Coventry City vs Middlesbrough
England Championship, KO: 12:30 Aug 12, 2023, The Coventry Building Society Arena
Coventry host Middlesbrough in an English Championship fixture on Saturday with both teams looking to bounce back from disappointing starts to the season. Boro often struggle on their travels and with Coventry also not particularly convincing at home, both teams look set to cancel each other out.
Coventry City endured a disappointing start to the season as they suffered a 2-1 defeat to Leicester City in their opening Championship fixture. They took the lead through Kyle McFadzean but failed to hold in for the win and were breached twice by the Foxes.
A leaky defence appears to be the major problem in the early stages of the season as they once again threw away the lead in a midweek Carabao Cup defeat to League Two side AFC Wimbledon. Matt Godden’s early opener was cancelled out by the hosts as Mark Robbins’ men were beaten 2-1 once again.
One positive for Coventry City is that they had been on the road in both matches and are returning to their home turf. However, they have claimed just two wins from their last six Championship home matches, playing out three draws in that run.
Middlesbrough also suffered a defeat on opening weekend as they were surprisingly beaten 1-0 at home by Millwall. They dominated the possession but lacked the cutting edge in attack without the injured Chuba Akpom, finishing with just two attempts on target.
Having had a fairly busy transfer window so far, manager Michael Carrick could put that defeat down to the new players acclimatising to the Championship in addition to star forward Akpom being out injured. Middlesbrough showed glimpses of their quality in the Carabao Cup as goals from summer signings Sammy Silvera and Isaiah Jones helped them to a 3-2 victory at Huddersfield Town.
Middlesbrough will be keen to build on that win, although they have been a bit suspect on their recent travels. They are winless in their last five away matches in the Championship with their most recent fixture in that run a 0-0 draw at Coventry City in last season’s playoff semi-final first leg.
How the bookies view it
Coventry City have the edge among the bookies with a home win priced at 7/5 by Coral. A victory for Middlesbrough us valued at 2/1 by Paddy Power while a draw is set at odds of 23/10 by William Hill.
Recent head to head
Coventry City are unbeaten in the last four matches against Middlesbrough and claimed a 1-0 victory in last season’s playoff semi-final second leg. However, two of the last three fixtures have ended in draws including a 0-0 scoreline in the most recent meeting at the Coventry Building Society Arena back in May.
Players to watch
Matt Godden was on target in Coventry City’s midweek Carabao Cup defeat and could be worth keeping an eye on. The forward is priced at odds of 3/1 by William Hill to get on the score sheet on Saturday.
Middlesbrough will be keen to take advantage of Coventry City’s defensive vulnerability even without Chuba Akpom. Forward Sammy Silvera has looked sharp so far and having found the net last time out at Huddersfield Town, could be backed to get on the score sheet on Saturday at 11/2 with bet365.
Anything else catch the eye?
With Coventry City and Middlesbrough not particularly convincing at the back, both teams could be tipped to score at 4/5 with William Hill. Boro saw over 3.5 goals at Huddersfield Town and a repeat can be considered at 27/10 with BetVictor while over 2.5 goals is priced at evens with William Hill.
There have been halftime draws in five of the last six meetings between Coventry City and Middlesbrough and Saturday’s clash can be tipped to follow a similar pattern at 6/5 with bet365.
This England Championship match between Coventry City and Middlesbrough will be played on Aug 12, 2023 and kick off at 12:30. 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.
