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

Millwall will welcome fellow Championship side Coventry City to The Den for Tuesday's clash in the EFL Cup second round.

The Lions edged out Newport County in the first round, while the Sky Blues squeezed past Luton Town in their opening EFL Cup game.

Match preview

Millwall have made a promising start to the 2025-26 season, with their opening four matches yielding three wins and one defeat.

The Lions kicked off the campaign with back-to-back away wins, claiming a 2-1 victory over Norwich City in their Championship opener before beating League Two Newport County 2-1 in the EFL Cup.

However, they were abruptly stopped in their tracks by a heavy 3-0 defeat against Middlesbrough in their opening home game of the season.

Alex Neil's charges produced the perfect response in Saturday's trip to Bramall Lane, with Lee Cundle's 38th-minute effort proving enough to seal a 1-0 victory.

After recording a third consecutive away win, Millwall will return to The Den with hopes of claiming their first competitive home win of the season as they look to reach the EFL Cup third round for the first time in four years.

The Lions are also searching for their first win over Coventry City since fighting back from two goals down to run out 3-2 winners in August 2022.

While Millwall are in eighth spot in the Championship, Coventry are sitting in third position after taking seven points from their opening three league games.

Coventry played out a goalless draw against Hull City on matchday one, before they sealed their spot in the EFL Cup second round with a 1-0 victory over third-tier Luton Town.

Frank Lampard's charges have since produced two free-scoring displays, including a dramatic 5-3 victory in their away clash against Derby County.

Sensationally, Coventry managed to better that five-goal tally in Saturday's one-sided affair against Queens Park Rangers, with Jack Rudoni, Haji Wright and Victor Torp all scoring braces alongside a Brandon Thomas-Asante effort in a destructive 7-1 win.

Coventry will put their league campaign on hold to focus on Tuesday's EFL Cup clash, with the Sky Blues bidding to reach the third round for the second consecutive season.

They will certainly draw inspiration from the fact that they have won four of their last five matches against Millwall (D1), including a 1-0 win on their most recent trip to The Den in December.

Millwall EFL Cup form:

Millwall form (all competitions):

W W L W

Coventry City EFL Cup form:

Coventry City form (all competitions):

D W W W

Team News

Millwall are unable to call upon Lukas Jensen, Alfie Doughty, Joe Bryan and Danny McNamara due to injury.

The Lions are also expected to be without Ra’ees Bangura-Williams, Femi Azeez, Billy Mitchell and Macaulay Langstaff after the quartet missed Saturday's game over Sheffield United.

Neil could make a few alterations to his side, which could see starting opportunities handed to Max Crocombe, Wes Harding, Aidomo Emakhu and Kevin Nisbet.

As for the visitors, they will head into the midweek fixture without the services of Oliver Dovin, Josh Eccles and Joel Latibeaudiere.

Ben Sheaf and Tatsuhiro Sakamoto are closing in on a return to action, although the pair are unlikely to be ready for Tuesday's fixture.

Lampard is set to rotate his lineup for the second-round tie, with Ben Wilson, Kaine Kesler-Hayden, Miguel Brau and Raphael Borges Rodrigues among those who could come into the starting lineup.

Millwall possible starting lineup:

Crocombe; Leonard, Harding, Cooper, Sturge; De Norre, Luongo; Emakhu, Coburn, Cundle; Nisbet

Coventry City possible starting lineup:

Wilson; Kesler-Hayden, Thomas, Bidwell, Brau; Torp, Allen; Borges Rodrigues, Andrews, Mason-Clark; Simms

We say: Millwall 0-2 Coventry City

Millwall and Coventry are both likely to make changes for Tuesday's fixture, making it a little trickier to predict the winner of this tie.

With that said, the Sky Blues have fared well in recent meetings with the Lions, and having won their last three matches, we think that they will do enough to progress to the third round.

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