Coventry vs Watford prediction: ENGLAND: Championship betting tips on match 2023-04-09 14:00.
Coventry remain firmly in the Championship play-off race, but a run of one win from their last five matches has firmly dented their promotion aspirations (D3, L1). The Sky Blues were held to a 0-0 draw by Swansea on Good Friday which left them three points adrift of the top-six, but defiant manager Mark Robins asserted they “got everything right tactically” despite their inability to find a decisive goal.
Back on home soil, Robins will be looking to reignite his side’s play-off push as he still believes his side can “make it a really special season” and his confidence is perhaps largely down to their strong record on home turf, losing just two of their last 14 league matches here (W7, D5). One of those defeats was against Stoke in the last game they hosted (4-0), with Coventry now battling to avoid the plight of suffering back-to-back home league losses for the first time this season.
Watford certainly aren’t best placed to inflict that though as they’ve won just two of their last 13 Championship games (D6, L5), a miserable run that’s seen their own play-off chase hit the rocks. Chris Wilder’s men were beaten 3-2 by Huddersfield in their last outing, a defeat the Hornets’ boss took “responsibility” for, as fans voiced their displeasure towards the result at full-time.
Hitting the road may take a little fan pressure away from Watford then, but they’re desperately struggling on their travels too, failing to win any of their last six matches away from Vicarage Road (D2, L4). That includes an ongoing three-match losing streak in which the Hornets have failed to score a single goal – their worst run of away losses in the second-tier since 2014.
Key battle: Coventry marksman Viktor Gyökeres has scored 13 of his last 15 goals after half-time, including the winner in this season’s reverse fixture (1-0). Marshalling him could well be Craig Cathcart, who has never lost a personal H2H meeting against the Sky Blues (W3, D1).
Hot streak: Watford have failed to score in each of their last three visits to Coventry (D2, L1).