Coventry City are in trouble, real trouble. With 18 games left to play they sit rock bottom of the Championship table and are still seven points adrift of 21st-placed Millwall, who are perched above the relegation places.
The Sky Blues find themselves in this predicament despite winning their previous three home games in the league, which demonstrates just how awful their form was pre-Christmas.
Before this trio of victories, City looked doomed to life in League One next season, but they are clinging on to their Championship status and are clearly determined not to let go without a fight. This fight continues on Saturday as they take on another struggling side, Ipswich Town.
The visitors haven’t fared much better than their hosts this season, sitting as they do in 19th place. The reason that Town have been able to stay clear of the danger zone has been their ability to score goals – and plenty of them.
Ipswich have scored 43 goals home and away, which is just one less than table-topping West Ham, who coincidentally fell victim to Ipswich’s attacking potential on Tuesday. The Tractor Boys recorded their first win in all competitions for eight games as they humiliated the Hammers with a 5-1 demolition at Portman Road.
Over 2.5 goals have been scored in the second half in nine out of Ipswich’s 28 games and in seven of Coventry’s 28 outings.
That win for Paul Jewell’s side means that they have now completed the league double over West Ham in this campaign, which sums up their ability to rise to the occasion against the best sides, but continually underperform against the rest.
This horrible inconsistency of Ipswich’s means they are only just favourites to secure the three points against Coventry at 21/20 in bwin’s 3-way football betting market. The hosts are quoted at 5/4, while the draw is seen as unlikely at 11/5.
Betting on an Ipswich win at 21/20 is hardly worthwhile, so you could put your money on odds of 33/1 on a repeat of the 3-0 scoreline that Town won by when the two sides met earlier this season at Portman Road.
Shorter odds of 17/4 can be found, however, on Ipswich to win a game with over 2.5 goals, which looks decent given that 67% of the Tractor Boys’ league matches have seen three or more goals scored.
Despite their league position, Coventry can’t be ruled out thanks to their recent home record and the Sky Blues winning a game with over 2.5 goals looks equally possible at 27/10.
If, like me, you are struggling to decide who will come out on top in this relegation clash, then stay away from a results-based bet and plump for there to be at least three goals in the second half alone.
Over 2.5 goals have been scored in the second half in nine out of Ipswich’s 28 games and in seven of Coventry’s 28 outings. These are two of the highest rates in the entire Championship so you stand a good chance of being successful with odds of 15/4 on this happening on Saturday.
Punters joining bwin.com will receive a free £25 bet and using that on odds of 15/4 on over 2.5 goals in the second half of the game would see a return of £118.75 if successful.
New customers can register here to claim their free £25 bet or click here to see all our Championship odds.
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