COVENTRY CITY vs ROCHDALE
Saturday 16th November 1500hrs
Football – England – League One
Pick Coventry
Bookmaker Bet365
Odds: 1.65 (odds taken 15:03 GMT, 14 November )
Coventry City have made a bright start to the season and they host Rochdale on Saturday, with Mark Robins’ side having done well to establish strong home form at Birmingham City’s ground. Can the Sky Blues land another win at St Andrews against a team who haven’t been winning much recently?
Coventry City Prediction – Can Sky Blues Find the Net at St Andrews?
Despite winning six of their nine “home” matches this season, Coventry have found it difficult to score goals in front of their own supporters.
The Midlands side drew 1-1 with Doncaster Rovers where they failed to take several scoring chances that came their way, while there was a 1-0 defeat against Tranmere where they laid siege on the Rovers goal only to be sucker-punched late in the game.
Further frustration followed when lowly Accrington left St Andrews with a point, although that had been preceded by a 2-1 win over Fleetwood and there was also the recent 2-0 FA Cup win at Colchester which saw City lead by two goals after just half an hour.
22-year-old Jordan Shipley found the net in that clash and perhaps the young striker can start plundering goals after this confidence booster, with Amadou Bakayoko also youthful and looking capable after finding the net against Peterborough and Fleetwood.
With several teams not playing this weekend because of international call-ups, this is an opportunity for Coventry to get more points on the board and inch towards the automatic promotion spots which are currently held by Wycombe and Ipswich.
Robins continues to do a great job at a club who currently have no fixed home and an excellent 66.6% win rate at St Andrews indicates that they stand a great chance of recording a maximum haul against a Rochdale side who sit seven points behind them in the table.
Rochdale Prediction – Dale Could Be Dragged Into Relegation Battle
Rochdale have been a tough team to work out this season. It’s clear that manager Brian Barry-Murphy is looking for his team to play flowing passing football and that was in evidence on the opening day of the season when the Lancashire side won at newly-promoted Tranmere Rovers.
Indeed, Dale made a solid enough start to the campaign, although a 3-0 win at Rochdale was followed by a winless run of eight games which set the alarm bells ringing despite the fact that they did land a 1-1 draw in the EFL Cup against Manchester United before losing on penalties.
Barry-Murphy’s team did find some form when embarking on a three-match winning run against Accrington, Bolton and MK Dons, although these have to be regarded as three of the weaker teams in the division and there has since been three defeats along with a goalless draw at Wrexham.
The goals have truly dried up in the past four matches and Dale have managed to score just once in 360 minutes of football, with Callum Camps scoring what turned out to be a consolation strike at home to Bristol Rovers.
Taking Rochdale’s entire away form into account this season, they have lost 50% of their matches on the road and they’re also conceding an average of more than two goals per away game.
In their most recently away match at Oxford, the team were completely outclassed and it was worrying that the north-west outfit weren’t able to find the net at Wrexham in the FA Cup.
Striker Ian Henderson has been a wonderful servant to the team since 2013 and the 34-year-old continues to score goals in the third tier of English football, with nine notched thus far and there have been three braces along the way.
However, it’s possible that the visitors are too reliant on him for goals and Matt Done has managed to find the net just once over the campaign, while Rekeil Pyke has notched just one more and there could be problems when they head to St Andrews.
Key-Facts – Coventry vs Rochdale
- Coventry have won 6/9 matches at St Andrews
- Coventry are unbeaten in their past 6 matches
- Rochdale have lost their past 3 League One matches
Betting Tips Verdict
This looks as though it could be a straightforward win for a team who have a definite points superiority at this juncture. Coventry tend to bomb forward in numbers and create plenty of chances every game and a braver punter can back the Sky Blues to win without conceding.
However, we’re going to back the home win very simply in the Full-Time Result market. This is available at a generous 1.65 and you might want to consider either backing it as a single or adding it to your weekend accumulator bet considering that some customers will want a bigger return on their bet.
