COVENTRY v SHREWSBURY – Pick: 1 AH-1 – 01 January 2012

Coventry's blue skies to continue against Shrewsbury

League One/Two Tips

Football – England – League One

Tuesday 1st January 2013 – Kickoff:  1500hrs

Coventry City look to extend their unbeaten run to nine matches in League One when they entertain Shrewsbury Town at their Ricoh Arena on New Years Day.

It’s been nothing short of a fantastic turnaround in form that has seen the Sky Blues emerge as THE form team in League One right now and if results go their way on Tuesday afternoon they could be in the top six by quarter to five that very same day.

Six wins from their last eight has transformed the midlands club from scrabbling around in the lower reaches of the division to serious contenders for a play-off place and who knows where they might end up if they can continue this current momentum? Wins over Hartlepool United, Colchester United, Walsall 5-1, Doncaster Rovers 4-1 and Stevenage 3-1 away were all impressive in their own right, but I feel their 3-2 win at MK Dons at the weekend has really announced them on the League One stage.

Coventry’s home record stands at  3-5-4  19/16 and you’re probably wondering “What’s the buzz?” but consider that they only won one of their first seven home matches with three defeats and you can see the vast improvement.

Visitors Shrewsbury Town currently sit in 19th place just two places and four points ahead of relegation-threatened Portsmouth and their task isn’t made any easier travelling to Coventry on New Years Day despite the relative short distance they have to go. Shrewsbury are unbeaten though in their last five League One matches which incidentally includes four draws – the win was against Carlisle United 2-1 at home a week before Christmas.

However, when you look at the big picture, Shrewsbury Town have only won 5 matches from their last 25 matches in League One (including both home & away) and the rot has well and truly set in. Some may say, hang on, what about the four draws recently? Crawley Town have struggled recently, we all know about Bury, Notts County haven’t lost on the road yet and the remaining draw against Brentford was a good result.

Let’s look closer though at Shrewsbury’s away form and the cracks start to appear; yet to win away from home this season in the league with an away record of  0-5-7  12/20, just two clean sheets in their last fifteen on the road and have failed to score on four occasions.

Quite frankly, Coventry should have too much in the tank for The Shrews today and this could well be 3-0 or similar scoreline for the hosts in this one. Straight win for the Sky Blues.

Pick:  Coventry City AH-1 @ 2.19 Pinnacle