Coventry host Blackpool for this English Championship round 31 clash at Coventry Building Society Arena early Wednesday morning Beijing time. This is a battle between two mid-table teams but I see the hosts as pretty clear favorites for this match. Let's take a closer look..

Indeed, both teams have recorded 40 points so far. Coventry are in the 12th place and the visitors occupy the 13th place. However, in my power rating that illustrates the teams' overall class Coventry are better. They have not recorded the best results lately which, I believe, affects the the betting market's view here too much. They have, however, still played quite well recently. In their most recent match they challenged a decent Premier League team, Southampton away from home and fought well. They lost in the extra time 2-1. The hosts has around 70% ball possession but Coventry recorded almost as many scoring attempts (17-15) and shots on target (7-6). A performance of similar level would probably bring them a good result today. Before this match they face a good team Middlesbrough and lost 0-1 away from home as clear underdogs. However, the would have deserved at least a point after having 63% ball possession and a much more scoring attempts and shots on goal. They also recorded more than double the amount of completed passes than the hosts are and had more attacks too! The home advantage is substantial here. Blackpool have lost 4 of their latest 5 matches away from home.

Blackpool have achieved pretty good result lately but have over-performed and would not have deserved the number of points - seven - from the latest 3 matches in this league. In their most recent match the defeated Bristol City, not a very good team, 3-1 at home but the visitors had over 61% ball possession and more scoring attempts. Perhaps a draw would have been justified.. Before this match they robbed a point from a very good team Fulham - it was a 1-1 draw in London but Fulham totally dominated the match and Blackpool were very lucky to get a point.. These two good, but undeserved results seem to have led into over-valuation here offering my fans a good opportunity to place a good bet on the hosts -0.5 goals handicap! The hosts have no injuries or suspensions but Blackpool are missing Chris Maxwell, Sonny Carey, Grant Ward and Mathew Virtue because of injuries. Reese James' situation is unclear at the time of writing this.