Sideways Sammy

It hasn’t been a good week for Coventry City, a resounding defeat on the road at Cardiff City followed by the news that the team’s only right-back, Milan van Ewijk, will be out injured for the long-term has left the club in a position of weakness only shortly after its highest-spending summer since the Premier League days. It’s just one win from the opening seven league games, which is only slightly better than last season’s terrible start – which had been attained at a fraction of the cost. Pressure is starting to build, not only for results but a sense that the investment made in this team will eventually pay off.

The opposition for this upcoming game are a Huddersfield Town side expected by many to struggle, but are currently one point ahead of the Sky Blues. The Terriers have shown spirit in recent weeks, before a surprise managerial change ahead of this match, with Neil Warnock replaced with Darren Moore. While Huddersfield are the form team heading into this game, this is the level of opponent that Coventry City need to be taking all three points off at home if this campaign isn’t to devolve into a scrap.

Expected Line-Up

The nature of the performance in mid-week against Cardiff City means just about no-one who started should feel confident that they will do so in this game, with Matt Godden probably the only exception. However, the injury to Milan van Ewijk means that finding someone to fill in that role until January could well take priority over a potential overhaul to the shape and style of the team.

With Tatsuhiro Sakamoto unlikely to be a starting option in the position given Mark Robins’ clear annoyance at his role in Cardiff City’s crucial second goal last Tuesday, the choice looks to be between Josh Eccles and Joel Latibeaudiere. Eccles is probably the manager’s preference for the position, but that would leave the midfield options limited to Liam Kelly and Yasin Ayari for this game – with Jamie Allen not fully fit. Joel Latibeaudiere starting at wing-back would make more sense given that there are greater numbers at cover the centre-back position, but there has been no indication yet that Robins sees him as an option for the role.

A move to a back four could well be too drastic of a change than Mark Robins is comfortable with, especially as there has been little indication yet that he is even willing to move from a 3-4-1-2 shape. Furthermore, a switch to a back four would likely involve dropping the manager’s most trusted performer, Kyle McFadzean, due to his lack of pace, which probably isn’t going to happen given the pressure mounting on this team. Instead, Liam Kitching and Bobby Thomas could well both come into the team for this game, adding more physical presence than Luis Binks and Joel Latibeaudiere have in those wide centre-back positions.

Further forward, Mark Robins’ chief concern is how to inject creativity into the team given the current injury situation. Starting Yasin Ayari and Tatsuhiro Sakamoto together should be a priority, but it’s not clear that the manager trusts Ayari to start in a midfield two or sees Sakamoto as a viable option at number ten. That could see just one of the two start, unless there is a change to the system to accommodate the two of them being in the same starting line-up.

Last Time We Met

It was during the sequence of games in late February-March of last season where Viktor Gyokeres and Gustavo Hamer dragged the team from mid-table anonymity to play-off contention when Coventry City made the visit to a struggling Huddersfield Town side. There wasn’t a lot in the game, until a slip from the Terriers’ Michal Helik in defence in the first-half allowed Gyokeres to run through on goal and finish one-on-one in a manner who didn’t really do enough during his time at the club.

With the lead at half-time, that allowed the Sky Blues to sit back and wait for opportunities to kill the game off. Ten minutes after the re-start, Gustavo Hamer peeled off the back of a Huddersfield Town defender at the edge of the penalty area to finish from a narrow angle at the near post to make the lead comfortable. It was then three, with Hamer winning the ball in midfield and sliding Gyokeres through to finish. The cherry on the cake then came when Gyokeres teased the opposing back-line from a simple ball up the pitch and to tee up Tyler Walker for his only goal of the campaign.

The Opposition

The Manager – Darren Moore

There looked to be little indication that Neil Warnock was set to leave Huddersfield Town until just over a week ago, when it was suddenly announced that the club had a new manager lined up. That the new man has proved to be Darren Moore makes it hard to see what the urgency was, with the former Sheffield Wednesday manager quite a similar style of leader to Warnock, albeit a quarter of a century his junior. Like Warnock, Moore is primarily a motivator in the dug-out but can be pretty naïve tactically. At least it will mean that the players won’t have to adapt to a radically different style of football to what is currently working.

Moore takes over a Huddersfield Town side that started the campaign poorly, largely due to a lack of investment in the squad over the summer despite a recent takeover, but have come to life over the past couple of weeks following a reset after the transfer window closed. The Terriers are among the weaker-looking squads in the division, on paper, but showed under Neil Warnock that they can dig in and fight for results when the pressure is on, which could well suit Darren Moore’s style too.

Who To Look Out For?

Huddersfield Town looked to have settled into a formula under Neil Warnock of keeping it tight, making games scrappy and then hurting teams on the counter through their quick wide-men. Josh Koroma and Sorba Thomas are those aforementioned quick wide-men, with Koroma generally looking to burst through over the shoulder of opposing defenders while Thomas combines his pace with excellent delivery from both open play and set-pieces. In addition, loan signing, Delano Burgzorg, provides the option to inject some pace from the bench later on in games.

With Huddersfield Town lacking a centre-forward of significant quality or presence in the penalty area, instead, their midfield plays an important role in supporting those wide players with late runs into the box. Jack Rudoni is the team’s chief threat from the centre of the pitch, combining energy levels with some excellent skill to give him an advantage in tight areas. In addition, academy graduate, Brahima Diarra, is a raw talent who can be dangerous with his technical ability around the penalty area. Furthermore, the energetic Ben Wiles, formerly of Rotherham United, is another high energy midfield player.

At the back, the emphasis under Neil Warnock has been to keep it simple, defend the penalty box and get the ball quickly into those quick wide players. It will be interesting to see whether Darren Moore persists with Matty Pearson, a big, physical centre-back, at right-back which feels an area where the new man might change things up. With Michal Helik another warrior of a defender, that has allowed the more technical, Yuta Nakayama, to come into the defence to help pick out those attacking players with more precision. In goal, Lee Nicholls is an excellent shot-stopper who can make big saves when that back-line is breached.

Where The Game Will Be Won Or Lost

Had Neil Warnock still been in charge, it would have been clear what to expect from Huddersfield Town in this game – sit deep, allow Coventry City to have the ball, play forward quickly get the wide players in behind. The appointment of Darren Moore potentially makes the Terriers slightly harder to predict, but the new man will probably want to stick with what is working, especially given that there aren’t many options available to him to change things up.

The task for Coventry City in this game will be in making extended spells of possession into a threat on goal and avoiding being stung on the break. As for the first challenge, starting Yasin Ayari and Tatsuhiro Sakamoto should help, but they will need players around and ahead of them making runs to stretch the opposition, otherwise the Sky Blues could become pretty predictable and easy to shut down.

Avoiding the threat on the counter is possibly the bigger concern, given that this is a new back-line that has yet to settle and develop the understanding of how to cover for one another. While starting Bobby Thomas and Liam Kitching could leverage their time together at Barnsley to ease that, they are both centre-backs that like to step forward into midfield, which could leave the channels open to balls over the top into Huddersfield’s wide players, leaving Kyle McFadzean exposed to pace. As much as there is focus on Coventry City’s attacking play after recent displays, this game could be decided by the team’s defensive organisation which will dictate whether there will be the platform further forward to take control and settle into a rhythm.