Sideways Sammy

After battering Norwich City last week in all but scoreline, Coventry City head into a testing pair of fixtures against local rivals with promotion ambitions that will surely determine the trajectory of the Sky Blues’ start of the season. Unbeaten and having been the better team in most games this season, Coventry are in great shape to take on these kind of fixtures but the level of challenge and pressure is significantly higher here.

Heading into possibly the toughest away game of the season against a Leicester City side that have started positively, this is a chance for this Coventry City side to sharpen up their promotion credentials considerably. The Foxes may have been somewhat uninspiring thus far as they deal with the fallout of a disastrous previous season in the top-flight that has damaged morale and faith in the club’s ownership but they have showed themselves to have a good combination of quality players and a habit of getting lucky that can fuel a successful campaign. Win this game and the league will take notice.

Expected Line-Up

The big decision for this game looks to be on the right wing, where Brandon Thomas-Asante put in an impactful cameo appearance last time out, having impressed as a starter in recent weeks. While that could see the forward return to the side, Frank Lampard might be of a mind to keep him on the bench as someone who can make an impact later on against tired legs, while Tatsuhiro Sakamoto’s defensive work-rate could be handy against a Leicester City side that have dangerous wide players of their own.

At centre-back, Bobby Thomas might just be feeling the breath of Luke Woolfenden on the back of his neck after being partially culpable for another goal last week. Thomas might just be saved for the time being due to a desire to build around a settled back-line, along with the notion that Woolfenden may not be an automatic upgrade on him, but the defender needs to produce a big performance or two soon or the manager will be considering bringing the new signing into the team in his place.

As far as the rest of the team goes, it could well be a question of how much is Frank Lampard willing to make changes based on a specific opponent versus sticking to his preferred style of play. Every indication the manager has given thus far in his time at Coventry City is that he wants the team to impose its style on the opposition, rather than react to what they are doing. While there might be value in, say, starting Jake Bidwell as a defensive option at left-back or bringing Josh Eccles into the midfield to add a ball-winner, Lampard and his coaching staff seem unlikely to make those kind of calls if they are going to sacrifice the preferred way of looking to control possession.

Last Time We Met

In what was one of the most memorable games played at the CBS Arena in its history, Coventry City started well against a Leicester City on their way to automatic promotion back in January of 2024 but were behind at half-time, when Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall raced in behind the home defence and Bobby Thomas stretched a bit too hard to try and stop him. The aforementioned Leicester midfielder scored from the spot and it looked set to be another frustrating encounter with the Foxes.

The Sky Blues were handed a life-line before half-time, when Abdul Fatawu needlessly went in two-footed on Jake Bidwell to get himself sent off. The second-half became about whether Coventry could take advantage of the opportunity they’d been handed against a Leicester outfit that were attempting to hold on for grim life to protect that slender lead.

Leicester looked close to pulling off the win until the final 12 minutes, when Jay Dasilva wriggled around in their penalty area to tee Callum O’Hare up for a calm finish to level the scores. The pressure ratcheted up further in front of a raucous home crowd, Milan van Ewijk turned the sound up to eleven when he thundered home a loose ball from the edge of the area to give Coventry the lead with three minutes remaining. O’Hare wrapped up the win later on, when he swept in a deflected Matt Godden shot with the kind of nerve and aplomb he’s rarely been associated with.

The Opposition

The Manager – Marti Cifuentes

In alternate universe, it could well have been Frank Lampard in the home dugout for this game and Marti Cifuentes’ predecessor, Ruud van Nistelrooy taking charge of the Sky Blues – with both in contention for vacancies either side of the M69 when there were openings last November. Instead, ex-Queens Park Rangers boss, Cifuentes, is picking up the pieces left behind by Van Nistelrooy’s lacklustre stint at the King Power Stadium, which saw the club meekly relegated from the Premier League and had sent morale among Foxes fans into a deep low.

Marti Cifuentes has proved a smart appointment thus far by Leicester City’s beleaguered owners – by the way, EFL, the rest of the Championship is awaiting that points deduction anytime you fancy applying it – having taken a hodge-podge of a squad left behind by two top-flight relegations in three years, financial mismanagement and a lack of overall planning at a leadership level and starting the best out of the relegated Premier League sides. Cifuentes is a smart tactician who has looked to build a solid defensive foundation, knowing the team possesses high quality individuals who can make the difference in both boxes at any moment.

Who To Look Out For?

The stink of just how out of their depth Leicester City looked in the Premier League last season may just have allowed them to keep hold of several players who can win promotion for the team pretty much on their own. Chief among those looks to be Abdul Fatawu, who has returned from a serious injury looking like someone who has absolutely no business playing in the Championship with his dribbling and shooting ability from out wide. On the other flank, Stephy Mavididi has yet to provide goals or assists but can keep full-backs pinned back with his ball-carrying ability.

Leicester also look to have unearthed one of the biggest young talents in English football in Jeremy Monga, who just so happens to be from Coventry. The 16-year-old made his Premier League debut towards the back end of last season and has caught the eye as another evasive and skilful dribbler with a goal and assist in four appearances thus far, even earning a link to Real Madrid.

Pace and dribbling ability look to be Leicester City’s biggest attacking threat, with Patson Daka, Bobby De Cordova-Reid and Jordan Ayew other forward options for the Foxes, which will test Coventry City’s desire to play a high defensive line. In midfield, Leicester have a number of players who can take care of possession, with Harry Winks someone who can really run games, while Oliver Skipp and Boubakary Soumare are other solid ball-players.

At the back, Caleb Okoli is a physical and quick centre-back who doesn’t really belong in Championship football, keeping Wout Faes out of the side, who was very good at this level two years ago. With Ricardo Pereira’s technical quality to bring into the team at right-back, Leicester are a team that can defend either by keeping the ball or staying in a solid shape and looking to bring those pacey attackers into play.

Where The Game Will Be Won Or Lost

Marti Cifuentes is a smart enough manager to be perfectly happy to allow Coventry City to keep the majority of the ball, looking to keep his team in a solid defensive shape before hitting the Sky Blues on the counter. While that is always a risk in a home game, especially against local rivals, Cifuentes took a similar approach against Birmingham City – who really love to keep the ball – in a recent match at the King Power Stadium and came up victorious by first frustrating the opposition with the team’s defensive shape.

If Coventry City are to avoid playing into Leicester City’s hands, playing quickly into the final third is going to be crucial. It probably adds to the case of starting Brandon Thomas-Asante over Tatsuhiro Sakamoto, as the latter has a tendency to take extra touches when in space, whereas Thomas-Asante is far more direct. Ephron Mason-Clark and Haji Wright may have an important role to play over on the left, as they look to stretch a Leicester side that like to play a narrow, inverted right-back.

Cutting off counter-attacks will be a chief concern for Coventry City here. Matt Grimes has done well this season in being more assertive in the challenge but the worry is that a midfield of him and Victor Torp isn’t going to be robust enough to deal with the kind of pace and individual skill Leicester City can unleash against a pretty slow and high Coventry back-line. The Sky Blues can’t really afford for Bobby Thomas and Liam Kitching to get isolated and into foot-races, Milan van Ewijk may have to play a withdrawn role at right-back to provide some pace to cover at the back, while it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Josh Eccles come off the bench as someone to rotate fouls to kill off Leicester attacks.