Coventry vs West Brom Odds: Three stats based tips for Midlands derby

There’s a key clash from the Championship in the early slot on Sky this weekend, and the result will have a big impact on the table, with just 1 point separating the teams. 

West Brom find themselves 8 points adrift of automatic promotion, despite being one the pre-season favourites to be promoted.  The Baggies’ haven’t recorded two consecutive league wins since September and have been struggling for form of late.

Coventry have drawn their last 3 games and will be looking the secure all 3 points to fend off the chasing pack looking to overtake them and break into the play-off spots.

These two teams have seen a lot of cards in the recent weeks. There have been 3 red cards in Coventry’s last 4 games, with 2 being given to their opponents and Coventry picking up 1. West Brom’s last 5 matches have seen 4 red cards, with 2 coming in their clash with Fulham, with 1 being awarded to each team. West Brom also picked up a red against Huddersfield and Nottingham Forest.

The recent disciplinary records and the importance of this match in shaping how these teams will approach the busy Christmas period points towards a number of cards. Referee, Keith Stroud, is averaging 3.6 cards per game in his last 20 matches officiated in all competitions and there should be plenty of reason for him to brandish more cards on Saturday.

Coventry’s last 5 matches average 4.8 cards per game and there has been 3 or more cards in 9 of their last 10 matches. West Brom’s last 5 matches averaged 5.2 cards per game and 3 or more cards has landed in 9 of their last 10 matches also.

The goals have dried up recently for the visitors, but Coventry matches when they are priced similarly by the bookmakers have been very goal friendly. Coventry’s last five matches against similar opponents are averaging 3.2 goals per game.

Both of these teams matches have seen a lot of corners in recent weeks and I expect that trend to continue here. Coventry’s last 10 matches are averaging over 9 corners per game. There have been 9 or more corners in 8 of Coventry’s last 10 matches. West Brom’s last 10 matches average 11 corners per game and there has been 9 or more corners in 8 of those matches.

As a long shot, I’m taking a similar bet to the one above but increasing the lines for a bigger price. The reasons above are enough reason to think this long shot has a chance, and the television fixtures to tend to be the feistier affairs in the Championship. Let’s hope both teams are there to entertain and the referee can help give us a run for our money here.