Sideways Sammy

After taking a maximum of nine points from the first three games following the international break, Coventry City remain on top of the Championship, looking down on the rest of the division. Promotion is looking increasingly likely but if the wheels are to come off, it could well be during this run up to the 3rd of January, where the Sky Blues are away in five of their next eight games and face testing trips to two of the relegated Premier League sides, as well as an imperious Birmingham City and that everlasting hoodoo at Preston North End – on top of having a series of injuries in attacking areas before the January transfer window opens.

It begins with a trip to an Ipswich Town side that have been billed for much of the season as being Coventry City’s closest contenders for the Championship title, even though they’ve spent most of the campaign outside of the top six. The Tractor Boys are one of the biggest spending teams in the division and humbled the Sky Blues on their own patch in the FA Cup earlier this calendar year. Even if they are treading water, a victory at Portman Road would be a significant boon for this Coventry side.

Expected Line-Up

Last week saw Frank Lampard forced to deploy – a not fully-fit – Jack Rudoni out of position on the right wing due to a slew of injuries in attacking areas that Coventry City have picked up since the latest international break. There is hope that Haji Wright and Tatsuhiro Sakamoto will be back for this game, but it has come with murmurs that Rudoni and maybe even Ephron Mason-Clark may be nursing knocks, with both having come off against Charlton Athletic.

Facing another three-game week and with the festive fixture list on the horizon, it is clear that Frank Lampard will have to carefully manage the workload of the attacking players to avoid further injuries that cannot be afforded. Tatsuhiro Sakamoto’s return for this game will be especially welcome as a way to help manage Jack Rudoni’s return to fitness, don’t be surprised to see the latter return to the bench. Haji Wright, meanwhile, will be afforded an easier return to the breach given Ellis Simms’ form at centre-forward.

Elsewhere, that Jay Dasilva and Liam Kitching have come through the past few games without picking up suspension-earning yellow cards is welcome ahead of one of the most testing away trips of the season. Nonetheless, it would be helpful if the duo – plus Bobby Thomas – can keep their record clean for one more game with the amnesty set to kick-in and give Coventry their strongest defensive hand to play ahead of Tuesday night’s trip to Preston.

Last Time We Met

Coventry City were on their best run of the season as they took on a struggling – in the Premier League – Ipswich Town side in February of this year in the FA Cup at the CBS Arena. Any hope of Coventry causing an upset, however, was dashed almost straight from the kick-off with Ipswich exploiting the Sky Blues’ high line and Luis Binks felling Sammie Szmodics to see George Hirst score from the spot.

Coventry were able to settle, thanks to a Joel Latibeaudiere header from a corner-kick in the eighth minute, but two quick Jack Clarke goals for Ipswich before half-time ended the game as a contest. The Sky Blues simply handed far too much time and space on both occasions for Clarke to devastate with calm finishes in the penalty area. Despite a decent second-half effort, Ipswich killed the game off around the 60th minute, with Jaden Philogene rounding off a counter-attack. There was a clear gulf in class between even a heavily-changed Ipswich side and a close-to-full-strength Coventry on the day.

The Opposition

The Manager – Kieran McKenna

From being linked to the Manchester United and Chelsea jobs shortly after Ipswich Town’s promotion to the Premier League 18 months ago to sitting just outside the play-offs in the Championship, Kieran McKenna is under pressure at Portman Road for the first time in his four years in charge of the club. The promotion-winning side has been broken up in favour of supposed greater quality, but that seems to have left Ipswich relying on individual brilliance rather than the team unit to win games this season.

A key element to Ipswich’s success under Kieran McKenna had been a very settled team and system that saw them play a nominal 4-2-3-1 system but could switch with ease to a back three in order to allow the left-back, Leif Davis, to raid into attacking areas and the three behind the centre-forward to interchange just behind the centre-forward. While that should still be possible under the current set-up, McKenna has been guilty of chopping and changing the team a little too much and that seems to have made for disjointed performances and little consistency of results.

Who To Look Out For?

The overall set-up at Ipswich Town remains largely the same from the promotion-winning side, of playing a 4-2-3-1/ 3-2-4-1, with rampaging left-back, Leif Davis, the key cog. Davis created more chances than anyone in the Premier League last season and is clearly the man to stop to prevent Ipswich getting on top.

Additionally, Ipswich boast some significant individual quality in that space behind the centre-forward and have the depth to rotate both between and during games to make them hard to suppress for 90 minutes. Jaden Philogene has been the closest to a star in that area this season and is someone with incredible close control and pace. Jack Clarke is another who can be hard to stop both on the counter and in tight areas, while the Norwegian teenager, Sindre Egeli, is the Championship’s most expensive player, plus Chuba Akpom was one of the division’s top scorers in his most recent campaign at this level.

At centre-forward, Kieran McKenna loves having a big man who can hold the ball up and bring others into play. Both George Hirst and Ivan Azon are pretty interchangeable in the role, and while neither seem to be the most prolific, they are excellent at occupying defenders to create space for the quicker, nimble guys around them.

In central midfield, Ipswich Town have struggled to find a balance since losing both Sam Morsy and Massimo Luongo over the summer. The physical Azor Matusiwa has done the best out of the off-season recruits but is suspended for this game, which will probably see Jens Cajuste, who has struggled this year despite impressing in the Premier League, come in as the sitter alongside the passer, Marcelino Nunez, who was signed from eternal rivals, Norwich City.

At the back, Dara O’Shea and Jacob Greaves will provide plenty of aerial power, with one of Ashley Young or Darnell Furlong at right-back tasked with sitting to balance out Leif Davis’ advanced positioning from left-back. In goal, Christian Walton is a solid option in the absence of the commanding Alex Palmer.

Where The Game Will Be Won Or Lost

There is no reason why Coventry City cannot come to Ipswich Town and look to take all three points but there will be some key danger areas to manage. Specifically, it’ll be about dealing with Leif Davis’ runs and crossing on the left wing as they look to create overloads in attacking areas for their nimble-footed forwards to take advantage of.

The likely return of Tatsuhiro Sakamoto will be especially welcome due to the Japanese winger’s defensive work-rate, which could help shut down Leif Davis. Furthermore, if Davis can be shut down, it provides the opportunity to make runs in behind him as he is far from a strong defender, thus the combination of Sakamoto and Milan van Ewijk could be especially powerful on both sides of the ball.

The midfield is going to have to be switched on and powerful in the challenge to prevent the likes of Jack Clarke and Jaden Philogene causing problems. Victor Torp is someone who can go missing off-the-ball in long spells of these kind of testing games, which could tempt Frank Lampard into playing Josh Eccles as Matt Grimes’ midfield partner. That looks like a key area Ipswich Town can exploit, with their centre-forward looking to commit the centre-backs and avoid them plugging the gaps.

Ipswich Town have one of the best defensive records in the division, especially from set-pieces, which could force Coventry into trying to find other ways to attempt to break them down. This could be a rare occasion this season where the Sky Blues will need to get past a team almost solely in open play.