Sheffield Wednesday vs Coventry Prediction: O’Hare key man for Sky Blues

Fresh off their victory in the M69 derby against league leaders Leicester City, in-form Coventry City travel to Hillsborough to take on an improving Sheffield Wednesday side. Danny Rohl has given the Owls a real shot at survival, something that seemed incredibly unlikely when he came in two months ago. 

Now they hope to upset the Sky Blues, and spoil their perfect start to 2024. Below we have taken a look at this game, and put forward a couple of betting selections. 

Team News

Goalkeeper James Beadle has arrived in Sheffield on loan from Brighton and Hove Albion and could go straight into the team in place of Cameron Dawson. Meanwhile, Ike Ugbo has also joined this month but could be forced to settle for a place on the bench, while Dominic Iorfa and Callum Paterson are both out injured. 

Record-signing Haji Wright has missed the last two Coventry games but has returned to the grass in the last couple of days. This game may well come too soon for him to feature in the squad but he could return when the two teams meet again in the FA Cup the following Friday. Aside from Wright, Mark Robins has a fully-fit squad to choose from, with a decision to be made on who starts up front between Ellis Simms and Matty Godden.

Match Odds

Sheffield Wednesday are priced at 21/10 to win this match, with Coventry 5/4 to take home the three points. A draw can be backed at 12/5, BTTS is 8/11 and over 2.5 goals is 10/11.

Coventry to win and over 2.5 goals @ 13/5

One look at the Championship form table will show you just how good Coventry have been over the last month. Only Southampton have picked up more points over the last six matches, while the Sky Blues are on an unbeaten run that now stretches to eight matches. This resurgence came about when Robins ditched his 5-3-2 system for a 4-2-3-1, and the return of Callum O’Hare has certainly helped his side click. 

Now they are flying, it looks as though we could have a cracking encounter on our hands at Hillsborough, as Wednesday look to recover from the 4-0 hammering they suffered at the hands of the Saints. That result aside, things have looked good for Danny Rohl, and his side had won three on the bounce before the trip to St Mary’s.

Interestingly, Coventry won 2-0 on Boxing Day in a tightly-fought match, which ended with two red cards after the final whistle. Both Liam Kitching and Bambo Diaby are now back from their suspensions and could go head-to-head once more, which may produce more fireworks. Still, Coventry will fancy their chances heading into this one, given the form they have been on. 13/5 for the Sky Blues to win and there to be over 2.5 goals marks decent value in my eyes. 

Callum O’Hare to score anytime @ 16/5

As previously mentioned, Coventry’s rise up the table has also coincided with the return of Callum O’Hare. The number ten suffered an ACL injury at Bramall Lane last season, and will be hoping this trip to the Steel City is far more successful. He scored twice against Leicester last weekend to secure a big 3-1 win over the table-toppers and looks to be a far better player now than we saw before the injury. 

He’s bulked out and improved his finishing, which has brought a huge level of energy to Coventry’s play, standing out as one of the best players in the division. With five goals to his name so far, he will be hoping to get on the scoresheet again and without Haji Wright, it could fall to him to provide the goals. The price of 16/5 for him to score anytime at Hillsborough seems huge. 

Check out our other Football Betting Tips here.

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