PREVIEW | Coventry City vs West Bromwich - team news, lineups, predictions

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·16. April 2025

PREVIEW | Coventry City vs West Bromwich - team news, lineups, predictions

Coventry City and West Bromwich clash this Friday at the The Coventry Building Society Arena in Matchweek 43 of the EFL Championship.

The Sky Blues are currently in the final play-off berth in the division on 63 points, three points and a place ahead of the Baggies.

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In their last fixture, Frank Lampard's Coventry had to settle for a point after a 1-1 draw with Hull City, while West Brom recorded a much-needed 2-1 win over Watford.

It's a big game, no doubt, and the Baggies could potentially hold the edge given that they won the last meeting between the two sides - 2-0 - earlier in the season.

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Ross Cooper (Sky Blues Extra ): Well, it is a quick turnaround for the Sky Blues from Monday night's draw away at Hull City, which was a mildly disappointing result considering the strong performance we produced on the night. But it means two days' less recovery time compared to West Brom, our visitors on Friday. A new attendance record looks on course to be set for this clash of not just two West Midlands clubs, but also two sides eyeing a place in the 'Top 6' come the end of the season.

Frank Lampard will be back on the touchline, having served his ban against Hull, and we are all hoping for a similar attacking display with an improved chance conversion rate.

Jack Rudoni was at the heart of everything positive we did against the Tigers and we will need him at his best to give us the best chance of a positive result. We don't have a very good record against WBA and a crowd of 31,000 just adds to a horrible, niggling feeling that we may just come unstuck. Add into the mix the return of former manager Tony Mowbray and ex-striker Adam Armstrong and it is set to be a pulsating match. Bobby Thomas and Ephron Mason-Clarke are injured which are both big blows and that will further test the resolve of our increasingly depleted squad.

It's a very big game, one that I sincerely hope we win, but fear we may fall short against the Baggies, through a combination of history, pressure and lack of freshness.

Prediction: 1-2

All Albion Fans : It’s a huge game for us. Win and we’re in the 'Top 6' with three games against the bottom four to finish the season.

Draw and we probably have to win our last three games. Seven points may be enough, but it's unlikely.

Lose and even if we win our final three games it may not be enough.

Coventry have a good home record and have won five of their last six at the CBS Arena.

Hopefully the extra two days we’ve had to prepare will be a factor as we’ve gone 13 away games without a win in the league. Six of those were defeats and we’ve only lost 10 all season, so we need to get back to what made us hard to beat. We’ve been more open in games under Mowbray with mixed results.

I’m glad Thomas-Asante is missing the game as these things seem to come around.

Armstrong is a fantastic player, but it hasn’t worked at Albion so far. Lankshear started against Watford and we seemed to be far more cohesive all around. If Diakite is fit he may come into the starting 11 to help with the Sky Blues' threat.

These are the games we follow the club for.