Coventry vs Gillingham Predictions

Despite having not one but two players sent off on the south coast on Tuesday night, Mark Robins’ Sky Blues, who’re currently unbeaten, managed to wrestle a point off a very useful Portsmouth side. After an encouraging result, Coventry will be looking for three points on Saturday, while Gillingham go in search of their first win of the campaign.

Managers are rarely happy to concede three goals, though Mark Robins will undoubtedly be pleased with Coventry’s 3-3 draw at Fratton Park on Tuesday evening. His side did concede three times, which is displeasing, though they could have easily thrown the towel in when down by two goals and a player, but they dug deep, got themselves back in the game, before finding the strength to equalise just four minutes from time, despite being down to nine men by that point. Given the circumstances, a draw was an excellent result for the Sky Blues, who showed fantastic character on the south coast.

Performances at their adopted home of St Andrew’s have been slightly subdued from an attacking point of view, but to say that the Sky Blues have been defensively astute in Birmingham would be a slight understatement. Robins’ men have won each of their first two “home” matches, scoring three and conceding none in the process. Against Southend first time out, they gave next to nothing away, as they shipped only 0.61 expected goals and conceded only a single shot on target. Last time out at this venue, Coventry surrendered only 0.32 expected goals for, while they also prevented their opponents from registering a shot on target. Impressive.

Things don’t look quite so rosy for Gillingham, who after three games are winless. After losing at home to Burton just over a week ago, the Gills did manage to improve slightly, as they held league leaders Blackpool to a draw at Priestfield on Tuesday evening.

The Gills will go to St Andrew’s having scored in three out of three, though their overall attacking efforts haven’t been great. When they last travelled away from home, Steve Evans’ men registered a rather subdued 1.02 expected goals for. They’ll need to improve if they’re to unsettle a Coventry side that has looked very, very sturdy at this venue.

In the betting, ‘Coventry to Win & Under 3.5 Goals’ is tough to steer clear of. In their first two matches, Gillingham, who posted 1.02 and 0.67 expected goals for, struggled to really get going offensively, which doesn’t bode well ahead of facing the defensively astute Sky Blues, who’re yet to concede at their temporary home. Going forward, Coventry haven’t looked imperious, but at this venue, they’ve done an excellent job of capitalising on their solid base, so it’s easy to feel that the chances of a low-scoring home win are slightly greater than the current prices suggest.