Sideways Sammy

A first win in six games has lifted Coventry City away from danger and now looking for a run of form to shift the focus of the season towards looking upwards rather than over their shoulder. The fixtures are already starting to get hectic as the festive period looms, providing the opportunity for the Sky Blues to quickly build momentum or risk sliding back towards the wrong end of the table.

The opposition for this game are a West Bromwich Albion side on a bizarre unbeaten run of 11 games in which they’ve won only once. A notoriously tough place for Coventry to head to, against a manager who has only lost one game against this football club, building on Saturday’s win at Millwall with any kind of positive result here really would help the sense that Frank Lampard is putting together some early momentum.

Expected Line-Up

It would be a bold call to change a side that not only won its first game in six but kept a rare clean sheet in so doing. The only reason for change would be to keep legs fresh amid a three-match week of fixtures, with the team selection here likely to indicate just how deep Frank Lampard feels this squad is.

The most likely change is Josh Eccles coming in for Victor Torp in midfield, after the former put in a good shift off the bench on Saturday to help the team towards victory. Additionally, it looks to be a coin flip right now between Ellis Simms and Norman Bassette up front. If Lampard really is minded to keep legs fresh, Bassette may be given the start here, otherwise, he may want to help Simms play himself into form with a run of games.

The other potential area for change is in defence and goal, where the new manager may be looking to assess what his strongest defensive unit looks like. It really would be a bold call from Frank Lampard to change the back-line after a clean sheet, with his key change at the weekend, Joel Latibeaudiere in at left centre-back, one of the team’s strongest performers. While there remain some doubts as to Brad Collins quality in goal, like the rest of Saturday’s back-line, he deserves the chance to be part of a settled defensive unit.

Last Time We Met

The number one rule when playing a Carlos Corberan side is not to fall behind, Coventry City failed to heed that back in March by conceding from West Bromwich Albion’s first shot of the game, when Mikey Johnston skinned Milan van Ewijk to curl an effort Ben Wilson. From then on, West Brom sat in and were content to let a dysfunctional, low on confidence, Sky Blues side flail around with possession, knowing there was little danger as to the direction of the final result.

The Baggies sealed the win with their second attempt of the game, just before half-time, with Grady Diangana the goalscorer. It meant that a Haji Wright penalty in the 73rd minute would have no effect on where the three points were heading. Surely the lesson has been learned?

The Manager – Carlos Corberan

The Spaniard is a master of defensive football in the Championship, having delivered top six finishes for Huddersfield Town and West Bromwich Albion, two clubs that had limited scope to spend money on transfers. Through relentlessly drilling in a resolute off-the-ball shape, his teams can be infuriating to break down, especially when they take the lead and raise their defensive shields. While there are frustrations with how his teams tend to completely stop trying to attack after going ahead, a Calos Corberan side is one that few opponents look forward to encountering.

This season has seen Corberan briefly attempt to get his West Bromwich Albion side to play more enterprising football, but the manager seems to have retreated into his shell over recent months. Ranking mid-table for chances created and top six for fewest chances conceded, Corberan’s main plan is to keep things tight, nick a goal and try and sit on leads. This recent run of draws has seen West Brom uncharacteristically struggle in that last part, letting opponents have enough of the play to eke out points against them.

Who To Look Out For?

The key feature of West Bromwich Albion’s play this season has been the skill and delivery of academy graduate, Tom Fellows, out wide, providing service for Josh Maja to finish things off in the penalty area. Fellows is the second-top Championship assist provider, with six, and Maja is the second top-scorer, with ten. Cutting off that supply line has to be the key concern for Coventry City in this game.

The pacey Karlan Grant has been another attacking contributor for West Bromwich Albion this season from either a wide or central attacking position, after returning from a loan spell with Cardiff City. Meanwhile, wingers, Grady Diangana and Mikey Johnston, are potential goal threats that haven’t quite found form this campaign, possibly due to that focus on the link-up between Fellows and Maja.

What is so intimidating about this West Brom side is that defensive organisation and physicality that they possess. The giant Norwegian defender, Torbjorn Heggem, has proved an inspired addition at the back amid a summer of cost-cutting, while the experienced Kyle Bartley remains a consistent performer in central defence. With Darnell Furlong at right-back a solid defender who possesses a valuable long-throw that not only threatens the opposing penalty area but helps slow play down when needed, Alex Palmer in goal provides a presence between the sticks as the last line of defence to make the Baggies all the tougher to score past.

That defensive organisation is aided by an energetic midfield unit of Alex Mowatt and Jayson Molumby. While they are missing the resolute presence of Okay Yoksulu – sold in the summer – as that holding midfielder, loanee, Uros Racic, can come in and provide some extra passing quality when needed, alternatively, there is Ousmane Diakite who adds physicality in the centre of the park.

Where The Game Will Be Won Or Lost

The primary concern for Coventry City here surely has to be in avoiding failing behind and being left to chase a game against a team drilled to sit on leads. The main focus for the Sky Blues will be to limit Tom Fellows on the right of West Bromwich Albion’s midfield, to cut off the service into Josh Maja in the box. Jake Bidwell will probably need help in that task, with it being a consideration to bring Jay Dasilva in on the left of midfield to help in that task, even if that means moving an in-form Ephron Mason-Clark away from his preferred position.

West Bromwich Albion have been a little more possession-hungry this season than they have been in previous years. If the game stays at 0-0, they are likely to look to disrupt Coventry City’s attempts to play the patient, passing football that was on display at Millwall at the weekend. That will force the likes of Bobby Thomas, Joel Latibeaudiere and Ben Sheaf to play with more accuracy than they showed at times in the last game. As much as keeping the ball might help take the sting out of this game, going a little more direct early on is the safer approach in helping avoid West Brom seizing upon any loose play and taking the lead cheaply here.

If this game proves to be tight, set-pieces could be the deciding factor. West Bromwich Albion have a fairly similar record to Coventry City in scoring from dead balls, but the difference is that the Baggies have conceded just once from them, while the Sky Blues have let in six. The focus from Coventry here should primarily be on keeping West Brom out from set-pieces and if they can get anything from their on, it would be a bonus.