Coventry City vs Oxford United Prediction and Betting Tips: Back Ellis Sims to find the net on Friday
The second round of Championship action begins on Friday night with Coventry City’s first home match of the season as they take on newly promoted Oxford United.
The match will kick off at 20:00 BST on August 16th and will be available to watch live in the UK on Sky Sports Ultra, Sky Sports Football and beIN Sports 2.
Coventry City vs Oxford United Predictions
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Coventry and Oxford have had conflicting starts to their Championship campaigns this season and a positive result on Friday night will be important.
The Sky Blues were unable to start their league campaign off brightly as they fell to a 1-0 defeat at Stoke City.
However, Mark Robins’ men did bounce back in midweek as an Ellis Simms strike helped Coventry edge past Bristol City in the Carabao Cup first round.
The U’s thoroughly enjoyed their first match in the second tier since 1999, as goals from Mark Harris and Cameron Brannagan steered Oxford to a 2-0 home victory over Norwich.
Home advantage proved to be crucial once again in the Carabao Cup as they defeated Peterborough, but their away form did not set League One alight last season and their first away test of the campaign could point to how well they will fare in the Championship.
Coventry lost two of their star attackers in the summer as Callum O’Hare and Matty Godden joined Sheffield United and Charlton respectively.
Striker Ellis Simms may therefore have to take up even more of the goalscoring burden for the Sky Blues this season and he is already off the mark in this campaign after netting in the cup against Bristol City.
Simms netted 19 goals in all competitions for Coventry last season and will likely start up top for the Sky Blues on Friday. Should he be provided with adequate service, expect the former Everton man to get his name on the scoresheet.
Coventry will be desperate to put the disappointment of their opening weekend defeat behind them and they could get their first points on the board against Oxford.
The Sky Blues ended their home campaign in poor form last season, with four defeats from their final five league matches at the Coventry Building Society Arena, but many of these coincided with their heartbreaking FA Cup semi-final defeat to Manchester United.
Oxford, meanwhile, finished their away season with three wins from their final four league fixtures on the road. While this form helped them towards a play-off finish, they did accrue fewer points away from home than any of their fellow top-six rivals.
The two sides did face each other in the FA Cup last season, and Coventry were the victors on this occasion via a thumping 6-2 win. While the same level of victory may be unlikely, the Sky Blues should still be able to get the job done on Friday, while the visitors may have to settle for little more than a consolation goal.
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