Clarets v Sky Blues Match Preview.
Venue: Coventry City Building Society Arena, Judds Lane, Coventry, CV6 6AQ.

Kick-off – 15.00. Saturday 8th October 2022.

Coming out in sympathy with Canned Heat, Vincent Kompany’s Clarets find themselves “On the Road Again”, this time it’s off to the West Midlands to compete with bottom of the table Coventry City.

The Clarets will hope to bounce back from the gut-wrenching disappointment of conceding yet another late equaliser, this time to Stoke City at Turf Moor on Wednesday night. An emphatic away win would provide just the tonic the Clarets need to maintain their push for promotion from the Championship. I seem to be writing this line a lot these days but draws keep getting in the way of my eternal optimism.

Sky Blues manager Mark Robins is currently being linked with the vacant manager’s job at Middlesbrough but that is unlikely to present the former Manchester United star with a distraction from getting a positive result against Burnley.

His side have managed three clean sheets in their last three outings so it will be down to Jay Rodriguez and Nathan Tella to find their best goalscoring form if Burnley are to secure all three points from what looks to be yet another tricky Championship fixture.

One’s to watch: Veteran centre-back Kyle McFadzean is the glue that holds this Coventry team together and Burnley will need to overcome his resilience to win this game.

The Clarets summer transfer target Callum O’Hare is out of the Sky Blues reckoning because of injury and Liam Kelly is also a major doubt for Saturday’s game.

Burnley will be without the long term injured duo of Scott Twine and Darko Churlinov, but such is the depth of squad at Turf Moor Vincent Kompany has plenty of options available. Mental and physical toughness are required in the Championship to turn draws into wins, if only the Clarets could turn back the hands of time and put Joey Barton into their starting line-up.

Verdict: On current form Burnley should be clear favourites to win away from home but their current propensity to chuck away winning positions and snatch draws from the jaws of victory suggests another low scoring draw is on the cards. The Sky Blues need to put points on the board following a recent run of six games which has seen a return of three draws, one win and two losses. A draw seems odds-on to me. 1-1 is my prediction.

Footnote: The Sky Blues have suffered a somewhat nomadic situation in recent years, they are currently bottom of the Championship and have not owned their own ground since leaving Highfield Road in 2005. The club shared the Birmingham City ground for two years but are now berthed at the Wasps-owned Coventry Building Society Arena on a ten-year lease. Coventry chairman Joy Seppala, who heads up hedge fund owners Sisu Capital Ltd, and has done since taking over the club in 2007 says, "We need our own stadium - we need revenues 365 days a year as an aspiring football club,". I’m sure most football fans would wish the famous old club well in their endeavours.

From: The Editor’s Chair – Clarets Mad.

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