Sideways Sammy

If there were fears over the first two games that Coventry City were going to be boring this season, a chaotic 5-3 win at Derby County showed that this team is capable of trading some serious blows with opponents. A second home league game of the season provides the opportunity to get in a winning habit at the CBS Arena, in the week of its 20th anniversary and against the very same opponent that helped open the stadium.

Queens Park Rangers are winless in their first three games of the season and will be desperate to get off the mark at the fourth attempt. Rangers had the look of dark horses about them entering the campaign and shouldn’t be underestimated but the current indications are that things haven’t yet clicked for them and this is a good chance for Coventry City to take advantage of that as they look to strengthen their early season position.

Expected Line-Up

With Tatsuhiro Sakamoto likely to be out for this game, Frank Lampard looks to have the same squad to pick from here as he did last week against Derby County. The likelihood is that the manager will opt to stick with a winning team but may be considering one or two changes in order to better suit the conditions of a home game where Coventry City will look to dominate the play and may not have same space to take advantage of behind the opposing defence.

Brandon Thomas-Asante’s position on the right of the attack is the most in question if Frank Lampard is looking for more precise wing play in order to break down an opponent looking to battle to get some early points on the board. Ideally, Tatsuhiro Sakamoto would be the preferred option to provide an outlet and decision-making out wide but his unavailability through injury means it’s a choice between Thomas-Asante and Raphael Borges Rodrigues. The latter might also be a raw talent but his greater ability to dribble in tight areas might better open up a game against a determined defence than Thomas-Asante’s brute force, knock and run approach.

Elsewhere, there may be half a mind to similarly consider whether Haji Wright is the best option at centre-forward against a team that may sit in, which would inevitably lead to a crossing barrage that Wright doesn’t look best-suited to. However, Frank Lampard clearly has a preference for Wright through the middle, however, and will probably look to continue for the time being.

Jay Dasilva’s place at left-back may be another area of consideration, after he struggled under being targeted at Derby County last weekend. That could provide a chance for a first league start for Miguel Angel Brau, however, it may well be a little too early for the Spaniard to make the starting line-up.

Last Time We Met

It looked set to be another dour midweek affair for Coventry City as they took on Queens Park Rangers at the CBS Arena back in March. Rangers looked to have done a good job of frustrating and limiting the Sky Blues as they gradually ran out of ideas with time running out.

Shortly before injury time, Coventry City had a goal from a long throw-in ruled out for an offside and that threatened to be that. There looked to be little threat, until Victor Torp whipped in a corner onto the head of the Queens Park Rangers goalkeeper, Paul Nardi, which allowed Bobby Thomas to outmuscle his opponent and nod in a dramatic late winner for the Sky Blues to help sharpen up their charge for an end of season play-off place.

The Opposition

The Manager – Julien Stephan

A Frenchman with a good reputation for developing young players but with a spotty track record in managing first-teams in his home country, you would be forgiven for believing Queens Park Rangers decision-making over appointing a new manager over the summer was based on ‘well, it worked for Sunderland, it should work for us.’ Julien Stephan has had a difficult first few weeks in the QPR managerial hot-seat, drawing at home to Preston North End on the opening day, before being fortunate last week that Watford only scored two against them. The Hoops are yet to see the magic that the Frenchman is apparently capable of working with young players.

The early weeks of the campaign look to be a task for Julien Stephan of figuring out the best way of utilising a fairly big squad but one where the quality feels spread out like butter across a large piece of toast. QPR have used the joint-most players in the division across the opening two league games, with the manager experimenting with players in various positions to try and find the right blend. Having been a little too open away from home last time out, Stephan may look to tighten things up for this game.

Who To Look Out For?

Queens Park Rangers have had an eye-catching summer in the transfer market, most notably, adding two of last season’s stars in League One, in winger, Kwame Poku, and striker, Richard Kone, to what was already a fun set of attacking options. With some steady defenders and hard-tackling defensive midfielders, the formula looked to be business at the pack and party up top but the difficulty Julien Stephan has faced has been finding the right balance between the artists and the artisans of this squad.

As ever with Queens Park Rangers, Ilias Chair is the conductor of the orchestra whose influence on the game must be limited. The impish attacking midfielder is capable of moments of genius when operating between the lines, however, he may be moved out wide here so that QPR can play with a sturdier midfield three. While Kwame Poku may be absent for this game, it still leaves the exciting Karamoko Dembele and Rayan Kolli as further unpredictable wide players who can create something out of nothing for the Hoops.

Up front, Queens Park Rangers are hoping to integrate Richard Kone into the team after arriving last week from Wycombe Wanderers. The powerful centre-forward is highly-rated but is on a lean spell in front of goal since the turn of the year, having seemingly struggled with injuries. Kone looked a touch off-the-pace when he came off the bench for his debut last week so may be spared from the starting line-up here, which will likely leave the absolutely rapid but incredibly raw Rumarn Burrell to lead the line.

At the back, in Steve Cook and Sam Field, Queens Park Rangers have some bruising options to anchor the defence and midfield around. They are hoping that Jimmy Dunne will return to operate at right-back, allowing young midfielder, Kieran Morgan, to return to his more natural midfield position. It is also likely that the hard-tackling, Jonathan Varane, will be added to the midfield three in this game to provide greater sturdiness for an away game.

Where The Game Will Be Won Or Lost

Queens Park Rangers’ approach to this game may well define the nature of proceedings. After a chastening defeat on the road last week where they tried to play attacking football and were completely overwhelmed in the middle of the park, the big decision their manager faces is whether to continue with that approach and hope that greater familiarity will allow them to execute it or to solidify in order to get a point or three on the board.

If Queens Park Rangers look to play in a more open and attacking way, that may well suit Coventry City as it will allow space out wide for the likes of Ephron Mason-Clark and Brandon Thomas-Asante to take advantage of, plus lets Haji Wright make runs off the back of the slow Steve Cook to get in behind the opposing defence. If they look to play deep and dig in, that’s really going to test Thomas-Asante and Wright, in particular, in terms of their ability to make things happen in tight spaces. Furthermore, Steve Cook’s value to QPR will sky-rocket in heading away crosses for Wright and Jack Rudoni to attack.

Whatever Queens Park Ranger’s approach is, the key area of opportunity looks to be attacking their left side (Coventry City’s right). The right-footed Amadou Mbengue struggled last week against Watford and may well be replaced by the inexperienced Brazilian, Esquerdinha, who is at least a left-footed left-back. If the Sky Blues can isolate Esquerdinha and double up on him with Brandon Thomas-Asante and Milan van Ewijk that could be a source of joy to stretch the opposing defence even if they look to sit in.

As for Queens Park Rangers’ threat, there is always the chance that Ilias Chair will create something out of nothing so should be shepherded into wide areas. Additionally, if Coventry City dominate possession, the raw pace of Rumarn Burrell will be a concern on the break. The Sky Blues may have to be intelligent in breaking up counter-attacking opportunities for QPR to cut off that supply line into Burrell, as only really Milan van Ewijk stands a chance of catching up to him if he gets space in behind to run into.