The Tigers make the journey down to Leicestershire to face fellow promotion-winners Coventry, in what is their first home game back in England’s top flight for the first time in 25 years.

After a tough opening fixture in the league for the Sky Blues, they will be looking to bounce back, aiming to get an important three points against a City side who you would expect they’ll be in close proximity to come the end of the season.
Opponent Observations

It was arguably the worst fixture you could have possibly asked for as a newly-promoted side to open your season, against the title holders after winning their first in 22 years, and it went pretty much as expected. Arsenal looked dominant from the very start, and made some of the Championship’s finest last season look bang average.

It’s difficult to judge the Sky Blues after just one game though, but their opening game in the EFL Cup in the days just gone against Plymouth Argyle showed a bit more of their character and what to potentially expect when they aren’t facing the world’s most elite starting eleven.

Albeit Plymouth aren’t the most challenging of sides to show your abilities against, with all due respect, but Coventry put them to the sword in an eventually comfortable 4-2 away win, after firing in two in two minutes and recovering from being pegged back to level terms, ultimately cruising for the vast majority of the second half and getting back some of the confidence that was lost on the opening day, which they should be absolutely full of after being promoted as Champions.

Head-to-Head

As always, courtesy of the trusty FotMob, since 2010 both sides have faced each other on fourteen occasions, with the most recent meetings coming in last season’s Championship campaign, where both games ended 0-0. The Tigers have won five, the Sky Blues have won just three, and the remaining six have ended level.

Fun fact: Coventry have only won once in their last seven home games against the Tigers and only once in their last nine in total; they’ll surely be hoping to put that poor record to bed come Saturday afternoon.

Key Players

Caleb Yirenkyi
Yirenkyi joined the Sky Blues for a club-record fee of £23 million (plus future add-ons) in the current transfer window, after emerging as a breakout star in the World Cup over the summer.
The 20-year-old midfielder has enjoyed two solid seasons over in Denmark with Nordsjaelland, where he has been a key part of the defensive side of the midfield, whilst also creating goals and scoring a few himself.
Yirenkyi will likely be used as the counter to City’s strong midfield partnership of Slater and Crooks, being able to break up the play and win back possession, something he was exceptional at during his most recent season in Scandinavia.

Taiwo Awoniyi
The Nigerian forward may not start against the Tigers, after only recently arriving as a new signing for the Sky Blues, but he is certainly one to watch out for.
His physical and aerial presence is something that City’s defensive partnership will need to stay aware of, after enjoying a relatively comfortable and unchallenged afternoon against Manchester United on the opening day.

Loum Tchaouana
Another new addition to the Coventry ranks, Tchaouana arrived from Burnley for around £20 million, after impressing for a poor overall Burnley side in their relegation from the Premier League last season.
Tchaouana brings pace and attacking threat to the Tigers, matching up against one of Ryan Giles or Elliott Stroud, both of whom are left-backs who thrive more offensively than defensively.

Their Last Few

Northampton 0 - 0 Coventry City - (Pre-Season)
Coventry City 3 - 1 Espanyol - (Pre-Season)
Coventry City 2 - 0 AS Monaco - (Pre-Season)
Arsenal 3 - 0 Coventry City - (Premier League)
Plymouth Argyle 2 - 4 Coventry City - (EFL Cup)

Predictions
My predictions for the starting lineup to take on the Sky Blues are as follows…

Goalkeeper: Konstantinos Tzolakis
Left Back: Ryan Giles
Centre Back: Nobel Mendy
Centre Back: John Egan
Right Back: Lewie Coyle
Defensive Midfield: Lucas Gourna-Douath
Defensive Midfield: Regan Slater
Attacking Midfield: Matt Crooks
Left Wing: Elliott Stroud
Striker: Oli McBurnie
Right Wing: Mohamed Belloumi

Scoreline

I think, bearing in mind this is Coventry’s first home game in the Premier League for 25 years, it will be a tough environment for City to play in; the crowd will be well up for it, and you’d imagine so will the players.

But on the flip side, City are coming off the back of two wins, one against Manchester United of all sides, where they were thoroughly deserving of all three points, so I don’t see why they can’t take the game to their hosts, and as they did well against the Red Devils, ride the early pressure and strike first to get themselves ahead and pile on the pressure in front of an expecting home crowd.

I’m going for a 2-1 away win for the Tigers, hopeful that they can carry their confidence into this game and prove why they are here to do more than just make up the numbers.

Final Thoughts…

It will be a tough test for City, but they dealt with the pressure well this time last season, going up against a very strong Coventry side in the Championship, who most (rightfully so) had down to win the title and also on the opening day against Manchester United.
As I’ve already mentioned, City should rightfully be full of confidence and the belief that they can get one over the Sky Blues, and I’m backing them to do so, putting them even closer to surpassing Derby’s points record already ;)

And as always, Up the Tigers!!