Bristol City and Coventry City will restart their top-six pursuit of Championship campaigns when they square off at the Coventry Building Society Arena on Tuesday night, following their forced relegation to FA Cup replays on Friday.
The Sky Blues were on the verge of moving on at Sheffield Wednesday until they gave up a late equalizer, and the Robins and Nottingham Forest drew goalless.
Preview of the match
Tuesday night marks Coventry City’s return to their East Midlands home after winning three points in their second-tier total and securing a spot in the FA Cup fifth-round draw at Hillsborough against Danny Rohl’s Sheffield Wednesday. A rematch between the two teams is scheduled for next month.
On a mild Friday evening in Yorkshire, Sky Blues midfielder Dane Victor Torp made his debut. The 24-year-old scored an incredible long-range goal to put the visitors ahead in the match, but Djeidi Gassama’s late equalizer allowed the Owls to force a draw.
If Mark Robins’ team wins their fourth-round rematch in early February, they’ll be rewarded with a tasty-looking matchup with sixth-tier Maidstone United. But for now, Coventry needs to turn their attention back to Championship affairs, as Tuesday’s hosts are riding high with nine straight wins in the division.
The Sky Blues struggled to maintain their promotion-chasing pace at the start of this season after the summer departures of Gustavo Hamer and Viktor Gyokeres to Sporting Lisbon and Sheffield United, respectively. However, the return of players like Haji Wright and Tashiro Sakamoto has allowed Robins’ team to reach new heights in recent months.
Following three consecutive Championship wins since New Year’s Day, Coventry is now only two points behind West Bromwich Albion in fifth place and has risen to sixth in the second-tier standings, ahead of Michael Beale’s Sunderland because of their lower goal differential.
With a goalless draw against Nuno Espirito Santo’s Nottingham Forest on Friday night, Bristol City secured their spot in the FA Cup fifth round draw. Tricky Trees’ Matt Turner was the busier stopper in a match that the Premier League visitors were arguably lucky to escape unscathed.
Since going on a three-game winning streak in the Championship over the Christmas break against Sunderland, Hull City, and Watford, the Robins have looked very good. However, a run of four games without a win in the second tier has stopped their momentum towards the playoffs.
Scott Twine, making his debut after joining Burnley on loan for the rest of the season, tied the score in the final Championship match between Bristol City and the Hertfordshire Hornets after Tom Dele-Bashiru’s penalty, but the hosts at Ashton Gate were unable to secure all three points.
Since the beginning of the year, Liam Manning’s team has only managed to score three goals in seven games across all competitions, which has left Robins supporters extremely frustrated. However, three of those games have seen the West Country side square off against Premier League opponents.
With Josh Stokes and Taylor Gardner-Hickman joining Ashton Gate in January, Bristol City is concentrating their January business on young players with the potential to be sold for a profit in the future, following the £22 million summertime sale of offensive midfielder Alex Scott to Bournemouth.
Group News
With Wright, Coventry’s top scorer, out due to a groin injury, players like Matt Godden and Ellis Simms will continue to be the center of attention for the home team’s assault.
Torp may be headed for his Championship debut after a spectacular first goal, but Josh Eccles is also a worthy contender to go with Ben Sheaf in the engine room.
First-choice defenders Milan van Ewijk and Bobby Thomas, who were rested from the start on Friday night, should be added back into the starting lineup at the cost of Jay Dasilva and Luis Binks.
Mark Sykes, an Irish striker with five goals, will not be available for Bristol City at the CBS Arena owing to a hamstring problem.
center-backDue to the same problem, Kal Naismith has not played for the Robins since late November; however, he is expected to return the following month.
After scoring his first goal against Watford, Twine ought to remain in the Championship starting lineup; yet, Anis Mehmeti looked impressive in the attacking role during Friday’s stalemate with Forest.
Possible starting lineup for Coventry City: Sakamoto, Sheaf, Eccles, Palmer, O’Hare; Simms; Collins; Van Ewijk, Thomas, Kitching, Bidwell
O’Leary; Tanner, Vyner, Dickie; McCrorie, Williams, James, Pring, Knight, Twine; Conway might be the starting lineup for Bristol City.
We declare: Bristol City 2-0 Coventry City.
In their last two games at the CBS Arena, Coventry has scored nine goals, and the Sky Blues haven’t lost there since October 30.
Because of these factors, we anticipate that the hosts will maintain their winning streak on Tuesday night while Bristol City’s goal-scoring problems persist.
Who will triumph against Bristol City and Coventry in their Championship match on Tuesday?
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