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

Picking up the pace as they charge towards the Premier League, Coventry City welcome Stoke City to The Coventry Building Society Arena for a Championship clash on Saturday afternoon.

The Sky Blues enjoyed an away win at Sheffield United earlier in the week, whilst the Potters secured a much-needed maximum at home against relegation-threatened Oxford United.

Match preview

For the first time since November, Coventry City have strung together three consecutive triumphs in the Championship, bolstering their briefly-fading hopes of securing a top-two finish and subsequent automatic promotion to the Premier League.

The pacesetting Sky Blues have enjoyed back-to-back away successes ahead of Saturday's clash against Stoke, with the most recent of those arriving at Bramall Lane on Wednesday night, when Jack Rudoni and Haji Wright netted in a 2-1 comeback victory.

With Brandon Thomas-Asante failing to add to his tally of 10 Championship goals since late November due to a mixture of fitness and form, United States international has taken the attacking reigns for Coventry, with the towering marksman scoring four goals across his last three matches.

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Looking to extend their unbeaten run in February to five games this weekend, Frank Lampard's troops are sitting pretty at the very summit of the Championship standings, five points ahead of second-placed Middlesbrough and nine points ahead of Millwall in third.

Whilst Coventry's away form has experienced peaks and troughs in 2025-26, results at The CBS Arena have always remained exceptionally consistent, with the Sky Blues winning 12 of their 16 home contests, scoring a sensational 34 goals in the process.

Following a wretched eight-game winless run (D4 L4) across Championship and FA Cup action, Stoke City recorded their maiden success since January 10 on Wednesday night, picking up a narrow victory over League One-bound Oxford at the bet365 Stadium.

Both opening their accounts in the second tier of English football for the Potters, Lamine Cisse and winter arrival Jesurun Rak-Sakyi breached the net of the U's, sealing the home side's first league win at the bet365 Stadium since Swansea City were conquered on December 13.

After the morale-boosting result earlier in the week, Stoke have moved up to 13th spot in the Championship standings ahead of Saturday's daunting trip across the Midlands to the fortress of the league leaders, seven points behind sixth-placed Wrexham.

Despite a New Year injury influx which still plagues the squad, the Potters have managed to remain a tough nut to crack on the road, with the Staffordshire outfit conceding a league-low total of 15 goals in 17 away matches during 2025-26.

Courtesy of their meeting in the third round of the FA Cup in January, Stoke and Coventry have already locked horns on two occasions this season, with the Midlands counterparts enjoying a 1-0 win apiece at the bet365 Stadium.

Coventry City Championship form: L L D W W W

Stoke City Championship form: D L D L D W

Stoke City form (all competitions): L D L L D W

Team News

With their medical room clearing out significantly in recent weeks, Coventry possess impressive strength in depth, meaning that the likes of Romain Esse and Ellis Simms are currently settling for spots on the bench.

Providing a goal contribution in each of his last three appearances, attacking midfielder Jack Rudoni is performing at his incredible best as the business end of the term approaches.

The hosts' goalkeeping ranks are slightly weakened, with Swedish shot-stopper Oliver Dovin recovering from a long-term knee injury.

Stoke are battling against a fitness crisis in between the sticks, with both Viktor Johansson (shoulder) and Gavin Bazunu (thigh) sidelined.

Despite considerable excitement following his January move from Eredivisie, Milan Smit is being kept out of the Potters XI by natural winger Cisse.

Coventry City possible starting lineup:

Rushworth; Van Ewijk, Thomas, Latibeaudiere, Dasilva; Onyeka, Grimes, Sakamoto, Rudoni, Mason-Clark; Wright

Stoke City possible starting lineup:

Simkin; Wilmot, Phillips, Talovierov, Bocat; Rigo, Nzonzi, Rak-Sakyi, Manhoef, Thomas; Cisse

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We say: Coventry City 2-1 Stoke City

After an inconsistent start to 2026, Coventry have regained composure and control in the Championship promotion race, targeting four straight wins on Saturday afternoon.

A narrow success over Oxford stopped the rot for Stoke last time out, however we cannot envisage a positive result for the Potters this weekend at The CBS Arena.

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