Now we know where V for Vendetta got their idea.
Here he is!
Given Coventry have gone back to the blue and white stripes, here’s some reading to get you in the mood for a game some old folk are calling the Killer Kilcline derby.
As for Newcastle, Gonzalez returns from the bang on the head he sustained at Leeds, with Steur dropping out; Miley is at right-back. Otherwise, it’s as you were from the win against Hull.
Er yeah, about that midfield battle I trailed. Coventry bin the 3-4-2-1 that worked at Forest to restore the 4-2-3-1, and bring in Van Ewijk at right-back for Mfuni at right centre-back, while up front, Onyeka drops out of midfield, with Cherif, a summer signing, making his first start up front.
Teams
Coventry City (4-2-3-1): Rushworth; Van Ewijk, Pinnock, Thomas, Dasilva; Yirenkyi, Grimes; Thomas-Asante, Rudoni, Mason-Clark; Cherif. Subs: Bentley, Sakamoto, Simms, Mfuni, Onyeka, Latibeaudiere, Torp, Gboho, Hamer.
Newcastle United (4-2-3-1): Hornicek; Miley, Thiaw, Botman, Hall; Gonzalez, Willock; Murphy, Wissa, Barnes; Fernandez-Pardo. Subs: Pope, Schar, Joelinton, Bamba, Osula, Steur, Toure, Burn, Dedic.
Preamble
I don’t know, it kind of feels like a fight to focus on this game, doesn’t it? Yet, at the same time, there’s loads to look forward to about this game because why shouldn’t there be? Such is the current state of the Premier League, Coventry reaching it after toiling through some of the worst mismanagement and neglect ever endured by a football club … for this?
But here we are so here we are; let’s dive in. Coventry won’t have relished the timing of the international break having snapped a run of five straight defeats with a win at Forest. I’m especially excited to see how Caleb Yirenkyi performs tonight – he’s a proper talent and a brilliant get, his game perfectly suited to competition it now feels much more comfortable to snark at as “this league” rather than “oor league”.
Opposite him – and Matt Grimes, playing in the top division for the first time aged 31, one of those lovely stories you get with promoted clubs – will presumably be Lewis Miley and Sean Steur, two terrific talents of complementary qualities. Their battle will go a long way towards deciding the outcome of this game.
However it won’t be lost on Mathias Jaissle that Coventry’s winner in Nottingham was their first league goal of the season, which is to say Frank Lampard must find a way of offering greater threat while maintaining some semblance of defensive security. Easier said than done, of course but, similarly, it won’t have escaped him how comprehensively Newcastle were outmuscled by Leeds and, if his side can use their similar formation to lean on them in similar fashion, they might just find similar joy – even if they lack similar goal-threat.
Or, in other words, though the overall picture isn’t good, there’s every chance this is.
Kick-off: 8pm BST
