Sideways Sammy

The process of Coventry City bouncing back from being denied a place back in the big time by the slenderest of margins begins now. With just a couple of starters from Wembley likely to do so for this opening game of the season, it is an almost completely fresh start for this team. The hope, however, is that the combination of a fresh spate of investment in the squad and the fact that Mark Robins is still in charge is enough to replicate, if not build upon, last year’s top-six finish.

If the plan is for the Sky Blues to ease their way into the new season, starting the campaign with a local derby game that hasn’t been played in over a decade surely alters that immediate priority. While this fixture against Leicester City is just as valuable in terms of the final league table as any other game, victory here would go a long way to easing any early pressure on this team to live up to what was achieved last year.

Expected Line-Up

As mentioned above, the starting XI for this opening day of the season looks set to be very different to the one that lined up against Luton Town 10 weeks ago. Only Ben Sheaf and Kyle McFadzean look to be certain starters from that XI for this game. Ben Wilson and Gustavo Hamer may also get into the team but that will depend on how Mark Robins assesses the former’s fitness and the latter’s willingness to play as speculation surrounds his future. Jake Bidwell is another potential Wembley starter who could do the same for this trip up the M69, although, new recruit, Jay Dasilva looks to be favoured at left wing-back.

If pre-season is anything to go by, Mark Robins is looking to deploy a 3-4-1-2 formation to begin the campaign with. The concern with that system had been a lack of available strikers beyond the starting two of Ellis Simms and Matt Godden, however, the pending (at the time of writing) club record addition of Haji Wright this week eases that situation. With Wright having signed from abroad just a few days before this fixture, it would be highly surprising if he started here, and it’s possible he may not international clearance in time to even feature on the bench.

Running through the rest of the team, who starts in goal will be something to keep an eye on. While Ben Wilson’s 20 clean sheets last season should have put him in an unassailable position, the combination of having picked up an injury in pre-season and new recruit, Brad Collins’ greater skill with the ball at his feet could see the latter preferred for not just this game but until he does something that would warrant being taken out of the side.

In front of the goalkeeper, a back three of Kyle McFadzean in the middle with Bobby Thomas on the right and Joel Latibeaudiere on the left seems likely. The biggest decision in that area is whether Luis Binks or Joel Latibeaudiere start on the left of the three, while Binks has the advantage of being naturally left-footed, Latibeaudiere has been involved with the team in pre-season longer and provides Championship experience, which should give him the edge for now.

At wing-back, Jay Dasilva looks to be favoured over Jake Bidwell on the left, leaving the right side that is the area of interest. The role should be Milan van Ewijk’s for the campaign, given his pedigree and the level of investment made in him, the question is whether he is ready to start, having only trained with the club for a week. Should Van Ewijk be out of contention for a starting place, it looks a call between the attacking option of Tatsuhiro Sakamoto – which would be a risk against what looks to be one of the strongest teams in the division – or the more cautious one of Josh Eccles. If it isn’t Van Ewijk, I would lean towards it being Eccles.

Finally, Ben Sheaf and Kasey Palmer look certain to start in midfield, the area of debate is who makes up the three. It should be Gustavo Hamer, but Mark Robins will have to assess how ready he is to play given uncertainty over his future, as well as only having just recovered from an injury over pre-season. If Hamer is not deemed capable of starting, Josh Eccles is probably the ideal partner for Ben Sheaf, but he could be needed at right wing-back.

Last Time We Met

A limp Coventry City side, destined for relegation under Andy Thorn, travelled to face a Leicester City team in the early stages of their push for the Premier League and beyond, under Nigel Pearson’s second stint in charge back in 2012. The Sky Blues were thoroughly outclassed by a Foxes outfit who barely got out of second gear to secure the victory. The home side could even afford to miss an early penalty, as the regular Sky Blues tormentor, Lloyd Dyer, darted past the away team’s defence to send in an effort that eventually found its way to David Nugent, putting Leicester ahead.

After a brief second-half rally from Coventry City, Leicester City sealed their three points, with Nugent setting up Jermaine Beckford for a goal. The Foxes could even afford to give away a penalty late on, which was missed by a certain Northern Irish midfielder who passed it horizontally, and go down to ten men. Such was the Sky Blues’ utter lack of threat, with both a manager and a set of players that were out of their depth in the Championship.

It’s fair to say that both clubs have been through an awful lot since then.

The Opposition

The Manager – Enzo Maresca

Premier League champions in 2016 and FA Cup winners as recently as 2021, to say that Leicester City weren’t expecting to be relegated last season is an understatement. What had been working so well at the King Power Stadium in terms of recruitment, the manager, and player performance unraveled in shocking simultaneous fashion last year, and now the Foxes are back in the Championship, looking for a reset to get them back on track. That is where former Manchester City assistant, Enzo Maresca, comes into the picture.

The hope is that Maresca can lead a stylistic revolution at Leicester City that will have them dancing back into the top-flight in a similar fashion to how Burnley did so under Vincent Kompany last year. However, Enzo Maresca has just one brief managerial posting to his name, at Parma in Serie B, and is managing a squad where a significant portion may have grander ideas than playing Championship football.

The least that can be said is that Enzo Maresca brings to the club right now a sense of unpredictability. While it is expected that he will play a heavy pressing, heavy possession style of football, just how capable he is of executing that with this squad is a mystery, especially with several players still eyeing moves away from the club. It makes the task of predicting what kind of team and starting formation Leicester will deploy for this opening fixture very difficult, even if there seems to be a strong sense of how they look to dictate the game to Coventry City.

Who To Look Out For?

Do I need to tell you that Jamie Vardy, Kelechi Iheanacho, and Wilfred Ndidi are good players? Well, I have now.

While Leicester City have lost some star players in Youri Tielemans, James Maddison, and Harvey Barnes over the summer, they still retain the core of a team that would be very comfortable in the Premier League. However, the challenge that new Foxes boss Enzo Maresca faces heading into the new campaign is fitting the most talented parts of the team together into an XI that can both win games and play the brand of football he wants to execute.

With key summer signing Conor Coady looking set to miss this game through injury, Leicester City look set to play a back four that will see former Sky Blues star Callum Doyle likely partnered with Wout Faes, who was a bit of a comedy figure last year in the Premier League, although Doyle has also been used a fair bit in preseason at left-back due to his ability to step into midfield, a la Manchester City’s full-backs. That could see the giant Australian Harry Souttar start, but there’s a sense that he is not good enough on the ball for Enzo Maresca’s liking.

In James Justin on the right and Victor Kristiansen on the left at full/wing-back, Leicester City look strong in that area, which has seen Portugal international Ricardo Pereira moved from right-back to central midfield in preseason, although he may feature in his preferred position for this game. Just who plays in the middle is a keen area of interest, with Wilfred Ndidi, Boubakary Soumare, and Dennis Praet all subject to interest elsewhere, which leaves new signing Harry Winks, the sturdy Hamza Choudhury, and the homegrown starlet Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall as the manager’s chief options in central midfield if the former three are not deemed avialable to play.

Further forward, Jamie Vardy, even if he has lost a touch of pace recently, Kelechi Iheanacho, and Patson Daka should all be far too good for Championship football. The concern is whether there is adequate cover for them in the event of injuries or any of them leaving the club. Pacey former Arsenal and Juventus youngster Stephy Mavididi has signed this week to ease that situation, but the Foxes still look a little short on attacking and final third creative options.

Where The Game Will Be Won Or Lost

This is the start of a new era for both teams, which could well level the playing field for this game unless one of these sides clicks earlier than expected. Leicester City will be strong favorites nonetheless, as they have players who could easily take the game away from Coventry City in a single moment. However, if the Sky Blues look to target the Foxes’ early lack of cohesion, that could be a route to victory.

Leicester is likely to look to build patiently from the back, which is a key area of both opportunity and risk for Coventry. If the Sky Blues press high, they could exploit any loose play as Leicester tries to establish their build-up patterns for pretty much the first time. However, that could also draw Coventry City up the pitch and leave Kyle McFadzean exposed one-on-one against intelligent, mobile attacking players, like Jamie Vardy, Kelechi Iheanacho, and Stephy Mavididi.

Furthermore, a key concern for Coventry City heading into this game is a lack of cohesion as a new defensive unit heads into its first game. As much as the Sky Blues may look to exploit any sloppiness at the back in their opposition, they will also be susceptible to misunderstandings at the back of their own.

With all the focus looking to be on how Leicester City executes a new style of play, Coventry City will also be looking to play a more possession-oriented brand of football too. This could be unwise when there is an opportunity to catch out one of the division’s strongest teams on the opening day with shock and awe pressing tactics, but Mark Robins may take the longer-term view of focusing on performance over the result, which could make the Sky Blues somewhat toothless as a new attacking unit tries to develop an understanding.