Portsmouth v Coventry City: Back Mason-Clark to produce again at 17/10 | OneFootball

EFL Championship

Ryan Deeney previews Portsmouth v Coventry City in the EFL Championship

Betting Tipster Ryan Deeney looks ahead to the early Championship clash between Portsmouth and Coventry City with both sides beginning to look up rather than down...

Football... Only Bettor. Watch the latest episode now.

🔗 Spotify

Cov looking for best run of form

Frank Lampard and Coventry City are hoping to continue their upward momentum when they travel south to Portsmouth on Saturday.

The Sky Blues parted company with long-serving gaffer Mark Robins following an indifferent start to the league campaign, yet their underlying numbers were amongst the best in the division.

It therefore looked a great landing spot for whichever manager took over, Coventry prime for a new manager bounce. Lampard's side have collected seven points in his opening four matches, a strong start.

Victory in the early kick-off against the club his uncle 'Arry led to FA Cup glory would give Coventry their best run of form of the season and there is good reason to back them - they have accrued 9.6xG in his four games in charge compared to 2.6xG conceded with some previously underperforming talent shining.

Mousinho overcoming problems

Things haven't been quite as positive for Portsmouth, who find themselves in the bottom three heading into the weekend.

John Mousinho has been backed by the club despite early season difficulties brought on by a decent squad churn and injury issues at both ends of the pitch.

Those issues remain at present. The return of Colby Bishop has been well-timed given the absence of a number of forwards while Regan Poole is touch-and-go to start having been an unused substitute during their 4-0 hammering at Derby County. His involvement would help solidify a defence that has often included midfielders Terry Devlin and Marlon Pack of late.

It's understandable, therefore, as to why they come into this at 5/2 underdogs. Yet they collected eight points from the four games preceding the Pride Park massacre and have lost just one of their last six at Fratton Park, their defensive numbers strong considering their league position. This isn't a foregone conclusion.

EMC may play up Pompey

It's difficult to predict exactly which way the game will swing, so I'm instead going to back somebody to have an impact on the scoresheet.

Ephron Mason-Clark was struggling to cement himself as a key player following his move from Peterborough United but has shone since the arrival of Lampard with four goal contributions in four matches. Will his hot streak continue? There are reasons to say yes.

The first is that Coventry are creating chances regularly both recently and across the season, so Mason-Clark is going to find himself in positions to create or finish chances. He has a combined xG+xA of over four in Lampard's four matches - he's not overperforming the underlying numbers.

The second is that while Pompey have worked around it well, their back four will include at least two players playing out of position or just returning from injury and potentially a third that is struggling sufficiently that a midfielder is starting ahead of him. As well as the unit have performed recently, playing such in-form, quality opposition is going to be difficult for a side that doesn't have round pegs in round holes.

Recommended bets