Preview: Coventry City vs. West Bromwich Albion
Coventry City play host to West Bromwich Albion on Monday evening looking for a win that would catapult them away from the Championship relegation zone.
While West Brom began the weekend already holding a spot in the top six, just five points separate these two teams in the standings.
Having headed into the October international break having lost just two of their opening 11 matches, Coventry could feel that they were building something positive.
However, successive defeats at Bristol City and Rotherham United – without scoring a goal – has left Mark Robins and his side sitting in 20th position in the table.
Just five months after missing out on a Premier League place through a penalty shootout, the Sky Blues have been brought back down to earth, even though they retain a positive goal difference.
Nevertheless, this is a team that have now netted just twice in four games, one of those efforts being an own goal and both being scored in the 85th minute and beyond.
Five games have now been played with a first-half goal being scored, while only one clean sheet has been posted in nine outings in the second tier.
Meanwhile, West Brom are beginning to indicate that they can become promotion contenders under Carlos Corberan, despite their well-documented issues behind the scenes.
The threat of a fire-sale of players remains without securing a new owner, yet the Baggies now occupy sixth spot courtesy of three wins in their last five outings.
Two of those triumphs came against struggling Sheffield Wednesday and Queens Park Rangers at The Hawthorns, but it is points on the board that matter to a team who theoretically have to get as many on the board as possible to safeguard themselves ahead of the second half of the campaign.
What should be noted is five clean sheets being kept in six league matches, while their only defeat in eight encounters came away at Birmingham City in controversial fashion.
Coventry City Championship form:
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West Bromwich Albion Championship form:
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We say: Coventry City 1-2 West Bromwich Albion
There is an argument that Coventry have the credentials to extend their solid form at their home ground. However, West Brom are growing into this Championship campaign and we are predicting that Corberan’s side will do enough to edge this contest, helped by a positive first-half showing.