Sideways Sammy

It took a big effort to claim a point at home to Southampton and now Coventry City face a testing trip to a Leeds United side who are the only team in the division yet to lose a home game this season. The concentration and organisation levels shown in midweek highlight that the Sky Blues have the ability to take points off the best in this division, the challenge here is doing again so soon after such a big exertion a few days earlier.

Leeds United are an impressive attacking outlet who can play quick, dangerous football around the penalty area and have the physicality in midfield to impose themselves on opponents. This could well be the biggest test of Coventry City’s defensive organisation that they will face this season. Taking any kind of positive result from this game would be another positive marker of progress that this team has been putting together of late.

Expected Line-Up

After naming the same starting line-up for two games in a row, at least one or two changes are to be expected here given the short turnaround between this fixture and Wednesday night’s meeting with Southampton. While Mark Robins will want to avoid the mistake he made for the recent trip to Ipswich Town in rotating the team too heavily and robbing it of its key sources of impetus, don’t be surprised if some of the better performers of late are handed a respite here.

The most likely change looks to be Josh Eccles taking Jamie Allen’s place in central midfield. Not only did Eccles impress from the bench on Wednesday night, but his positional discipline and physical presence could well be valuable against a Leeds United side with a lot of dangerous attacking players buzzing around the penalty area. Another upshot of starting Eccles is that it frees Ben Sheaf up to take on a more creative role in midfield with some defensive cover alongside him.

While Kasey Palmer also impressed in a cameo role in midweek, that he is so soon back from injury makes his starting inclusion here unlikely. While that robs the team of a potentially valuable option to hand Callum O’Hare a rest to help him manage his respective recovery from injury, keeping both Palmer and O’Hare fit for as long as possible could make a huge difference further down the line this campaign. Don’t be surprised to see O’Hare taken out of the starting line-up here, with Jamie Allen taking up the advanced midfield role for at least the first 60-70 minutes.

In attack, Ellis Simms and Haji Wright are starting to develop a good understanding with Simms ploughing a furrow in the centre-forward role, allowing Wright the freedom to come in off the left wings and into shooting positions. While it might be a consideration here to play someone more defensively responsible on the left wing, Simms and Wright could well provide the team with the physicality and pace to threaten on the counter-attack here.

Last Time We Met

Coventry City were desperate for a win as they took on a managerless Leeds United at the Ricoh Arena back in 2012 as part of Andy Thorn’s doomed bid to keep the Sky Blues in the Championship. The home side needed some form of luck if they were to end a three-match losing streak, and that came when Alex Nimely was fouled by future Coventry player, Danny Pugh, for a penalty which Gary McSheffrey converted.

However, a limp Leeds side that were shuffling through the motions following the departure of Simon Grayson were quickly able to conjure an equaliser via Ross McCormack. Coventry City laboured for a way to find another goal, but Leeds were comfortably able to repel the home side’s efforts. That was until stoppage time, when another penalty provided Gary McSheffrey with a chance to lift the Sky Blues off the bottom of the table and breathe hope into the campaign, which he duly did.

In the absence of proper YouTube highlights, here’s some terrible mobile phone footage of that late penalty.

The Opposition

The Manager – Daniel Farke

The man who twice led Norwich City to promotion from this level in recent years, Daniel Farke’s impact at Leeds United in combination with Norwich’s collapse into mid-table Championship mediocrity since his departure is making him look an increasingly impressive presence in the dug-out. The German may have inherited a talented Leeds squad with the funds to further add to it, but relatively chaotic pre-season preparations involving his late appointment due to the finalisation of a takeover of the club, a host of wantaway stars leaving on loan deals across Europe, and players both leaving and being brought in right up until the transfer deadline meant the Whites started slowly and will only challenge for automatic promotion if Leicester City or Ipswich Town somehow collapse from unassailable positions in the top two.

Farke has brought in an attacking brand of football that Leeds United’s quick, nimble attacking players have really relished. When in full flow, Leeds can play some scintillating stuff with combinations between Dan James, Georginio Rutter and Crysencio Summerville in attack. Leeds have been guilty of being somewhat profligate for periods of this season, allowing results to slip away from them with one or two swift opposition counter-attacks, but they have generally been improving over the course of the campaign and look set to go from strength to strength as things ramp over the business end.

Who To Look Out For?

It is that combination between Dan James, Georginio Rutter and Crysencio Summerville that stands out about this Leeds United side. Summerville had looked a reasonably impressive wide forward in the Premier League last season but he has really shown his quality at a lower level this time out, demonstrating composure in his final product to go along with his apparent skill as a wide player. Wales international, James, had previously been seen as a pure pace merchant with little else to his game before Daniel Farke allowed him to focus on his technical qualities on the ball this season. Rutter had been a figure of fun after signing last January for around £30 million, barely playing and struggling when he did, however, he has started to justify that investment with his work-rate, technique and link play this season. While Rutter is far from the most prolific finisher, his creative ability from the number nine position is remarkable.

With those three buzzing in attack, that allows Joel Piroe to float into goalscoring positions from a withdrawn striker role. The former Swansea City man has yet to build consistent form in a Leeds United shirt, but he is a dangerous player to ignore as he can finish despite getting relatively few touches of the ball. The form of James, Rutter and Summerville has meant that last year’s starlet, Wilfried Gnonto, has barely been starting games but his dribbling ability can really change things up from the bench. In addition, Jaidon Anthony’s ability to cut inside and shoot from wide areas is another source of difference as a substitute.

In central midfield, the pairing of Ethan Ampadu and Glen Kamara provides the physicality that gives a platform for Leeds United’s dangerous attacking players while also offering quality on the ball in their own right to dominate games on a technical level. Further contributing to the team’s control of possession is youngster, Archie Gray, who has tended to be deployed at right-back but will spend most of the game stepping into a midfield position to join in with the creative efforts.

Where The Game Will Be Won Or Lost

Leeds United’s movement and technical ability between their front three has the potential to overwhelm Coventry City’s back-line if they cannot maintain the concentration levels they showed against Southampton in midweek. Bringing Josh Eccles into the side to act as a midfield anchor seems like a no-brainer here to help freshen and sturdy things up defensively but that still might not be enough here if the entire back-line doesn’t stay switched on.

The longer Coventry City can keep this game tight for, the better they have a chance of nicking something here. Leeds United will look to flood body forwards to attempt to overwhelm the Sky Blues, which provides the opportunity for Haji Wright, Ellis Simms, Tatsuhiro Sakamoto and Callum O’Hare (if he starts) to make things happen on the counter-attack. Notably, Wright could really take advantage of Archie Gray at right-back for Leeds being so narrow, leaving space out wide for the American to attack, there is also possibly an aerial mismatch between the two for Coventry to hit up via the combination of Sakamoto and Milan van Ewijk on the right.