Sideways Sammy

A narrow win over Swansea City on Boxing Day, combined with teams around Coventry City dropping points has strengthened the Sky Blues’ position at the top of the Championship table. It sets up this clash with third-place Ipswich Town as a chance for Coventry to take a significant step towards promotion.

After the Tractor Boys had won the reverse fixture at the start of the month, they had been in a position to put pressure on Coventry City, instead, that gap has widened by a point. Instead of being a chance for Ipswich to drag Coventry into a scrap for promotion, their eyes are solely on chasing down Middlesbrough in second-place.

Expected Line-Up

Liam Kitching and Tatsuhiro Sakamoto were welcome returns on Boxing Day after their recent flu-induced absences, but with Jay Dasilva and Brandon Thomas-Asante continuing to be out of contention, the only boost to Frank Lampard’s hand for this game surrounds Bobby Thomas.

The centre-back had also been on the illness list but seems to be carrying a knock on top of that, which renders his potential return for this game far from certain. The up-shot of that is Luke Woolfenden will stay in the side to face his former club, with there being a possibility of switching to a back three to manage both Ipswich Town’s threat and the absence of Jay Dasilva at left-back.

Jake Bidwell did a decent job last time out against Swansea City on the left of the back four, however, he had to rely upon tactical fouls to get him out of one-on-one situations against the opposing wingers. With Ipswich boasting faster and more skilful wide-players, Lampard may want to avoid risking leaving him exposed. Bidwell could play on the left of a back three, although that would probably involve Luke Woolfenden playing on the right and liable to being caught for pace. In that eventuality, Joel Latibeaudiere may instead slot into the back three, flanking Woolfenden with Kitching on the left.

Elsewhere, the knock-on impact of a move to a back three would be to drop an attacking player to make room. Jack Rudoni, who still looks short of his typical sharpness, and Tatsuhiro Sakamoto, recently back from illness, are prime candidates for a spot on the bench. Additionally, Josh Eccles could come into the midfield to inject some freshness over the festive period.

Finally, Haji Wright will probably return to the starting line-up after being handed a rest against Swansea City, probably with this game in mind.

Possible Coventry City Line-Up (3-4-2-1): Rushworth; Latibeaudiere, Woolfenden, Kitching; Van Ewijk, Grimes, Torp, Brau; Sakamoto, Mason-Clark; Wright.

Last Time We Met

A 3-0 reverse doesn’t quite tell the story of Coventry City’s trip to Portman Road at the start of the month. The Sky Blues were the better team for the opening half hour but the game seemed to swing on Josh Eccles picking up a booking for kicking the ball away and Ipswich Town’s George Hirst, already on a yellow, not doing so. The Tractor Boys found some momentum afterwards and were ahead at half-time when Sindre Walli Egeli poked home after a period of sustained home pressure.

With Coventry pushing for an equaliser in the second-half, they went too gung-ho, allowing Ipswich to break repeatedly through George Hirst, on his second life. Hirst finally grabbed a counter-attacking goal that had been coming. Gloss was added to the final score, when Ivan Azon picked up the scraps in injury time.

The Opposition

The Manager – Kieran McKenna

Sticking around Portman Road after tentative rumours linked him with the Celtic job around a month ago, Kieran McKenna continues to toil in search for consistency at Ipswich Town. It has been a case of two steps forward and one back for the Tractor Boys for much of this season, generally on the right path but never quite able to string together a run of wins to get into the automatic promotion places.

Away form has been the issue for Ipswich Town this season, picking up 13 points from 11 games on the road. Kieran McKenna continues to chop and change to find the right formula, which seems to have particularly unsettling effect on the team’s travels. They have had a lot of possession in recent away games but have struggled to convert that into a sustained goal threat.

Who To Look Out For?

As ever with Kieran McKenna’s Ipswich Town, the team’s options in the attacking positions behind the centre-forward are the key area of threat, with stand-out individuals who, theoretically, can be interchanged freely both within and between games. Of the available options, Jaden Philogene on the left wing is Ipswich’s strongest and most reliable, with Jack Clarke a dangerous player on his day and the team hoping for Sindre Walli Egeli to return to starting contention for this game.

George Hirst up front will miss this game through injury, with the giant Spaniard, Ivan Azon, taking up the mantle as the centre-forward to bring those attacking players into the game. Azon is less mobile than Hirst but is a big physical presence who can cause problems with the right service. Alternatively, Chuba Akpom could slot into that position here to provide more natural finishing ability in the final third.

In midfield, Kieran McKenna has settled on a pairing of Azor Matusiwa as an energetic, physical ball-winner, alongside Jens Cajuste to offer quality on the ball and another physical presence. In addition, the ball-player, Marcelino Nunez, has been preferred in the number ten position of late to provide the team the ability to pick teams apart with passing ability.

At the back, Christian Walton has established himself as the team’s number one after a recent injury to Alex Palmer. At centre-back, Dara O’Shea and Cedric Kipre have settled as the starting partnership, posing a sturdy physical presence, bolstered by Darnell Furlong at right-back. All of which allows Leif Davis to attack from left-back, effectively playing as a left winger for much of the game.

Possible Ipswich Town Line-Up (4-2-3-1): Walton; Furlong, O’Shea, Kipre, Davis; Matusiwa, Cajuste; Egeli, Nunez, Philogene; Azon.

Where The Game Will Be Won Or Lost

While Ipswich Town aren’t especially strong travellers, Coventry City are not in their most fluent form of late, clearly affected by the recent flu outbreak. A specific concern is that Ipswich did an excellent job at Portman Road of limiting Coventry’s set-piece threat, with most of the Sky Blues’ recent home wins the result of goals from dead ball situations.

Ipswich have struggled in recent away games due to being handed dominance of possession, Coventry’s desire to control the ball at home may well help them play in their preferred counter-attacking style. They will look to play direct balls into Ivan Azon to create space for the likes of Jaden Philogene, Jack Clarke and Sindre Walli Egeli to isolate the home team’s defence one-on-one. With Milan van Ewijk clearly affected by illness and Jay Dasilva missing, Coventry look especially vulnerable on the counter-attack.

Should Coventry City look to play more conservatively to manage Ipswich Town’s counter-attacking threat, dealing with Leif Davis’ crossing on the left will be a key concern. Tatsuhiro Sakamoto’s work-rate on the right wing will be especially handy here.

If Coventry cannot threaten through set-pieces, Haji Wright and Ephron Mason-Clark making darting runs in behind the opposing defence will be key. Wright, in particular, will have a key role to play, with Ipswich tending to keep their right-back tucked in and thus limited Mason-Clark’s space on the left.