Sports Mole previews Saturday's Championship clash between Wycombe Wanderers and Coventry City, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

Two Championship new boys face each other at the weekend as Wycombe Wanderers host Coventry City in what could be a hugely important encounter for both sides' survival hopes.

They come into this clash in deeply contrasting form, with Mark Robins's side unbeaten in their last six outings while Gareth Ainsworth's men are winless in seven.

Match preview

Coventry City manager Mark Robins pictured in October 2020 © Reuters

Wycombe captured everyone's attention in 2019-20 when they pulled off a remarkable feat in achieving promotion to England's second tier.

They got off to a tricky start to life in the Championship losing their opening seven league matches, but a draw against newly relegated Watford gave them hope and started a three-game unbeaten run that has given them a chance of staying up and defying the odds once more.

The Chairboys have found it difficult at both ends of the pitch so far in the current campaign. Their 10 league goals mean they are the joint-third lowest scorers in the division, while their 25 goals conceded means they have leaked the joint-second highest number of goals.

Although they come into this one on the back of a seven-game winless streak, which has left them in the relegation places, four of those matches have ended in a draw.

If the likes of Adebayo Akinfenwa and Uche Ikpeazu can start finding the back of the net on a regular basis Wycombe could yet claw their way to safety.

Coventry won the League One crown last season as they returned to the Championship for the first time in eight years.

They have adjusted to life in the higher division better than Wycombe, picking up seven more points and double the number of wins as their fellow promoted side coming into this one.

What will concern Robins though is his team's defensive record - they have the worst defence in the league, having let in 26 efforts in just 17 matches, and are the only team to have conceded more goals than Ainsworth's side.

The Sky Blues did the double over Wycombe last season on their way to the third tier title and will be hopeful of putting in another convincing display against them, widening the gap between themselves and the drop zone.

Wycombe Wanderers Championship form:DDDLDL

Coventry City Championship form: DWDDWD

Team News

Wycombe Wanderers's David Wheeler celebrates scoring against Fleetwood Town on July 3, 2020 © Reuters

Ainsworth will be unable to call upon defensive duo Anthony Stewart - who remains out with a long-term knee injury - and Ryan Tafazolli.

The Wanderers will also have to battle on without summer signing Ikpeazu, whose ankle issue prevents him from making his first start since joining from Hearts in the summer.

Midfielder Curtis Thompson is not expected to have recovered in time following an injury picked up in the 1-1 draw with Derby last month.

Coventry winger Jodi Jones suffered a third ACL injury in three years at the start of the season and remains on the treatment table.

He is joined by Slovakian goalkeeper Marko Marosi and striker Matt Godden on the sidelines.

Wycombe Wanderers possible starting lineup:
Allsop; McCarthy, Knight, Grimmer, Jacobson; McCleary, Horgan, Gape, Wheeler; Akinfenwa, Kashket

Coventry City possible starting lineup:
Wilson; Ostigard, McFadzean, Hyam, Dabo; Hamer, Kelly, McCallum, O'Hare; Walker, Biamou

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We say: Wycombe Wanderers 1-1 Coventry City

Wycombe give a good account of themselves in almost every fixture, and Saturday's clash will be far from easy for a Coventry side full of confidence.

Both sides are vulnerable at the back, and that factor could lead to a stalemate in this one.

Top betting tip

Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting over 1.5 goals in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.

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 38.82%. A win for Wycombe Wanderers had a probability of 33.03% and a draw had a probability of 28.2%.

The most likely scoreline for a Coventry City win was 0-1 with a probability of 11.97%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (8.04%) and 0-2 (7.3%). The likeliest Wycombe Wanderers win was 1-0 (10.81%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (13.18%). The actual scoreline of 1-2 was predicted with an 8% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Coventry City would win this match.