Sideways Sammy

A win in the FA Cup last week maintains the sense of forward momentum for Coventry City at the start of the year and heading into one of the most difficult, and high profile, fixtures of the season. The Sky Blues really could not be playing Leicester City at a better time, while the Foxes are also in excellent form and appear to champions-elect at even this early stage, Coventry have found a settled line-up, effective combinations through the team and are brimming with the confidence that comes with form.

Of course, Leicester are of a level of quality where they should be able to beat Coventry City regardless of relative form, but Mark Robins’ side can enter this fixture feeling like they have their best possible hand to play. A win here really would light the Sky Blue touch paper for the season, signalling to the rest of the division that this team can beat the best it has to offer. Even forgetting that this is a derby game – it has its own Wikipedia page, so it must be – this could well be a season-defining moment for the Sky Blues.

Expected Line-Up

There is a clear sense of what Coventry City’s strongest XI is right now, with the return of Liam Kitching from suspension having been timed to perfection ahead of this fixture. The one wrinkle, however, appears to be surrounding the fitness of one of the key cogs in the system, Haji Wright, who was absent from the squad entirely from last week’s FA Cup game, with Mark Robins ranking the American forward’s availability for this game as doubtful.

As ever with the Coventry boss, any injury news that comes directly from his mouth should be taken with a pinch of salt, with Mark Robins having kept a close guard over such information in order to keep opponents guessing. Taking it at face value, Haji Wright being unavailable is a huge blow, not only for the threat he provides from the left wing but also because of the lack of a direct replacement for him in the squad. As effective as Callum O’Hare and Kasey Palmer were in floating between the left and centre last week against a League One side, the concern is it may be hard to repeat the trick against a far greater standard of opponent. Let’s hope that ‘doubtful’ in Mark Robins’ words means ‘will play but I don’t want Leicester City to know that yet’.

The other big decision is whether Liam Kitching reclaims his place at left-sided centre-back after returning from suspension. While Luis Binks may feel like he’s done little to warrant being dropped, Kitching seems to have a greater intangible quality of assurance to his presence in defence that feels especially important heading into such a big game.

New signing, Victor Torp, is unlikely to be involved in this game having gone five weeks without a game due to the end of the Norwegian league season at the start of December. That means that Josh Eccles has the opportunity over the next few weeks to nail down that second central midfield spot alongside Ben Sheaf. One other thing to watch out for ahead of the teamsheets being announced for this game is whether Milan van Ewijk is fit, after being taken off as hopefully a precautionary measure at half-time against Oxford United last time out.

Last Time We Met

Facing a Leicester City side in the immediate aftermath of Premier League relegation on the opening day of the season looked like the perfect opportunity for Coventry City to take points off what would surely be one of the strongest teams in the division. Of course, the Sky Blues themselves were having to adjust to their own psychological blow – that of missing out on promotion via a penalty shoot-out just months prior – as well as a heavy summer squad turnover, which contributed to a first-half low on chances, with the Foxes hoarding possession at the King Power Stadium.

Coventry seemed to scent blood towards the end of the opening 45, taking that into a second-half where Ellis Simms spurned a glorious one-on-one opening early on, before Kyle McFadzean nodded home a Gustavo Hamer corner-kick right in front of a joyous away end. It looked like getting better, as the Sky Blues found joy against a ponderous and frail Leicester back-line on the break time and again, with Matt Godden spurning two glorious chances to seal the win, aided by a highly encouraging Haji Wright debut cameo later on.

Much like in a horror movie, failing to make sure the monster was fully dead ensured that they would come back to life with a vengeance. Leicester City finally showed that Premier League quality later on, with Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall taking pretty much the only two chances the home side managed to create to turn what should have been three points for Coventry City into zero.

The Opposition

The Manager – Enzo Maresca

In looked a pretty clear attempt to emulate Burnley’s success in the Championship last season by appointing a highly-rated coach out of the Manchester City set-up, Enzo Maresca has replicated at the King Power Stadium exactly what Vincent Kompany did at Turf Moor last season in completely dominating the second-tier and looking set to claim a record points total at this level. Like Kompany and Burnley, the true test of Maresca and Leicester’s post-relegation rebuild will come in the top-flight next season and while the Foxes have a stronger squad than the Clarets to take up to that level, it will be almost impossible to judge what they will be able to do based on the evidence of cruising past teams week-in, week-out in the Championship this year.

It is hard to argue that Enzo Maresca and Leicester City are not doing exactly what was expected of them at this level, they’re top of the table, clear by ten points, top scorers, best defence, most possession, but they have occasionally looked fallible and been bailed out on several occasions by high-quality individuals making something out of nothing. Leicester seem to play at a walking pace for the majority of games under Maresca, rarely seeming to care about moving the ball into the final third as they look to wear opponents into the ground to allow their individual quality to show. It has proven a highly-successful formula, but not an infallible one.

Who To Look Out For?

The quality in this Leicester City side runs from back to front, with contributors from across the pitch able to step up with key moments to maintain the momentum of their season. Whether it’s Jamie Vardy, Kelechi Iheanacho, Tom Cannon or Patson Daka up front, Abdul Fatawu and Stephy Mavididi out wide, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall from midfield, even the likes of Ricardo Pereira and James Justin from full-back, Leicester are packed with so many match-winners it would be foolish to build a game-plan based around stopping one or two of them.

With the team’s focus on dominating possession and moving the ball around the back in a very patient, deliberate manner, goalkeeper Mads Hermansen is the first key cog in the system with his distribution and ability to sweep up danger by coming off his line early. Wout Faes and Jannick Vestergaard in central defence are two physically dominant centre-backs who have looked significantly more comfortable in the Championship than they did in the top-flight, aiding the team’s metronomic rhythm on the ball. On top of that, James Justin and Ricardo Pereira have proven very adept at stepping into midfield from full-back to maintain circulation of possession, with Harry Winks at the base of midfield orchestrating things in the middle of the park.

That platform is what allows Leicester City’s match-winners get into the game, but it’s also aided by how well Stephy Mavididi and Abdul Fatawu stretch the play out wide, tending to stick to the touch-line, before driving forward with pace and skill to commit opposing defenders and open space up in the centre of the pitch. That is what has allowed Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall to shine with his ability to pick up dangerous positions around the penalty area. Dewsbury-Hall has generally been joined in those midfield forward raids by Wilfred Ndidi, but the Nigerian is away at the African Cup of Nations (AFCON), instead, Cesare Casadei, a star talent on Chelsea’s books, now has the opportunity to demonstrate his quality.

At centre-forward, Enzo Maresca has yet to settle on a first-choice player despite now being over half-way into the season. Jamie Vardy should be that main man but has struggled for consistency and fitness this season, Kelechi Iheanacho has looked a better fit due to his ability to link play but he, and other strike option, Patson Daka, will miss this game due to AFCON. That leaves Tom Cannon, who shone on loan at Preston North End last season for his finishing ability and nuisance factor in attack, who has stepped up with some useful goals recently after missing the first portion of the season with injury.

Where The Game Will Be Won Or Lost

Leicester City are a team of a quality that it might not matter that much what Coventry City do if their star players perform at their best and produce individual moments that take the game away from the Sky Blues. However, the home side can give themselves the best possible chance of success by sticking to a disciplined game-plan and looking to pinpoint some of the same weaknesses they exploited last time out when they came so close to beating them back in August.

Most notably, Leicester City’s centre-backs are pretty slow, which provides opportunities on the counter-attack. The difficulty is targeting Wout Faes and Jannik Vestergaard in one-against-one battles because Leicester have so much of the ball, press high up the pitch and have a goalkeeper behind those centre-backs, in Mads Hermansen, who can sweep up balls played over the top. It makes that first ball out of the defence so important for Coventry City, and Ellis Simms is likely going to have to put in a big shift against two very physical centre-backs to create the room in attack to get the attacking midfielders into positions where they can run at the Leicester back-line. Simms’ efforts could be aided by Callum O’Hare, if he can get around the back of Leicester’s possession-focused midfield duo of Harry Winks and Cesare Casadei.

The other side to this game will be in how Coventry City cope with having the minority of possession at home, with what looks to be a sell-out crowd potentially getting frustrated at a lack of impetus. As was seen in the game against Southampton recently, even a relatively small CBS Arena crowd can become fidgety if the Sky Blues go through long periods not just without the ball but without appearing to be trying to win it back. The danger of playing to the fans is that if Coventry look to force the issue against Leicester, they can just ping the ball out to the pacey Stephy Mavididi and Abdul Fatawu, who will stay high and wide, to run in behind. Milan van Ewijk’s pace in the Coventry City back-line may help mitigate that, but patience will be crucial for both players and fans in this game.