Sideways Sammy

A sixth win in a row has put Coventry City back in a commanding position at the top of the Championship table with nine games left to play. There is now the opportunity to make for a comfortable run-in if the Sky Blues can continue putting points on the board either side of the coming international break. The finish line is in now in sight but now is the time to maintain focus and keep the wins coming.

An in-form Southampton side pushing for the play-offs will represent a much more significant test for Coventry City than recent games have done. The Saints have been one of the most impressive teams in the division since the turn of the year and haven’t lost an away game since the start of January. While victory here isn’t necessary, it would be yet another indication that Coventry deservedly lead the Championship if they can navigate this test.

Expected Line-Up

Frank Lampard was able to shuffle the pack on Wednesday night with success, surely with this game in mind. Most notably, Haji Wright was able to enjoy the evening off, with his team-mates scoring three in his stead, while the likes of Milan van Ewijk and Tatsuhiro Sakamoto were spared the strain of a full 90 minutes.

With Joel Latibeaudiere returning from suspension, Lampard faces some key decisions between sticking with a winning team from Wednesday or making the kind of changes he’d probably planned for when picking the XI for the Preston North End game. Haji Wright for Ellis Simms seems the most certain change, there are a few other areas that look up for debate, however.

As dominant a display as it was from Coventry against Preston, both Liam Kitching and Luke Woolfenden were turned rather easily by the opposing strikers on a few occasions, which means both of them may well be under pressure for their starting place by the returning Joel Latibeaudiere. Frank Lampard may well be tempted not to mess around at the back, even if it is a concern that the centre-back pairing could be susceptible against a more capable opposing attack.

The other big call looks to be whether to keep Brandon Thomas-Asante in the team after a positive, goalscoring display last time out or to stiffen the midfield by bringing Josh Eccles into the number ten position, knowing that Southampton are better able to take advantage of any space that Thomas-Asante’s attacking instincts could leave behind. With Frank Onyeka possibly still carrying a knock, Eccles’ running could be invaluable for this game.

There are potentially other considerations to be made in order to freshen the team up, with Romain Esse a possibility to replace Tatsuhiro Sakamoto in the starting XI, but that risks tipping the team too far away from a winning one, with a week’s rest set to come.

Last Time We Met

Southampton were also in great form back in December, when Coventry City took the trip to St Mary’s with a starting line-up decimated by illness. The Saints spurned a couple of decent chances getting through a make-shift Coventry back-line but the Sky Blues looked good for their half-time lead, created by Victor Torp picking out an unmarked Ephron Mason-Clark to head home.

The game’s key incident was undoubtedly a reckless, needless challenge from Jay Dasilva on Wellington early in the second-half, which turned a positive away display into an exercise of Southampton attack against Coventry defence. When the home side scored soon after gaining that man advantage, with Nathan Wood powering home a header, the game only looked to be going only one way. However, the Sky Blues put in a defiant display to limit the Saints to almost no chances of note from that point onwards.

After the final whistle, the two teams broke out into a brawl which required Southampton having to hire a KC to defend their saintly behaviour – rather undermined by those same players starting a brawl against Portsmouth a month later.

The Opposition

The Manager – Tonda Eckert

The period after that draw at St Mary’s seemed to be emblematic of Southampton making the classic error of giving a caretaker the full-time job after a short-term period of positive results. A poor month of form had looked to have killed Southampton’s hopes of achieving anything this season, only for Tonda Eckert to impressively rally the squad and prove he has something about him as a manager.

The German has got Southampton playing some excellent football, based around dominating possession and allowing their flair players to get on the ball. Losing top-scorer, Adam Armstrong, in January has proved a positive thing for the team, allowing them to build around a central focal point in attack to allow their flair players to shine, rather than having to look to slip through a pacey striker which can be easily defended against by opponents sitting deep. Unbeaten since the middle of January, it looks to be a case of when and not if they breach the top six.

Who To Look Out For?

Southampton’s star player this season has undoubtedly been the enigmatic Brazilian playmaker, Leo Scienza. The lanky, nimble-footed forward has provided genuine unpredictability in the final third to provide the Saints with something from nothing on a consistent basis. However, he looks to be injured for this game and possibly for a while beyond that, in a hammer blow to their play-off hopes.

Nonetheless, Southampton can call on the almost similarly skilful Finn Azaz to conduct affairs in the final third from the number ten position, while Tom Fellows’ direct running out wide can really stretch opponents too. The departure of Adam Armstrong has been mitigated by the addition of Canada international, Cyle Larin, who has provided the team with more of a focal point in attack to build around, while Japanese attacking midfielder, Kuryu Matsuki has started to contribute recently having been deep down the pecking order earlier in the season.

At the base of midfield, the pairing of Flynn Downes and Shea Charles provides a duo who are not only excellent on the ball but are capable of imposing themselves physically on games, which helps that exciting forward line have the freedom to express themselves. Similarly, Taylor Harwood-Bellis and Jack Stephens at centre-back compete well against opposing attackers while also having quality in possession.

At full-back, Ryan Manning remains a classy presence at Championship level, while James Bree has returned from a loan spell at Charlton earlier in the season to provide real quality with his delivery in a system that allows him to get forward.

In goal, Daniel Peretz has proved an improvement in a problem position for the team in recent years.

Where The Game Will Be Won Or Lost

Southampton are a team that will come to Coventry looking to take control of proceedings, meaning that the challenge here will be similar to the Middlesbrough game where this team and the crowd will have to prepare to deal with having less of the ball but making sure the penalty area is correctly protected, while being aggressive in the right moments to punish sloppy build-up play and generate attacking chances.

Southampton are going to test that pairing of Liam Kitching and Luke Woolfenden, who seem to have an issue with getting turned by opposing forwards. That they play one up front should help manage those situations, with one centre-back taking the lead and the other acting as a sweeper behind. Still, both seem to lack pace which could see Coventry City get caught if they push too far up on the front foot.

If Coventry look to play a counter-attacking game, having a fresh Haji Wright available could prove an inspired piece of squad management, with the American’s movement lethal when having the benefit of space in behind – similarly, Ephron Mason-Clark on the left. The big decision remains between Brandon Thomas-Asante’s pace or Josh Eccles positional discipline in the number ten role, the former could allow Coventry City to be even more rapid on the break but risks opening up the space in midfield for the Saints to dominate that the latter could close up if the desire is to keep things tight for at least the first 60-70 minutes.