Coventry vs Charlton Predictions

Since looking like they’d got themselves into a position to become solid play-off contenders, everything has gone wrong for Mark Robins and Coventry. The Sky Blues are now without a win in nine games (in all competitions), while they’ve only drawn twice during that time. Having seen their side lose each of their last four, the fans in attendance at Ricoh Arena on Boxing Day will be hoping for some festive cheer, though facing Charlton doesn’t exactly provide Coventry with a gilt-edged opportunity to leave their poor run behind.

Coventry have found themselves losing a lot recently, though they’ve perhaps been hard done by on a few occasions. Robins’ men offered little going forward against the Shrews at the weekend, so they deserved to come off second best, though they got very competitive against Luton prior to that, so much so that they were unfortunate not to come away with a point, while they certainly weren’t bettered as the score-line suggested against Walsall and Fleetwood prior to that. Getting the result is the main thing, but there are positives that can be taken from Coventry’s recent performances, especially the fact that they’ve created plenty of chances against good sides. They accumulated 6.35 expected goals in three matches against the likes of Luton, Walsall and Fleetwood shows.

Furthermore, Coventry’s recent efforts at home have been far from poor. They’ve lost just one of their last five league matches at Ricoh Arena, though it must be said that defensive frailties have crept into their game, even in front of their own fans. The Sky Blues have scored in each of their last five at home, though they’re now without a clean sheet in four, while they’ve given up a minimum of 1.22 expected goals in each of those four. They can be fancied to make offensive headway against anyone at home, but it’s easy to feel that a side of Charlton’s calibre can hurt the hosts based on recent efforts.

Charlton haven’t always been at their best on the road, as the fact that they currently boast a negative expected goal difference of -0.35 suggests, but they’ve made a habit of both creating chances and scoring goals on their travels of late. The Addicks have notched at least once in each of their last four on the road, while they’ve scored twice in three of those. What’s more, Lee Bowyer’s men have been posting some encouraging expected goals for numbers away from home of late, as they’ve clocked a minimum of 1.38 in each of their last four.

Both on paper and in the betting, this appears to be a game to get the money down on ‘Over 2.5 Goals’ and ‘Both Teams to Score’. With the hosts having posted an average of 1.83 expected goals for in their last four at home and with the visitors averaging 1.54 in their last four on the road, coupled with the fact that the pair are averaging 3.0+ expected goals against in their combined home (Coventry) and away (Charlton) games, supporting a high-scoring affair is well worthwhile at the early prices.