Analysing Coventry ahead of Saturday’s Premier League clash
· Yahoo Sports
We look at the challenge posed by Coventry City this weekend…
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Frank Lampard’s newly promoted side visit the Etihad Stadium in a 15:00 (UK) as both sides get accustomed to the fresh campaign.
We’ve won both of our games so far, with a late turnaround against Bournemouth before comprehensively swatting aside Crystal Palace last Friday.
Now, with the help of Opta data, we’ll evaluate what’s next…
2025/26 form
Coventry are back in the Premier League for the first time since 2001 thanks to a spectacular Championship campaign in which they picked up 95 points from 46 games.
They won the title by a healthy margin of 11 points, having won 28 games and scored 97 goals.
It’s not been an easy start to life in the Premier League, with a 3-0 defeat to Arsenal on the opening day before a home loss to Hull last weekend.
Transfer activity
There’s no doubt they’ve been busy, with 10 additions to the senior squad.
Goalkeepers Carl Rushworth and Dan Bentley have come in, with the former making last season’s loan permanent.
There’s some Premier League knowhow in the shape of Ethan Pinnock, Frank Onyeka, Taiwo Awoniyi and Loum Tchouana as well as Gustavo Hamer from Sheffield United.
Coming in from overseas are centre back Aurele Amenda, midfielder Caleb Yirenkyi and striker Sidiki Cherif.
In short, there are a lot of new faces to pick from.
Manager
Frank Lampard is universally admired across football.
Primarily for his excellent playing career of course, which largely comprised of winning all the game’s biggest prizes with Chelsea before a brief spell with City and then New York City.
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However, he’s carved out a lot of respect for his coaching style in spells at Derby, Chelsea, Everton and now in the midlands.
Coventry had been on the upward curve for a few years under Mark Robins but the appointment of Lampard in November 2024 was clearly the boost they needed to return to the top-flight.
Now he’ll be hoping to make the most of this season just as much as anyone else at the club.
Preferred formation
Coventry have set up in a 4-2-3-1 so far this season.
Carl Rushworth has been the goalkeeper, with Milan van Ewijk on the right of the defence and Jay Dasilva on the left. Aurele Amenda and Bobby Thomas have been the centre backs so far.
Matt Grimes and Caleb Yirenkyi have played both games in the engine room, with Frank Onyeka joining them once and Jack Rudoni in the other game.
Brandon Thomas-Asante, Loum Tchaouna and Ephron Mason-Clark appear to be the wide options with Ellis Simms and Taiwo Awoniyi competing for the sole striker’s role.
With only two games down and a lot of transfers this summer, there’s plenty of scope for change in Lampard’s setup.
Head-to-head record
This is the first meeting between City and Coventry since 2001/02 when we played in Division One.
They were high scoring affairs, with City winning 4-2 at Maine Road and Coventry 4-3 up in their home game.
In the 10 Premier League games between the sides, City have won just two and Coventry four – although the majority of those were in the 1990s.
How they attack
Coventry are one of only three sides in the Premier League yet to score after two games each – alongside Spurs and Aston Villa.
So there’s little sample size to go off in terms of their attacking output so far, but they did find the net 97 times last term, suggesting Lampard asked his team to go all out.
They also did score in their Carabao Cup second round tie with Plymouth Argyle - dispatching the Pilgrims 4-2.
Only Villa have created less than their 1.5xG in the first two games while they’ve only managed a sum total of 15 shots.
They are averaging 465.5 passes per match though, suggesting they like to keep the ball more than most who expect to be battling towards the lower portion of the table.
Meanwhile, their 32 open play crosses so far is the fifth most in the division so expect some aerial bombardment from wide.
How they defend
With four goals conceded so far, they are certainly not the leakiest defence.
Nine other teams have conceded at least as many as them, with five letting in more.
In fact, their xG against of just 2.6 is the sixth best of all 20 teams – suggesting they are keeping teams to low percentage efforts.
They’re neither a dirty nor clean team too, with their 24 fouls committed putting them in the middle of the table.
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It promises to be another thrilling campaign for the Blues as we enter a new era under the guidance of Enzo Maresca, who takes over from Pep Guardiola in the hotseat.
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