberan rebuild prior to the World Cup break and then the bit post the international hiatus where they will be fully judged.
I wrote a preview of a West Brom game shortly after Bruce got sacked that suggested West Brom would quickly come good and they head into this match off the back of five successive wins either side of the break for the World Cup. That month off has given Corberan the chance to further install his philosophies on the team and for them to get some key players back and I would expect a very good second part of the campaign for the Baggies.
Special Offer
Sign up for a Boylesports account and bet £10 to get up to £20 in free bets! Perfect offer for this Sky Bet Championship! Click the image below for this great offer! New accounts only. 18+ T&Cs apply. Gamble Aware.
Team News
Coventry City are likely to be without the injured Matt Godden and Kyle McFadzean for this match while Tyler Walker is another who has missed out recently. Liam Kelly and Todd Kane will be hoping for recalls if Mark Robins rotates his side.
Grady Diangana and Brandon Thomas-Asante both came off the bench to score in the win over Rotherham United at the weekend and they will be hoping for recalls. Semi Ajayi is likely to miss another game with injury.
Betting
The general consensus would be that this will be a low scoring match but Saturday might have showed us that it is worth backing the other way. Coventry are a very good side at home but there has to be a reaction to conceding that three goal lead, whether it is a positive one or a negative one. One issue that the home side are going to have here is West Bromwich Albion look like they are just clicking into a nice groove and could be in the mood to put any side to the sword.
Coventry aren’t going to back down though. They’ve never feared anyone under Mark Robins and play some nice football so we shouldn’t make the mistake of assuming that the visitors, whose fans are going to fill the away end and ensure there will be a good atmosphere here, will have it all their own way. The goal line for this one is 2.25 and when you think West Brom’s last four xG totals have been 1.66, 1.58, 1.26 and 2.67 and Coventry’s have been 1.32, 1.36, 0.98 and 1.70 there is enough to suggest the over is the way to go with half our stake coming back if there is only two goals.
Tips
Back Over 2.25 goals for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2022
