Coventry vs Leicester Prediction: Will league leaders end poor run?

Coventry City have had a sticky winter period but remain top of the Championship as they return to league action having been knocked out of the FA Cup by Stoke City. Next up for Frank Lampard’s Sky Blues comes an M69 derby against Leicester City (12:30 GMT, Sky Sports Football).

Below you can find my Coventry vs Leicester predictions featuring team news and betting tips as the league leaders strive to get back to winning ways.

Team News

Coventry remain without centre-back Bobby Thomas due to suspension, so Luke Woolfenden is likely to partner Liam Kitching at centre-back. Jay Dasilva and Milan van Ewijk will play at full-back, while Victor Torp and Brandon Thomas-Asante could return to the matchday squad after their lay-offs. 

That will massively help Lampard in terms of depth, while he is likely to have both new loan arrivals in the form of Romain Esse and Min-hyeok Yang. I’d expect Ephron-Mason Clark and Tatsuhiro Sakamoto to return to the XI having been rested at Stoke in the FA Cup, with Ellis Simms likely to edge out Haji Wright in the number nine role. 

Football Odds

Leicester boss Marti Cifuentes should also revert back to a more familiar XI here having beaten Cheltenham in the cup with a changed team. Abdul Fatawu will start on the right wing but there’s a decision to be made on the left between Stephy Mavididi and youngster Jeremy Monga. 

Jordan Ayew is set to lead the line while Jordan James should provide an attacking threat from midfield. Wout Faes has joined Monaco on loan so Caleb Okoli and Ben Nelson should continue at centre-back. 

Today's Football Fixtures

Coventry vs Leicester Odds

Coventry are priced at 8/13 to win this home game, with an implied win probability of 62% for this derby. Leicester are the clear underdogs at 4/1, while a draw is available at 16/5. 

Over 2.5 goals and BTTS are both 8/13, while Wright is the favourite to open the scoring at 7/2. 

Coventry to win and BTTS @ 15/8

Coventry have been in poor form recently, picking up nine points from their last eight league games and seeing their lead at the top of the league shirk with Middlesbrough and Ipswich Town both hunting them down. With 20 league games left, Coventry probably need 40 points to guarantee promotion. 

Winning their home games will be vitally important, starting on Saturday, and I think they should have enough to get over the line. They’ve only lost once at home this season, and with the returning players I believe the Sky Blues will be able to overpower a hit and miss Leicester outfit. 

However, I will give Leicester a goal based upon the individual talent they possess and the fact that Coventry do give up a number of chances and haven’t kept a clean sheet in their last four outings. 

Abdul Fatawu to score anytime @ 16/5

This price is remarkable for one of the best players in the league. They may have drawn the first meeting of the season 0-0 but this should be a far more open and entertaining contest at the CBS. 

Coventry are without key centre-back Thomas and they’ve not looked that solid in recent games, with Carl Rushworth preventing the most goals (5.1) in the Championship this term. That means they should be conceding more goals than they are, and they are hardly solid at the back. Fatawu has scored five goals this term, which isn’t great for a player of his quality, but he did find the net against West Brom last time out. 

I think he’s a massive price to strike at the CBS, where he was sent off in the 2023/24 season. 

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