Preview: Coventry City vs Hull City - prediction, team news, lineups

Coventry City’s first Premier League home game in 25 years will see them face fellow newly-promoted side Hull City at the CBS Arena on Saturday afternoon.

The Sky Blues are seeking to bounce back from their opening weekend defeat to champions Arsenal, while the Tigers will endeavour to claim back-to-back victories after stunning Man United on matchday one.

Match preview

While nobody expected Coventry to pull off an upset against Arsenal, their 3-0 defeat at the Emirates Stadium was a reminder that life in the top flight is an unforgiving learning curve.

The Sky Blues were outclassed and outplayed against a strong Gunners outfit, but manager Frank Lampard has called for calm at the club, acknowledging that his side will not be judged by their results against the traditional Big Six and instead on their performances against fellow newly-promoted and mid-table counterparts.

Coventry has since responded with a 4-2 win at Plymouth in the EFL Cup on Tuesday, and they will welcome Saturday’s return to the CBS Arena where they boasted the best home record in the Championship last season.

The title winners collected 55 points from their 23 matches (W17 D4 L2), while only Ipswich (+26.0) had a stronger expected goals difference at home across England’s top-four divisions last term than the Sky Blues (+25.7).

Furthermore, not only did Lampard never lose to Hull in six PL games as a player (W4 D2), but he has also never suffered defeat to the Tigers in eight previous meetings as a manager across all competitions (W5 D3), the most he has faced any opponent without defeat. His five wins against Hull also represent his joint-most against any team.

However, Coventry’s recent record against Hull leaves a lot to be desired, as they have only prevailed in one of their last nine league encounters (D5 L3). Both Championship meetings between the two teams last season ended goalless, with the Sky Blues registering only six of their 23 shots on target across 180 minutes of football.

Hull City are riding the crest of a wave after producing the undisputed shock of the opening Premier League weekend, beating Man United 2-0 at the MKM Stadium 91 days after winning the Championship playoff final.

The Tigers were making their first top-flight appearance in nine years and looked anything but overawed by the occasion, with Semi Ajayi and new signing Nobel Mendy exploiting the Red Devils' frailty from set-pieces to net two first-half goals.

Manager Sergej Jakirovic has stated that his Hull side are “trying to prove people wrong” having been listed as the bookmakers’ favourites to suffer relegation, and while the Bosnian will not let his Tigers get too carried away at this early stage, their promising start suggests that a season of struggle is not a foregone conclusion.

On Tuesday, a much-changed Hull side secured their spot in the EFL Cup third round after edging past Stoke on penalties following a 1-1 draw in normal time, extending their unbeaten run across all competitions to six matches (including results from last season).

Spirits are understandably high within the Tigers’ camp, and they have reason to be optimistic of further success this weekend as they have only lost one of their last eight away league visits to Coventry (W4 D3). They have also been beaten just three times in 16 head-to-head clashes across home and away fixtures over the last 26 years (W6 D7).

Coventry City Premier League form:

Coventry City form (all competitions):

Hull City Premier League form:

Hull City form (all competitions):

Team News

Coventry are still having to cope without striker Haji Wright who is nursing a thigh injury, while defenders Luke Woolfenden (knee) and Kaine Kesler-Hayden (hamstring) are also in the treatment room.

Ephron Mason-Clark scored in the midweek cup win over Plymouth after recovering from a hamstring injury that forced him to miss the defeat at Arsenal. The left-sided attacker could be ready to start on Saturday, but Lampard may be tempted to stick with Loum Tchaouna and Brandon Thomas-Asante on the flanks.

New £20m signing Sidiki Cherif is available to make his full debut, while fellow new recruit Taiwo Awoniyi, who scored just three minutes into his debut in midweek, will push Ellis Simms for a start up front.

As for Hull, Eliot Matazo (knee), Darko Gyabi, Charle Hughes (both groin), Jack Butland (arm), Oscar Zambrano (thigh), Joe Gelhardt (ankle) and Matty Jacob (hip) all remain out with injuries.

Captain Lewie Coyle will have an ongoing ankle issue assessed ahead of kickoff, while Mendy, Semi and Ryan Giles all came off with cramp in the win over Man United and should be fit to start in defence.

Oli McBurnie has failed to score in four previous league games against Coventry, but he is expected to lead the line once again, while a midfield paring of Matt Crooks and Regan Slater - who ran 12.7km and 12.3km respectively against Man United, ranking as two of the top-five PL players for distance covered on matchday one - is set to remain intact.

Coventry City possible starting lineup:

Rushworth; Van Ewijk, Thomas, Amenda, Dasilva; Onyeka, Grimes, Yirenkyi; Tchaouna, Awoniyi, Thomas-Asante

Hull City possible starting lineup:

Tzolakis; Ajayi, Egan, Mendy; Coyle, Slater, Crooks, Giles; Belloumi, Stroud; McBurnie

We say: Coventry City 1-1 Hull City

With the CBS faithful set to provide a raucous backdrop for Coventry's first top-flight home game of the new season, the Sky Blues can take comfort from a recent Premier League trend that has seen the home team win six of the last eight meetings exclusively between newly-promoted sides.

However, given how little there is to separate these two well-drilled outfits on paper, a cagey and tightly-contested affair - similar to recent encounters - is likely to be in store, and both teams may be forced to settle for a hard-fought share of the spoils.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.