Baggies hoping for an upset at Coventry

Coventry City v West Bromwich Albion; CBS Arena, Saturday 22nd November 2025, 12.30pm

This weekend, the Championship returns for the longest continuous spell of the season without an international break including, of course, the often crucial Christmas period. Albion re-start with what is, on paper at least, the toughest fixture in the division with a trip to league leaders, Coventry City, the first of eleven fixtures before the FA Cup third round in just seven weeks’ time.

Frank Lampard’s team are on an incredible run of eight wins in nine games that has seen them establish a five point lead at the top of the table. They have also won their last four games at home in what is an unbeaten start to their season at the CBS Arena having picked up seventeen points from seven games on their own patch.

They are also the division’s top scorers with a remarkable 40 goals from their 15 league games, 14 more than any other team, and also boast the league’s joint top scorer in former Baggie Brandon Thomas-Asante who has started the campaign in unexpectedly sparkling form.

It certainly is a daunting prospect for Ryan Mason’s team, but they should still go into the match looking to win it, and not just as a exercise in damage limitation. The one league match the Sky Blues have lost this season was at Wrexham, where Albion won, and the Baggies have an excellent record at City’s current home, albeit spoiled by the capitulation we witnessed there in April.

The head coach also has more players available than he has had for some time, if not all campaign. Friday’s news was that George Campbell is back in training with Jed Wallace is the only definite absentee. Even Tammer Bany, who is yet to play any senior football for the Baggies this season, returned from international duty having made his debut for Jordan in a 0-0 draw with Mali playing 71 minutes before being substituted.

Of course, his selections will be influenced by the relative match fitness of some players, and the fact that we are at the start of another three-game week, but he does have more freedom than previously and, as a result, fewer excuses for any questionable choices. The team that starts at Coventry may well be what he considers to be his first eleven, albeit he may rest players with a view to what may be considered more winnable home games against Blues and Swansea.

The win over Oxford United just before the international break “stopped the rot” although I felt that the performance at Charlton on the previous Tuesday was a huge improvement albeit it ended in defeat. The key is taking chances which the Baggies managed to do against the Us, with Aune Heggebø showing that he is a goalscorer if given the right service. Hopefully, he will be able to take that confidence into the next few games and bang in one or two more.

The away following is likely to be somewhat down on what Albion are used to with many choosing to boycott the game due to the extortionate ticket prices – they are more than 20% higher than they were last season (£45 v £37), when they were already among the highest in the division. Those present will, I’m sure, make themselves heard and maybe witness a sixth victory in nine visits to what is now called the CBS Arena.

We can but hope.

History

The Sky Blues’ 2-0 victory over Albion at the CBS Arena in April was just their second home win over the Baggies since they left Highfield Road twenty years ago. Indeed, the Baggies were unbeaten on their first five visits to the Ricoh Arena, as it was originally named, conceding just once with the 2007/08 season being particularly memorable.

Tony Mowbray’s team that season was known for being free scoring, but they really enjoyed their two visits to Coventry’s home stadium. The league meeting came in November with the Baggies already flying high in second place, albeit eight points behind Watford. Iain Dowie’s Sky Blues were just three places and three points behind Albion so a close game was expected.

It started going wrong for the hosts in the eleventh minute when Maltese striker, Michael Mifsud, led with his elbow in a challenge with Carl Hoefkens and was sent off. Despite the one man advantage, the visitors failed to make the breakthrough before half time but, after the break, they found their rhythm. Paul Robinson unusually opened the scoring as he ran onto a through ball from Gera and produced a delightful chipped finish that his good friend, Kevin Phillips, would have been proud off. It was 2-0 before the hour mark as Ishmael Miller drove into the box and, while he was shielded from the ball by two City defenders, Filipe Teixeira nipped in to beat Konstantopoulos with a cheeky finish. The Portuguese’s second goal was all his own work as he bamboozled several defenders inside the box before firing low into the corner. The scoring was completed in the final minute with Teixeira involved again, this time squaring for Robert Koren to tap into an empty net to make it 4-0.

Three months later, Mowbray’s team returned to Coventry for a fifth round FA Cup tie just a few days after Iain Dowie had been sacked with the Sky Blues now in a relegation battle. Frankie Bunn and John Harbin were in temporary charge. Albion, meanwhile, had originally overhauled Watford at the top of the table before a couple of poor results saw them drop to 4th ahead of the return to the Ricoh.

There would be another red card for the hosts, but the Baggies were already one up after a long throw from Hoefkens found Bednár free in the box, and he squared for Chris Brunt to head home. Early into the second half, City skipper Micky Doyle went studs-in on Zoltán Gera and was shown the red card by referee, Mark Halsey. Sky Blues’ ‘keeper, Andy Marshall, gifted Albion their second when he passed the ball straight to Roman Bednár who finished with ease and the result from that point was never in doubt. The Czech scored his second from the spot after a handball by Arjan De Zeeuw. Ishmael Miller scored the fourth running onto Hoefkens’ long through ball and beating Marshall easily before he set up Gera for the fifth, with the Magic Magyar dancing between defenders before rounding the ‘keeper.

It finished 5-0 and Albion would score another five in the quarter final before losing to Portsmouth at Wembley in the semi-final, while they would go on to clinch the Championship title and a return to the Premier League. City, meanwhile, appointed Chris Coleman before their next match and escaped relegation by a singe point.

Stat Attack

Current Form

All competitions; most recent game on the right

Last matches

Last meeting

18 Apr 2025 – League Championship
Coventry City 2 (Rudoni, Grimes)
West Bromwich Albion 0

Last win

11 Dec 2024 – League Championship
West Bromwich Albion 2 (Mowatt, Grant)
Coventry City 0

Last win at Coventry City

30 Oct 2023 – League Championship
Coventry City 0
West Bromwich Albion 2 (Diangana, Thomas-Asante)

Albion’s Record against Coventry City