Coventry City vs Middlesbrough
England Championship, KO: 12:00 May 14, 2023, The Coventry Building Society Arena
Coventry City will be looking to claim the advantage when they host Middlesbrough in the Championship playoff semi-final first leg.
Coventry are coming off a 1-1 draw with Middlesbrough in their final regular season fixture. They raced to an early lead through Gustavo Hamer but were pegged back just before the break with both teams ultimately settling for a share of the spoils.
That result means Coventry City will head into the playoffs unbeaten in their last eight Championship matches. Mark Robins’ men claimed three wins in the last five matches in that run while they have only kept two clean sheets in their last 11 Championship fixtures.
Home form was pivotal for Coventry City during the regular season and they head into Sunday’s clash with two straight wins in front of their fans. In fact, the Sky Blues are so solid at home, Burnley were the only top nine team to get a win at the Coventry Building Society Arena this season.
Having secured a playoff finish with games to spare, Middlesbrough appeared to take their foot off the gas in the final weeks of the regular season. They ended their campaign with a run of two defeats and a draw in their final three matches.
Middlesbrough’s general form during the course of the regular season means they will still be confident of picking things up in the playoffs. However, the 1-1 home draw with Coventry City in their last outing also means they failed to get the better of their rivals this season.
The major problem for Middlesbrough in the finals weeks of the season was a poor record on their travels. Michael Carrick’s men have claimed just one win in their last six away matches, suffering four defeats in that run.
How the bookies view it
The bookies appear to be split on this one with a Coventry City win priced at 8/5 by bet365 while BoyleSports is offering odds of 15/8 for a Middlesbrough victory. A draw is set at odds of 23/10 by Unibet.
Head to head
Middlesbrough have a 17-15 advantage with 13 draws from 45 previous matches against Coventry City. However, the Sky Blues went unbeaten against Boro this season, claiming a 1-0 victory at home before earning a 1-1 draw at the Riverside Stadium last Monday.
Players to watch
Viktor Gyokeres finished the regular season with 21 goals for Coventry City and will be hoping to carry that scoring form into the playoffs. The striker struck the only goal in the first meeting with Middlesbrough this season and is priced at 21/10 by bet365 to find the net on Sunday.
Middlesbrough have a prolific scorer of their own with Chuba Akpom also looking to maintain his scoring touch in the playoffs. The forward found the net 28 times during the regular season and is priced at 23/10 by William Hill to get on the score sheet on Sunday.
Anything else catch the eye?
Coventry City and Middlesbrough were on target in their last meeting and given the attacking quality in both sides, a similar outcome could be on the cards at 5/6 with Coral. Boro have seen over 3.5 goals in six of their last 10 away matches and a repeat is priced at 31/10 by BetVictor while over 2.5 goals is valued at 6/5 by bet365.
Coventry City have opened the scoring in the last two meetings with Middlesbrough and can be tipped to grab the first goal on Sunday at evens with Betfred.
This England Championship match between Coventry City and Middlesbrough will be played on May 14, 2023 and kick off at 12:00. Check below for our tipsters best Coventry City vs Middlesbrough prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
