Coventry vs Luton Predictions

• Coventry and Luton are the two lowest-scoring sides in the Championship top six.
• Eight of the last ten Championship play-off finals have featured fewer than three goals.
• Seven of the last eight combined games involving Coventry or Luton have gone under 2.5 goals.

High stakes to produce cagey affair

Wembley hosts the most valuable football match in the world on Saturday afternoon as Coventry and Luton clash in the Championship play-off final and, with the stakes high, a cagey affair is expected in London.

Coventry edged past Middlesbrough in the semi-finals with a single goal scored across 180 minutes of football and defensive resilience will be key once again when they meet a Luton side with the joint second-best defensive record in the division this season.

With just 113 goals scored between them in 92 combined matches, these two are the lowest scoring teams in the Championship top six and the Championship play-off final has trended towards low-scoring affairs in recent years.

Goals at a premium at Wembley

Eight of the last ten play-off finals have produced fewer than three goals, with the Wembley spectacle averaging just 1.5 goals-per-game over the last decade.

Not only that, but the last eight combined games Coventry and Luton have played have gone under 2.5 goals, with a total of 12 goals being scored in this period.

With two low-scoring sides meeting in a fixture with such high stakes, backing under 2.5 goals looks a fantastic play, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see the tie taken to extra-time.

Hatters can edge out Sky Blues

Coventry have drawn five of their last nine matches and Luton have four stalemates in this period, while both meetings between these sides ended all square in the regular season. The most recent encounter, in February, ended 1-1 in the West Midlands and I’m backing that for my correct score prediction.

Punters looking to back a winner of the tie should be tempted by Luton, though. The Hatters have the second-best record in the Championship since the turn of the year and Coventry, while impressive, didn’t win a single away game to the top ten during the regular season.