Sideways Sammy

Last week’s nervy win over Bristol City guarantees that Coventry City will be top of the Championship table on Christmas day and in the automatic places by the end of the year. With two tough games out of the three before the calendar ticks over, remaining unbeaten could go a long way towards buying some breathing room heading into the second half of the campaign and a time where Coventry can add to what its a thin and depleted squad.

The Sky Blues travel to one of the form teams in the division in the final game before Christmas, taking on a Southampton side that had been favoured for promotion and are belatedly showing that they have the quality their recent Premier League status indicated. It will be the final time this season Coventry City travel to a recently-relegated team and getting a first win out of the set of the team’s theoretically hardest fixtures would be a significant boon to promotion hopes, while also landing Coventry on the milestone of 50 points with less than half the season gone.

Expected Line-Up

Frank Lampard was able to play what many believe was his strongest starting XI last time out, thanks to the recent returns of Jack Rudoni and Haji Wright. The question heading into this game is whether it’s smarter to continue with that team or make tweaks to account for the strength of the opposition.

Jack Rudoni’s level fitness remains a concern, especially heading into a run of five games in two weeks. The attacking midfielder has looked bright in moments since returning from injury but is clearly lacking sharpness and confidence in his movement. Injuries to other players have forced Rudoni to start games when he’s not looked quite ready to in recent weeks. A week’s gap in the fixtures should help him towards a return to full fitness, but this is the kind of big game that someone lacking complete sharpness could be exposed in.

Josh Eccles putting in an impressive cameo last time out could tempt Frank Lampard into putting him in the starting line-up in Rudoni’s place. With Brandon Thomas-Asante out injured and robbing the team of pace and directness on the break, Eccles’ energy in closing down and ability to win tackles will give the team a way to resist the most possession-heavy team in the division.

There is some talk of moving to a back three for this game in order to stiffen the defence. However, Luke Woolfenden’s lack of pace against a quick Southampton forward line, plus Frank Lampard’s desire to play a high defensive line, could potentially make that a disastrous call unless the team looks to sit much deeper than normal.

Additionally, Haji Wright has come in for criticism for missing big chances over this last two starts at a time Ellis Simms was recently awarded player of the month. However, that ignores how much Wright’s movement has been generating the kind of chances in open play this team often struggles to create. If Coventry want to avoid being overly reliant on set-pieces, Wright’s ability to make runs in behind opposing defences is a valuable asset that shouldn’t be underestimated.

Last Time We Met

It was the beginning of the end of Coventry City’s play-off charge two seasons ago, ahead of a congested run of fixtures around a gut-wrenching Wembley defeat to Manchester United in the FA Cup semi-final that proved too much for a small and inexperienced squad. On the subject of Haji Wright, the game may well have swung on his slip while taking an early penalty kick – the only one he’s ever missed for the club – that should have put Coventry ahead.

Instead, a Southampton side whose promotion bid had been in disarray took the lead when Kyle Walker-Peters struck from range and were two up by half-time when Brad Collins tamely pawed at a corner-kick to allow Che Adams to score. Jake Bidwell met an excellent Fabio Tavares cross late-on to give Coventry hope, but the opportunity to earn a valuable three points had already been spurned.

The Opposition

The Manager – Tonda Eckert

Forgive me for the indulgence here, but this is the first time that Coventry City have come up against a manager who is younger than the author of this article! Although I think we can all agree that Tonda Eckert has wasted much of his adult years gaining coaching badges and experience that has seen him rise up to becoming a professional manager, while I have perfected the art of writing football previews, unpaid.

Eckert has been able to gain the Southampton job permanently after a poor start to the season from one of the promotion favourites, with another managerial embryo, Will Still, failing to get consistent performances out of a talented squad. Part of Eckert’s early success has been something of a reversion to the mean, with the Saints taking chances they were missing under Still, with the German seeming to be able to have stronger man-management skills in focusing on motivating key individuals rather than viewing the team as a monolith in and of itself.

Who To Look Out For?

There are a trio of attacking players who have really benefitted from the trust Tonda Eckert has placed in them – namely, Adam Armstrong, Finn Azaz and Leo Scienza. Armstrong had looked something of a busted flush heading into the season, after an underwhelming loan spell at West Bromwich Albion last year, but has rediscovered his touch in front of goal, scoring seven in his last seven to move to top of the Championship scoring charts.

Scienza and Azaz were late pieces of transfer business who had followed differing trajectories at the St Mary’s Stadium. Scienza is a rangy, skilful wide player who instantly has looked a cut above Championship level, despite that not being quite reflected in raw goals and assists. Azaz, a classic, tall, floaty number ten style of player had underwhelmed after being signed from Middlesbrough but has found his groove under Eckert more recently.

Tom Fellows will be back in the team for this game and is another who has excelled under Tonda Eckert. A classic ‘chalk on the boots’ winger, Fellows has been moved to a right wing-back position, with his direct running and crossing ability a key way in which Southampton stretch teams.

Another key player to look out for is Casper Jander in central midfield. A tall and energetic box-to-box player, Jander’s ability to drive forward with the ball, draw contact and win soft free-kicks has proved an important element in how Southampton progress the ball up the pitch.

At the back, Southampton have been porous but possess individuals who can sit in and absorb pressure. Whether it’s Taylor Harwood-Bellis – who won an England cap last year – or the physical Nathan Wood, the Saints will feel if they can get their noses ahead, they have the ability to keep Coventry out.

Where The Game Will Be Won Or Lost

The challenge for Coventry City here will be in how they take on the task of dealing with an attack-minded opponent who will want to dominate possession. The Sky Blues have shown throughout this season that they can effectively play on the counter in away matches like this, although most of those performances came with Brandon Thomas-Asante available to start.

Instead, Haji Wright, Tatsuhiro Sakamoto and Ephron Mason-Clark will have to provide the team with directness on the counter. In the case of Wright, that fits into his style of play easily, for the latter two, they will have to avoid the temptation to take extra touches when in promising situations.

Southampton being one of the poorer teams in the division at defending set-pieces is another key area of opportunity for Coventry City. This will be welcome news for the Sky Blues after facing some of the best teams in the division recently in such situations.

The area of danger is in how Southampton will look to stretch Coventry out wide through their wing-backs, with bodies and quality in the middle to create havoc in and around the penalty area. The amount of chances Bristol City created last week via a combination of counter-attacks – where Matt Grimes struggled to provide defensive cover against – and crosses from their wing-backs is an area of concern. While Grimes and Victor Torp will have to step up in their defensive instincts, the wide players and full-backs will also have to be more defensively aware in order to stop crosses getting into the box.