Coventry vs. Middlesbrough Betting Tips: Hamer & hackney to rack up the fouls in play-off first leg
The second Championship play-off semi-final gets underway on Sunday with Coventry hosting Middlesbrough. Here at BettingOdds.com we’ve got two tips for the game, including a main selection from the increasingly popular player fouls market.
Mark Robins deserves a huge amount of credit for what he has done with this Coventry side despite major off-field issues over the past few years. City were forced to play seven of their first eight league games away from home due to a comical issue around rugby sevens being played on their pitch. Since then they have gone from strength to strength and should not be underestimated at all heading into the play-offs as they are in the best shape they have been in many years.
Michael Carrick is another manager who deserves plenty of accolades for the job he has done at Middlesbrough, since his arrival at the back end of October. The former Manchester United man has instilled an attacking style that paid dividend seeing Boro finish as the second top scorers in the division (84), just three behind champions Burnley (87).
Coventry vs Middlesbrough Tips
I’ve decided to steer away from taking a punt on the match result here as I think it is a rather tough one to call. All betting sites have Middlesbrough as the comfortable favourites to progress to the final at Wembley on Sunday 26 May, priced at 8/15 to do so. That seems a little short in my eyes and I think Coventry at 11/8 are a rather generous price to advance to the final.
Instead I’ve taken a punt on two players both to give away 2+ fouls in this first leg, in the form of Gustavo Hamer and Hayden Hackney. This is available with either Paddy Power or Betfair, and although 6/5 may not sound like the most glamorous of prices for two players to give away two fouls each, I think just like with the European action this week, we will see increased fouls-totals with these matches holding a great reward and huge significance for the winners.
Let’s start with Hamer, no player has committed more fouls for Mark Robins’ men this season than Hamer, who has been a key figure in their play-off push. Only one player in the Championship has given away more fouls this season than Hamer with 69 in 41 appearances. This bet has landed in 9 of his last 14 home matches and with him clearing the 4+ fouls line on five occasions this campaign, he’s a player who can really rack them up.
Hayden Hackney is also the player to have given away the most fouls for his side this season. The midfielder has been shown nine yellow cards this season and taking a look at his foul totals, he has given away 2+ in eight of his last ten appearances.
I’ve also had a little tickle on two goalscorers, backing both Viktor Gyokeres and Cameron Archer to find the net, at a tempting 14/1 with bet365.
Only Chuba Akpom has scored more goals in The Championship this season than Coventry’s Viktor Gyokeres who has notched up 21 over the course of the campaign. Gyokeres has been prolific this term and is the ideal finisher for Coventry who actually seem to enjoy defending before looking to hit Gyok on the break. I believe Coventry can really test Boro here and with three goals in his last five and 10 in 23 at home this season Gyokeres looks a good prospect to find the net at just north of 2/1.
Since his arrival in the North East in January Cameron Archer has scored 11 goals in just 17 league starts. His final-third ability has been a big boost for Boro and has taken some of the impetus off their top-scorer Akpom. Bet365 have Archer chalked up at a stand-out best price of 10/3 to score anytime on Sunday which again looks a shade too big in my eyes.
Combining both Viktor Gyokeres and Cameron Archer to score anytime, pays 14/1 with bet365, while others such as Sky Bet are much shorter at 8/1.
