Sideways Sammy

This Coventry City side desperately needs a spark to get its season going. That moment should have come last week, with a 1-0 lead over Tottenham Hotspur with two minutes left, only for two late goals conceded and a subsequent lifeless display at home to Swansea City, to instead raise some serious questions of this team’s mettle. With six league games gone, some of the excuses of fatigue and a lack of familiarity are starting to wear thin.

A trip to Leeds United is hardly the most inviting place for a team short on both cohesion and luck to look to turn things around. Leeds have only lost four times at Elland Road since the start of last season and are starting to gather momentum. An alternative way of looking at it is that a positive result here would surely prove a vital boost to this Coventry City side’s confidence.

Expected Line-Up

Mark Robins made the mistake last time out of sticking with a team that had run themselves into the ground the midweek prior against Tottenham Hotspur, with three games over the space of the next seven days, he is unlikely to replicate that error. There may be scope for change in just about every area of the team after the display last time out against Swansea City, but the manager has to be careful overreacting.

The return of Joel Latibeaudiere to fitness offers Mark Robins some flexibility as to where to tighten things up, if the template here is last year’s backs-to-wall point at Elland Road. While Latibeaudiere put in what was probably his only good midfield performance in that game, the Jamaica international may be likelier to start at right-back so that Milan van Ewijk can be pushed forward to help contain Leeds’ dangerous left-side combination of Junior Firpo and Largie Ramazani.

In midfield, there is likely to remain a level of reluctance in handing Ben Sheaf a first start of the season given that his recovery from his pre-season injury looks to be a prolonged one. With Jamie Allen looking to be on the injury list, that pretty much leaves Victor Torp and Josh Eccles as the only viable midfield pairing. It may be an idea to drop Jack Rudoni a little deeper to help out in that area.

One of the primary concerns in this game will be the team’s defending from wide areas. With Brandon Thomas-Asante failing to cover himself in glory for Swansea City’s killer second goal last week, that makes the decision to push Milan van Ewijk further forward even easier – although, Tatsuhiro Sakamoto is a diligent wide defender if Mark Robins wants to be more positive. While Haji Wright is also a concern in terms of what he provides the team off-the-ball, Van Ewijk or Sakamoto on the other side may balance things out enough to make it worth starting the American in order to carry a threat on the counter.

The remaining key decision is between Luis Binks and Liam Kitching at left-sided centre-back. While both have similar advantages and disadvantages, Kitching’s greater experience may see him get the edge for both this game and the time being.

Last Time We Met

Coventry City have only won one league game since beating Leeds United at the CBS Arena back in April, when the play-offs looked to still be in reach last season. In a spirited, competitive performance, the Sky Blues took a first-half lead when Bobby Thomas and Liam Kitching did well to keep the ball alive from a corner-kick, handing Ellis Simms the chance to nod in from close range against a Leeds United side that were unable to get into much of a rhythm.

It was two in the second-half, when Josh Eccles played a sumptuous ball in behind the Leeds United defence, which saw Haji Wright angle it into the back of the net with an impressive improvised finish that probably hasn’t really been talked about enough since. Leeds belatedly kicked into life as the game wore on, with Georginio Rutter bundling through the Sky Blues’ back-line, with Joel Piroe the fastest to react to a bouncing ball in the box from the chaos that caused. It was Piroe who could have levelled the scores, firing at Brad Collins when another loose ball came his way in space from a set-piece.

The Opposition

The Manager – Daniel Farke

Highly unfortunate not to get Leeds United promoted last season, falling narrowly behind Leicester City and Ipswich Town, who set an almost unprecedented pace at the top of the Championship table, and then defeated in the play-off final by a single goal to Southampton. Daniel Farke has had to deal with losing arguably his three best players over the summer, in Archie Gray, Crysencio Summerville and Georginio Rutter, which has robbed Leeds of some early momentum, although, there are already signs that the manager has figured out a team ready to move into the automatic promotion places.

Farke likes to get his teams dominating matches, looking for ways to isolate his talented individual attacking players against opponents in order to wear down packed defences and win games through moments of supreme skill. It has occasionally come unstuck against teams that have been able to absorb the pressure and then sting Leeds United on the counter, exposing something of a lack of a Plan B from Farke, but when you have arguably the most talented squad in the division, his style wins far more games than it loses.

Who To Look Out For?

Leeds United may have lost the aforementioned Gray, Summerville and Rutter, but they have replaced them well in the forms of Jayden Bogle at right-back, Ao Tanaka in midfield, Largie Ramazani and Manor Solomon out wide, plus the nippy attacking midfielder, Brendan Aaronson, returning from a loan spell in the Bundesliga last season. Along with others who were with the club last season, Leeds look to have more strength in depth than they did last year.

It is those wide options that remain the most impressive about this Leeds United side. The skilful dribbler Wilfried Gnonto and rapid Dan James remain on the books – although, the latter is injured – and are both players proven to be effective at a level higher than the Championship. The two new additions, Solomon and Ramazani, are arguably also Premier League quality, with Solomon having enjoyed an impressive spell with Fulham 18 months ago, scoring a series of goals from cutting inside to tempt Tottenham Hotspur into making a somewhat needless move for him. Ramazani, meanwhile, stood out for Almeria in a relegation battle in La Liga last season and offers explosive pace and strength, on top of individual dribbling ability.

Leeds United are able to dominate games largely due to the quality on the ball of Ethan Ampadu in defensive midfield and Joe Rodon at centre-back. The duo act as the team’s hub, recycling possession at the back to play around the press of opponents. Play is further stretched by Jayden Bogle at right-back and Junior Firpo at left-back, with the latter capable of finding quality with deliveries into the box. Defensive midfielder, Ilia Gruev and powerful centre-back, Pascal Struijk, act as the enforcers to keep Leeds on top.

Leeds have a number of useful strike options but haven’t quite figured out their preferred one yet. Joel Piroe is theoretically the fox in the box that this team needs to convert dominance into goals, however, his lack of involvement in the build-up play and energy in the press has seen one of the division’s best finishers struggle to nail down a starting place. The experienced Patrick Bamford is almost the opposite of Piroe, all technique until it comes to finishing, while youngster, Mateo Joseph, is hoped to be that happy medium between Bamford and Piroe but hasn’t quite found form in front of goal yet at senior level.

Where The Game Will Be Won Or Lost

The primary concern in this game is how to keep Leeds United’s talented wide players in areas from which they cannot really hurt Coventry City. The key is to slow down Leeds’ possession to prevent the likes of Ramazani, Solomon and Gnonto either getting in behind or in one-against-one situations against the Sky Blues’ full-backs. The energy of Josh Eccles, Victor Torp and Jack Rudoni in midfield is going to be crucial in making it difficult for Leeds to play their way through Coventry.

The other side of this game is making sure Coventry City pose enough of a threat on the counter-attack to take advantage of Leeds United committing players forward in an attempt to pen Coventry into their own half. Mark Robins could well take a phased approach of looking to be more contained in the opening hour, before introducing fresh pace from the bench for the closing 20/30 minutes. The key is to be direct when there are opportunities to break, getting crosses and shots in early, rather than waiting for support.

Another area Coventry City could look to take advantage of is set-pieces. With Leeds United’s goalkeeper, Ilan Meslier, far from the most commanding presence of the penalty area, if the Sky Blues can surround the Frenchman with physical players and get Jack Rudoni and Victor Torp putting deliveries right on Meslier’s head, there could be joy to be found. The key will be in making sure the team can get up the pitch enough to win dangerous dead ball opportunities.