Coventry vs Maidstone Prediction: Godden can end barren run

A place in the FA Cup quarter-finals is at stake as Championship side Coventry City host sixth-tier Maidstone United on Monday night (19:45). The Sky Blues are attempting to get into the top six again this season, having lost the play-off final last season to Luton Town on penalties last May. 

Meanwhile Maidstone are 6th in the National League South, as they also target promotion this term. First though, they are aiming to become just the second non-league side to reach the quarter-finals, after Lincoln City in 2016/17. Here’s how we see this one panning out.

Team News

Coventry remain without midfield duo Jamie Allen and Ben Sheaf. Allen has had surgery on a fractured cheekbone which will see him spend the next month on the sidelines, while Sheaf’s hamstring issue has a similar recovery time. Tatsuhiro Sakamoto was taken off injured and taken to hospital in Friday's 3-0 defeat against Preston North End, and the Japanese winger will be unavailable for the foreseeable future.

Victor Torp could be rested here, having picked up a calf issue in the win over Stoke. He was taken off at half-time in that one, and it seems unlikely that Mark Robins will risk him against lower-league opposition. 

The away side will hope to rely on goalscoring midfielder Sam Corne once again, as he fired in the winner at Portman Road. Meanwhile, Brazilian goalkeeper Lucas Covolan will be hoping to produce more heroics after a sensational performance in the Fourth Round. 

Match Odds

Coventry are the 1/8 favourites to win this match, with a draw available at 8/1. If you fancy a major shock, Maidstone are 16/1 to do what they did to Ipswich, and beat a Championship outfit away from home. BTTS is 5/6, while over 2.5 goals is 1/4. 

Coventry to win to nil @ 19/20

Sorry Maidstone, but your fairy tale cannot go on forever. Coventry are huge favourites to win this game, and they won’t want to give up a place in the last eight of the FA Cup without a fight. There’s going to be a healthy following of over 4,000 fans from the south coming up for this one, but the Sky Blues should have too much for them.

If you look at the Ipswich game they miraculously won, Maidstone had just 21% possession and two shots in the entire match. Both of those shots went in, and the rest is history, but it would take something truly stupendous for them to do it twice in a row. Ipswich had 13 shots on goal, and only scored once. If Coventry have a similar level of domination, they should win to nil with relative ease.

Matty Godden to score @ 8/13

Coventry have lacked a goalscoring number nine this season, and Matty Godden has fallen out of favour as a result. One goal in his last 21 league appearances doesn’t make for great reading, but most of them have come from the bench and he is still an excellent finisher. I think the measuring stick used should be the Third Round win over Oxford United, where he came off the bench for just 18 minutes, but scored twice. 

In a game I’m expecting him to start given City will make changes having played Preston on Friday night, he should get plenty of chances. He is also likely to take any penalties, and should be able to put Maidstone to the sword. I’m backing Godden to end his goalscoring run in a game the home side should dominate. 

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