Southend welcome a struggling Coventry side to Roots Hall on Saturday afternoon – a match that looks to be the perfect opportunity for the hosts to continue their impressive home form.
Former Premier League manager Phil Brown has seen his Southend side enjoy a decent campaign so far. The Shrimpers haven’t exactly set the world alight, but they’ve gone about their business and picked up a number of good results. As they currently sit in 10th position, just a single point outside of the play-off spots, it’s likely that the Essex side will be pleased with the way things have gone.
Coventry, on the other hand, can’t seem to catch a break as their dismal campaign continues. Right from the off this season, The Sky Blues have had problems both on and off the field and, although they aren’t bottom of the league, it appears as though they’ll be well and truly involved in a relegation scrap.
From a betting point of view, this looks an excellent chance for Southend to take all three points and they are worth backing to do just that.
The hosts have lost just two league games at home this season and are now unbeaten in no less than seven matches in the league when playing on their own patch. Their defensive record of just 11 goals conceded at home is one of the better ones in this division and, having scored 14 goals at Roots Hall, they’re proving to be a useful side going forward too.
Under Brown’s stewardship, Southend have become a hard team to beat, especially at home. They concede few goals and have made a habit of getting wins without giving much away – their last three victories on home soil have all been to nil. A home draw against Swindon wasn’t the best result in the world last time out , but the time before that they were very impressive when beating high-flying Bradford by three goals to nil – a similar performance here would surely see them canter over the line.
When we add in Coventry’s recent form, it becomes even harder to look past the hosts. Mark Venus, current caretaker boss, has seen his side lose each of their last three league matches, while they looked all over the place as they crashed out of the FA Cup (4-0 loss) against League Two Cambridge last Sunday. They may have taken a 1-0 victory over Crawley Town in Wednesday’s Checkatrade Trophy match, but that’s hardly anything to write home about and normal service – which is Coventry offering very little – is likely to resume on Saturday.
The hosts will know what a good opportunity this is and they are fancied to continue their push towards the play-off places by coming away with all three points.
See more League One tips here.