Coventry City vs Sheffield Wednesday Prediction: Can Owls gain cup revenge?

Frank Lampard will be hoping to get his Coventry City side back on track after they suffered a late, late defeat to Norwich last time out. Leading 1-0 in the 90th minute, the Sky Blues conceded twice in injury time to lose the points, as their soft underbelly was exposed once again at Carrow Road. 

The Sky Blues return to the CBS on Saturday (18:00), to host one of the teams they knocked out of the FA Cup last season on a journey that very nearly took them all the way to the final. They face Sheffield Wednesday, who they beat in the fourth round in 2024 after a replay. Below you can find my Coventry City vs Sheffield Wednesday predictions.

Team News

Lampard made a tactical tweak for the trip to Norwich, switching to a 5-3-2 system instead of his usual 4-3-3. With Haji Wright, Ephron Mason-Clark and Tatsuhiro Sakamoto all missing the trip to East Anglia, his hand was forced slightly, but his side did well for the majority of the match before losing in injury time. 

Sakamoto could return here but Wright and Mason-Clark remain sidelined, while Ben Sheaf also came off in that game with a calf issue. The captain looks set to be out for the next few weeks and so Josh Eccles will come back into the midfield three, with Jamie Allen likely to keep his place after performing well in a rare start last time out. 

Brad Collins could be given another chance in goal, although Lampard is still working out his best XI so won’t want to make a raft of changes. Rafael Borges Rodrigues could make his first start for the club on the right wing, while Fabio Tavares will want to get some minutes in the attacking third. 

Danny Rohl has been known to make wholesale changes to his Wednesday side in cup matches, as he rotated the entire team for the Carabao Cup matches earlier in the season. Last term however, he took the FA Cup more seriously, up until the replay with Coventry which came amid a run of crucial Championship fixtures for the Owls. 

For this one, Michael Ihiekwe should return to the matchday squad for the first time in a month after an illness over Christmas delayed his return from injury. Gabriel Otegbayo might start after he scored the equaliser in the 2-2 draw with Millwall while Yan Valery and Dominic Iorfa both went off in that game. Valery has been passed fit to play but it's bad new for Iorfa, as a muscle injury has ruled him out for the next eight weeks. 

Liam Palmer should get a start and captain the side if Barry Bannan is rested, which is likely given the work the 35-year-old has got through this term. Elsewhere, Ike Ugbo and Michael Smith will battle it out for the number nine role, while Pierce Charles could replace number one goalkeeper James Beadle. 

Coventry City vs Sheffield Wednesday Odds

Coventry are priced at 9/10 to win this game in 90 minutes giving them an implied win percentage of 52%. They’ve won five home games in the league so far this term and will look to add to that, while Wednesday are available at 11/4 to win. A draw can be backed at 13/5, while over 2.5 goals is 4/6. 

BTTS came in when these two met earlier in the season and is 8/13 while Coventry duo Ellis Simms and Brandon Thomas-Asante are the favourites to open the scoring, both priced at 5/1. 

BTTS @ 8/13

Sheffield Wednesday's games have been full of goals of late, and both teams have scored in their last four outings. Their last four results read 3-3 (D), 3-1 (L), 4-2 (W) and 2-2 (D), meaning they’ve scored 10 and conceded 10 in recent weeks. They are coming up against a Coventry side that cannot keep a clean sheet to save their lives, so we should get goals. 

There seems to be a mentality issue amongst this Coventry squad that Lampard is trying to stamp out, but I can’t see it being a quick fix with the personnel they have. Both teams have scored in four of their last six matches, and so I think we will get an entertaining affair at the CBS Arena, with both teams finding the net. 

Sheffield Wednesday to win tie @ 13/8

I’m a Coventry fan and after the success of the last few years, 2024/25 has felt like a real bump back down to earth. Mark Robins was harshly sacked in November and now the unity that made the Sky Blues so strong seems to have disappeared. It’s not Lampard’s fault at all, he’s walked into a difficult situation, but I am just not convinced they can turn it round this season. 

A mid-table finish appears to be the most likely outcome for Coventry, and while a cup run would be nice, they experienced that last year and Sheffield Wednesday are tricky opponents. Wednesday stole the points in injury time when these two met in the league earlier this campaign, as Shea Charles scored a very late winner and I'll back them to gain revenge on the cup defeat they suffered here 11 months ago. It might not happen in 90 minutes, but I think the Owls will get the job done. 

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