Sideways Sammy

Dropped points against lowly Charlton Athletic mean that Coventry City pretty much have to win this upcoming clash with Birmingham City in order to maintain their commanding position at the top of the Championship. The hectic festive fixture schedule came at a bad time for the Sky Blues’ thin squad which has been hampered by injury, illness and suspension but they can still maintain a strong standing in the league with this final match of the schedule.

Coventry travel to a Birmingham City side that have lofty aspirations but have sink to nine points outside the top six with a woeful run over December, leaving them winless in their last seven games. Still, the Blues are one of the strongest teams in the division on their own patch and with the Sky Blues not performing at their best currently, it is far from certain they can take advantage of Birmingham’s travails.

Expected Line-Up

Frank Lampard played a curve-ball for the Charlton Athletic game, in going two up top and three at the back, partly to rotate the team over the festive period, inject some threat in open play but also to manage the final game of Jay Dasilva’s red card absence. The manager has played three different players in Dasilva’s position in each of the games since that red against Southampton, highlighting how difficult the left-back has been to replace.

With neither Jake Bidwell, Miguel Angel Brau nor Kaine Kesler-Hayden doing anything to unseat Jay Dasilva – with Kesler-Hayden likely to miss this game through injury – the Wales international will walk back into the Coventry starting XI. That is likely to be as part of a return to a back four, with Joel Latibeaudiere returning to the bench as the makeweight.

A return to four at the back will surely see both Tatsuhiro Sakamoto and Ephron Mason-Clark return to the team as the wingers, meaning one of Haji Wright or Ellis Simms will drop to the bench. Wright is the favourite to be taken out of the side as his goalless run continues despite his movement leading to him creating some good chances for himself. The American should at least provide a useful option to change the game up later on.

Elsewhere, Victor Torp missed the Charlton Athletic game through injury and is not expected to return for this one. Just who takes his place in the midfield spot next to Matt Grimes remains to be seen, Josh Eccles is possibly the favourite but Frank Lampard seems to prefer him in a more advanced role, which could see Jamie Allen continue and it being a decision between Eccles and Jack Rudoni further forward.

Possible Coventry City Line-Up (4-2-3-1): Rushworth; Van Ewijk, Thomas, Kitching, Dasilva; Grimes, Allen; Sakamoto, Rudoni, Mason-Clark; Simms.

Last Time We Met

It was a win that kicked off the run of form that propelled Coventry City to the top of the Championship table when Birmingham City showed up at the CBS Arena back in September. Coventry got off to a great start when a Milan van Ewijk long throw caused chaos in the Birmingham box, resulting in a Liam Kitching shot that Ryan Allsop in the opposing goal could only parry at the feet of Brandon Thomas-Asante.

The key point of the game came around the 40th minute mark, when Haji Wright was wrestled to the ground by Jack Robinson to earn a deserved second yellow – that only Blues boss, Chris Davies, seemed to disagree with. It set up a second-half of total domination, with a Josh Eccles header turned over the goal-line by Birmingham’s Bright Osayi-Samuel and a third scored by Victor Torp following in an Ellis Simms shot.

The Opposition

The Manager – Chris Davies

A rookie manager in charge of a club with lofty expectations, Chris Davies is starting to live on borrowed time at St Andrew’s despite delivering a record-breaking promotion season last time out. Whether the squad isn’t as talented as the pre-campaign hype suggested or Davies is somewhat out of his depth remains a key area of debate at Birmingham City.

The stats suggest that Birmingham have been unlucky of late, tending to be on top of their games but struggling to find a cutting edge and getting caught out at the other end. Davies has stuck adherently to his preferred 4-2-3-1 system and methodical build-up from the back, which seems suited to controlling games, but can leave fans cold as the team seems to prefer method over trying to force the issue. A New Year’s Day shellacking at Watford suggests belief is starting to drain in Davies’ approach.

Who To Look Out For?

Chris Davies has looked to build this Birmingham City team around a strong back-line and a midfield that can keep hold of possession to grind the opposition down. Key centre-back, Christoph Klarer, being suspended for the past couple of games has robbed the team of some of their defensive authority, but with a midfielders of the calibre of Tommy Doyle, Tomoki Iwata and Paik Seung-ho capable of dominating possession, they can manage that threat of teams targeting their back-line.

Going forward, Patrick Roberts has been one of Birmingham’s most impressive players this season. The diminutive and agile winger’s ability to find space in tight areas is crucial in allowing the Blues to threaten teams with their preference to control games with slow possession. Jay Stansfield is another who can make things happen in tight spaces but may miss this game through injury, along with Demarai Gray, who’s had a good season after a fallow time out in the Middle-East.

In attack, Kyogo Furuhashi continues to toil despite getting into some great scoring positions. The Japanese striker is someone who cannot be written off despite his travails in front of goal as his movement means he can reliably get on the end of chances. Birmingham can change things up, if needed, with the physical target-men of Lyndon Dykes and Marvin Ducksch to bring off the bench.

Possible Birmingham City Line-Up (4-2-3-1): Allsop; Iwata, Neumann, Robinson, Cochrane; Paik, Doyle; Roberts, Furuhashi, Anderson; Dykes

Where The Game Will Be Won Or Lost

With Birmingham City missing a handful of key players and with confidence low, this is, theoretically, a great chance to win at one of the toughest grounds in the division to pick up all three points at. Birmingham will want to keep possession and play a methodical game, which could suit Coventry in being able to settle into the contest and threaten on the counter-attack.

The key battle ground in this game could well be set-pieces as both teams both score and concede a significant portion of their goals from such situations. Birmingham’s threat in both boxes may well be diminished by the giant Christoph Klarer’s absence, with Bobby Thomas’ return to fitness nudging the Sky Blues towards favoured status from dead balls.

Coventry City will have to show they can soak up pressure in this game, which is something they can do pretty well at, with counter-attacks being their biggest weakness in recent matches. Ephron Mason-Clark looks set to be the team’s key outlet at the other end, looking to make runs behind Tomoki Iwata, who could be playing as a makeshift right-back.

As much as Haji Wright is struggling for goals of late, Birmingham playing a high line and having slow centre-backs would favour his style of play here. As was seen in the previous meeting, if he can isolate Jack Robinson in the Blues’ back-line, that could be a key source of joy.