Coventry City and Cardiff City will each be looking to build on positive starts to the Championship campaign when they meet at the Coventry Building Society Arena on Wednesday.
Both sides picked up victories on their return to action at the weekend, but it is Coventry who sit one point better off in the early-season standings.
Match preview
© Reuters
Coventry's 6-1 win over Millwall on the final day of last season was clearly a sign of things to come as Mark Robins' men have won four of their opening six games to this campaign.
That includes a 2-0 home win over Middlesbrough last time out thanks to Viktor Gyokeres's third goal of the season and Martyn Waghorn's sealer in stoppage time.
City have now won all three home games this term, scoring exactly twice each time, while going further back they have won six of their last seven.
That record could be put to the test on Wednesday, however, as Coventry have won just one of their last 11 league matches with Cardiff - albeit in this exact fixture last season.
The Bluebirds were 2-1 winners at Nottingham Forest on Sunday and return to the Midlands three days later looking to maintain an impressive away record in the league.
© Reuters
Mick McCarthy's men have lost just one of their last 15 matches away from the Cardiff City Stadium, with no other second-tier side collecting more points since the end of January.
That comeback win at the City Ground was inspired by home-grown youngster Rubin Colwill, who netted twice after Lewis Grabban had given out-of-form Forest a first-half lead.
Cardiff have now taken 11 points from a possible 18 in 2021-22 and will likely find themselves in the playoff positions should they overcome Coventry in this midweek encounter.
A word of warning for any optimistic Bluebirds fans, though - McCarthy has never won an away league game against Coventry in five previous attempts.
- W
- L
- W
- W
- L
- W
- L
- L
- W
- W
- L
- W
- D
- W
- D
- W
- L
- W
- W
- D
- W
- L
- L
- W
Team News
© Reuters
Tyler Walker and Liam Kelly remain Coventry's only two confirmed absentees for the visit of Cardiff.
Robins will not want to make too many changes on the back of the win over Boro, but Ben Sheaf is pushing for inclusion, possibly at the expense of Jamie Allen.
Regardless of who starts, Coventry's substitutions could play a big part in this match as all six of their home league goals this season have come in the second half of games.
As for Cardiff, Wales international pair Colwill and Kieffer Moore made an instant impact off the bench against Forest and are almost certain to start this contest.
McCarthy was without Joe Ralls and Ryan Giles for Sunday's match because of injury and illness respectively, and the midfield pair's availability to face Coventry is uncertain.
Another academy product in Ciaron Brown is back in contention, though McCarthy will not want to make too many changes from the win in the East Midlands.
Coventry City possible starting lineup:
Moore; Hyam, McFadzean, Clarke-Salter; Dabo, Hamer, Sheaf, Maatsen; O'Hare; Waghorn, Gyokeres
Cardiff City possible starting lineup:
Phillips; Morrison, Flint, Nelson; Sang, Ralls, Pack, Bagan; Harris, Moore, Colwill
We say: Coventry City 1-1 Cardiff City
The sides enter this game in almost identical form, with Coventry boasting a perfect home record and Cardiff holding claim to being the Championship's best travellers since January.
The Sky Blues won this corresponding fixture last term, but they have otherwise struggled to beat the Bluebirds in recent years, leading us to predict a point apiece on Wednesday.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Coventry City win with a probability of 37.66%. A win for Cardiff City had a probability of 33.34% and a draw had a probability of 29%.
The most likely scoreline for a Coventry City win was 1-0 with a probability of 12.57%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (7.68%) and 2-0 (7.23%). The likeliest Cardiff City win was 0-1 (11.63%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (13.37%). The actual scoreline of 1-0 was predicted with a 12.6% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted a 1-0 win for Coventry City in this match.
