Leeds United will travel to the Coventry Building Society Arena to lock horns with Coventry City knowing full well that anything less than three points on the night could impact their ability to secure automatic promotion to the Premier League.
Daniel Farke’s men are currently in the second spot, one point behind leaders Ipswich Town. Leicester City are a point worse off in third spot but the Foxes have a game in hand. Depending on how the results pan out, Leeds could be anywhere from first to third come the end of the gameweek.
Leeds have been excellent this year but have left it late in recent games. While their destiny is not inn their own hands, the West Yorkshire club will do well top focus on their task at hand and leave the rest to fate.
Meanwhile, Coventry will hope to sneak into the top six as they aim to secure a playoff spot. With Norwich City playing Ipswich Town earlier in the day, the Sky Blues will have hope that a positive result against Leeds will give them a proper shot at securing sixth spot in the EFL Championship standings.
Mark Robins has an FA Cup semi-final trip to Wembley later this month. But Coventry City will do well not to take their eye off the ball in the league. After all, while a miracle in the cup could yet happen, promotion to the Premier League even if it is via the playoffs could transform the club. The Hard Tackle takes a look at how both sides could line up for the game and their tactics.
Team News & Tactics
Coventry City
The Sky Blues took the lead against Cardiff City last time around but fell to their second home defeat in three games thanks to Liam Kitching’s two own goals. The unfortunate star will hope for better luck this time around.
Jamie Allen and Tatsuhiro Sakamoto are both sidelined through injury and should be unavailable for the game. Robins has an otherwise fully-fit squad to choose from for the game. He is likely to retain the same playing XI more or less.
The 4-2-3-1 formation appears to be the way forward, with Bradley Collins in goal. He should be protected by the back four of Joel Latibeaudiere, Bobby Thomas, Liam Kitching and Jake Bidwell.
Josh Eccles and Ben Sheaf should form the double pivot with the trio of Milan van Ewijk, Kasey Palmer and Haji Wright playing further forward. Ellis Simms scored last time around and will be expected to lead the line again.