Sideways Sammy

Two late goals on Wednesday night continued Coventry City’s terrible record in the League Cup under Mark Robins – that’s now two wins in nine games in the competition since the manager’s return to the club in 2017. While the defeat won’t define the Sky Blues’ season, it’s the second game in a row where the team has squandered a lead after missing a host of chances and conceding in the final 15 minutes, which is not a good habit to develop early in the campaign.

Getting a first win of the season in the team’s first outing at the CBS Arena would ease some of the early concern surrounding a Coventry side that is short of both fitness and cohesion. Doing so against a Middlesbrough team expected by many to be a promotion challenger would provide further reassurance that this team will be in shape to challenge at the right end of the table once the new signings gel.

Expected Line-Up

With this game coming so quickly off the back of Wednesday night’s League Cup tie, Mark Robins’ team selection here is likely to be dictated by who is fit, rather than necessarily who he sees as his strongest current starting XI. It is particularly unlikely that the team starting this game will be anything like the assortment that was on the pitch in the final minutes of the AFC Wimbledon game.

With Ben Wilson set to return in goal, the big question hanging over the defence is whether Bobby Thomas is fit enough to feature here after Mark Robins commented in midweek that the summer signing picked up a knock to rule him out of the trip to AFC Wimbledon. That could see Luis Binks make his league debut for Coventry City on the left of the defence, with Joel Latibeaudiere moved to the right and Kyle McFadzean returning to the center of the back three, but it would clearly be ideal if Thomas was available to add further physicality at the back.

At wing-back, Milan van Ewijk seems to still be short of full match fitness, which could see Josh Eccles get a run in the side on the right for the opening weeks of the campaign. On the left, Jay Dasilva should return to the starting XI for this game after a rest on Wednesday night.

In central midfield, it was surprising that Gustavo Hamer started on Wednesday night given that he was taken off during the Leicester City game due to fitness concerns. Recent results have highlighted that the midfielder is even more essential than most already thought he was, with the decision to play him for a significant amount of time in midweek seeming to leave the manager in a position where he’ll have to start Hamer again, knowing he won’t last the full 90 minutes.

In attack, Haji Wright looks set to be the striker to miss out from the starting line-up after playing the full game against AFC Wimbledon. That would leave Ellis Simms and Matt Godden, with both looking to sharpen up their finishing in order to hold onto their respective places in the side over the longer term.

Last Time We Met

Coventry City’s first home game of the season sees them up against the last team they played at the CBS Arena. In what was the middle of a three-fixture run against Middlesbrough, the two sides spent much of the 90 minutes trying to keep one another at arm’s length. With little to gain and a lot to lose in the first leg of a play-off semi-final, Boro spent much of the game concerned with restricting Viktor Gyokeres and the Sky Blues, while Coventry focused on keeping a clean sheet. Both teams achieved their objectives successfully.

It was Middlesbrough who came closest to gaining an advantage heading into the all-important second leg. Chuba Akpom spurned a glorious early chance after being sent through on goal by some excellent Boro build-up play, and Isaiah Jones saw an effort disallowed for offside just before half-time. The Sky Blues showed little intent or quality at the other end of the pitch, with Mark Robins seemingly content with a goalless draw. This approach proved justified a few days later when Coventry advanced to the play-off final with a 1-0 win on Teesside.

The Opposition

The Manager – Michael Carrick

After making such a big impact at Middlesbrough in his first six months as a manager, Michael Carrick now faces the challenges that come with expectation. The former Manchester United and England midfielder deployed an eye-catching quick-passing style to drag Boro up the table and into a comfortable top-six finish last year, but saw his approach nullified in the final weeks of the campaign, causing a promotion bid to fizzle out. Carrick has had to deal with rebuilding the team over the summer, following the departures of some key loan players.

A defeat on the opening day at home to Millwall felt like a rehash of some of the sucker punches Middlesbrough were dealt towards the back end of last season. For Michael Carrick, it further highlights the need to either come up with a Plan B or execute Plan A better. With one or two question marks starting to surround Carrick’s approach as a manager, grabbing a win against one of the teams that nullified his Boro side to the greatest extent last year would be timely.

Who To Look Out For?

With the thrust down the left side of Ryan Giles, the creativity of Aston Villa’s Aaron Ramsey, and the finishing of Cameron Archer for this Middlesbrough team all lost over the summer, the club haven’t yet demonstrated that they have either replaced them or found other effective ways of playing. For a team that had been viewed as the best of the non-Premier League relegated sides heading into this year, their recruitment has been rather circumspect, largely focused on adding players who will be good in the seasons to come, rather than necessarily this one.

The one area of improvement that Boro may have at the moment comes in central midfield, where Daniel Barlaser and Martin Payero add some serious quality on the ball from deep. Both players had already been at the club but hadn’t been able to get into the team until the start of this season, with Payero carted off to Boca Juniors on loan last year. Barlaser’s passing range and ability to earn himself time on the ball can be truly destructive, while Payero is another excellent ball-player who could shine if Michael Carrick grants him his trust.

In attack, Middlesbrough are hoping that having an array of threats will not only replace Cameron Archer but also possibly Chuba Akpom, who missed most of pre-season through injury and is being linked with moves away. The physical Finn, Marcus Forss, could have an important role to play this season as that reference point to build the attack around, allowing the pacey Isaiah Jones, Sammy Silvera, and Morgan Rogers to get into dangerous areas. In addition, the versatile Matt Crooks is another big, physical attacking player who can help Boro get their more exciting forwards into play.

At the back, the signing of Seny Dieng in goal provides Middlesbrough with not only a great shot-stopper at Championship level but also someone who is very comfortable distributing the ball with his feet, which is a big part of how Michael Carrick wants to play. In front of him, the duo of Dael Fry and Darragh Lenihan is an imposing central defensive pairing, which has seen Paddy McNair, who did a good job marking Viktor Gyokeres in the one-and-a-half of the three games these teams contested in May, shunted out to right-back in the absence of a better option in that role.

Where The Game Will Be Won Or Lost

In terms of personnel, these two teams are quite different from the ones that contested those games just three months ago. However, it will probably be a similar tactical match-up between Middlesbrough, a side that will look to dominate possession, and Coventry City, who will look to hit them on the counter-attack. The one wrinkle would be if Mark Robins decides he wants his Sky Blues side to play with more possession at home this season and sacrifices some defensive solidity to set the tone for the new campaign.

Just who Middlesbrough selects in midfield and attack looks to be the main area of mystery heading into this game. Michael Carrick’s preferred 4-2-3-1 could be abandoned in the wake of getting stung on the counter yet again on the opening day by Millwall, especially with Chuba Akpom seemingly not available to play the key role just behind the center-forward. Instead, a 4-3-3 could see Boro attempt to hoard the ball between Hayden Hackney, Martin Payero, and Daniel Barlaser, looking to feed a pacy front three of Isaiah Jones, Morgan Rogers, and Sammy Silvera.

That could see Coventry City’s midfield duo of Ben Sheaf and Gustavo Hamer overwhelmed if not aided by Kasey Palmer and the wing-backs. The problem with the wing-backs looking to join the midfield battle is that it then leaves the back three one-against-one versus three very quick Middlesbrough forwards, which would be particularly concerning for Kyle McFadzean.

The flip side of that approach from Middlesbrough is that it leaves them looking lightweight at the base of their midfield and in the final third. If the Sky Blues can soak up pressure, Middlesbrough could struggle to pick out options in the penalty area and will then be open to Gustavo Hamer and Kasey Palmer floating into dangerous areas on the counter-attack. The move to play Paddy McNair at right-back is an attempt to give Boro at least three players back to cover opponents hitting them on the break, but there should still be opportunities for Coventry to hurt their opponents this way if they can get that final pass right.