Blackburn vs Coventry Prediction: Sky Blues ready to party

Has the moment come for Coventry City? After 25 years of waiting, they are now just a point away from confirming promotion to the Premier League. 

An away test at relegation-threatened Blackburn Rovers on Friday night, live on Sky Sports Main Event (20:00 BST), could be the place to make it happen. This Coventry fan will be in the away end, and below you can find my completely non-biased Blackburn vs Coventry predictions.

Team News

Blackburn have a whole host of injury issues right now, which were only worsened after their trip to Southampton on Tuesday night. Rovers are in the middle of a tough fixture list right now, and Michael O’Neill has three new injury concerns to navigate for this one. 

Todd Cantwell and Adam Forshaw both missed the Southampton game with injuries, while Ryan Alebiosu went off at half-time. Forshaw was not risked by his manager and could feature here, but the injury list now is lengthy, with Cantwell and Alebiosu joing Lewis Miller, Sondre Tronstad, Andri Gudjohnsen, Scott Wharton, Hayden Carter, Sidnei Tavares, Augustus Kargbo, Axel Henriksson, Matty Litherland and George Prat on the sidelines. 

Frank Lampard has seen his side draw their last two games 0-0 as they try to get over the line. Changes could be made from the stalemate with Sheffield Wednesday, with Bobby Thomas back fit and ready to come into the defence if needed. 

Liam Kitching and Joel Latibeaudiere have kept two clean sheets on the bounce but Cov’s attack has missed Thomas’ set-piece prowess. Tatsuhiro Sakamoto was badly missed on the right wing and he is a doubt again with a rib injury, but I’d expect Romain Esse to start instead of Brandon Thomas-Asante if Sakamoto does miss out. 

Football Odds

Blackburn vs Coventry Odds

Blackburn are priced at 13/5 to win this home game, with Coventry to favourites at 1/1. That gives the Sky Blues an implied win probability of 50%, with a draw at 5/2. 

Over 2.5 goals is 1/1, BTTS is 4/5 and Haji Wright and Ellis Simms are the joint-favourites to score first at 9/2. 

Today's Football Fixtures

Coventry to win @ 1/1

Coventry have not only promotion within touching distance, but the Championship title. With Ipswich’s midweek defeat to Portsmouth, Lampard’s men know that six more points will see them crowned champions, no matter what any other team does.

Although the last two 0-0 draws have been underwhelming, I think Coventry will turn up here and win the game, given the prize on offer. They have also been handed a stroke of fortune given Blackburn’s aforementioned injury crisis, and the fact Rovers had to play on Tuesday night. 

That brutal trip to Southampton on Tuesday won’t have helped them, while Coventry have had a free week since drawing with Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday lunchtime. I think (and hope) the away side secure all three points at Ewood.

Milan van Ewijk to get an assist @ 5/1

There’s a couple of question marks in the attacking areas for the visitors, so in terms of goals I’m going to look towards a reliable source. Milan van Ewijk will start at right-back again and be given the license to go forward, as he has done all season. 

He’s registered eight assists this season which is a fantastic return for a defender, and his long throw is always a weapon for the Sky Blues. I think given his attacking threat, he is a massive price to register another assist. 

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