- 1 Coventry City vs Aston Villa : Coventry still blank in the Premier League, Aston Villa finally got off the mark on matchday four
- 2 Coventry City : no goals, no points and no clean sheet
- 3 Aston Villa : first Premier League goal on 12 September, but still another defeat
- 4 Football Prediction Coventry City vs Aston Villa
- 5 First, a word on our free predictions
- 6 No commitment from us
- 7 Information that can change
- 8 Your role
- 9 Responsible gambling first
- 10 Legal age
- 11 About the images…
Coventry City vs Aston Villa : Coventry still blank in the Premier League, Aston Villa finally got off the mark on matchday four 
Coventry City have not scored a single goal in their first three Premier League games. Aston Villa got their first league goal on 12 September, in a 1-2 defeat to Nottingham Forest.
The two clubs meet in the third round of the EFL Cup on Wednesday 16 September, with kick-off at 21:00 CEST. The tie is at the Coventry Building Society Arena, over one leg only.
Aston Villa enter at this stage because they are playing in Europe this season. All nine English clubs involved in continental competition were given byes through the first two rounds.
Coventry had to get past Plymouth Argyle to reach this point, winning 4-2 away. That is their only victory in all competitions so far this season.
This third round features 19 Premier League clubs among the 32 still standing. So the CBS Arena clash is one of the all-top-flight ties in the round.
The gap between the two runs of form was underlined on a Champions League night. Villa won 3-2 at Bruges on 8 September, rediscovering a cutting edge the league has refused to give them since the season started.
Knockout football gives the loser nowhere to hide. One night decides who moves on to the fourth round.
Frank Lampard now takes on a side that has scored three times in Europe after barely finding the net in the league. A single-leg tie rarely papers over a clear lack of squad depth.
Coventry City : no goals, no points and no clean sheet 
Coventry opened their campaign with a 3-0 defeat at the Emirates Stadium. The promoted side then lost 1-0 at home to Hull City, went down 1-0 at the Etihad Stadium and have just suffered a heavy 0-5 home loss to Brighton.
It could hardly have started any worse for Frank Lampard and Coventry.
Three games, three defeats, five goals conceded and none scored: that leaves Coventry bottom of the table. Only the 1919-20 season saw the club begin with four straight losses.
The promoted side sit last in the standings, pointless after three matches. That is not the sort of company any club wants after stepping up to the top flight.
One previous case does soften the picture, though. Crystal Palace, the only side in Premier League history to lose their first four games without scoring, still finished 11th in 2017-18.
The trip to Manchester also showed more than just a team under siege. Lampard’s men forced Gianluigi Donnarumma into several saves before Erling Haaland settled it with a header.
The issue is entirely in the opposition box, not their own. Coventry have conceded five goals in three matches, which is better than several sides above them, but they are still waiting for their first clean sheet this season, cup football included.
The injury list makes life harder for the staff in the weeks ahead. Haji Wright (thigh), Kaine Kesler-Hayden (thigh), Luke Woolfenden (knee) and Josh Eccles are all out.
Taiwo Awoniyi is still the man expected to get them going, with Jack Rudoni and Ephron Mason-Clark alongside him. Stephen Mfuni, on loan from Manchester City, and new signing Sidiki Cherif add a little more depth, though not enough.
The 4-2 win at Plymouth at least showed they can score when the game opens up. A knockout tie against a side likely to rotate is exactly that sort of game.
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Aston Villa : first Premier League goal on 12 September, but still another defeat 
Aston Villa conceded four at Brighton on the opening day, then lost 1-0 to Arsenal before a 0-0 draw with Hull City. Four matches, one goal scored — that came on 12 September in a 1-2 defeat to Nottingham Forest.
The attacking numbers back up the sense of a side stuck in neutral. They are 19th in the league for expected goals (2.6) and 18th for touches in the opposition box (45).
The issue is volume, not quality. Villa are simply not creating enough dangerous chances to expect the floodgates to open by accident.
The trip to Bruges ended that run at the best possible time. John McGinn got them rolling, Nicolas Jackson found the net and Villa came away from Belgium with a 3-2 win.
Unai Emery called it a big step forward, and the schedule backs him up on one key point. His players finally scored three times in a competitive match this season.
The club also arrive with a solid recent cup record. Their Europa League semi-final against Nottingham Forest last season ended in a 4-1 aggregate win.
They are still short-handed for this Midlands trip, though. Leon Goretzka, Amadou Onana and Johan Manzambi are nursing knee injuries, Brian Madjo has an ankle problem, while Matty Cash is carrying muscle fatigue.
The summer 2026 window brought in three immediate additions. Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Taylor Harwood-Bellis have strengthened the back line, while Ibrahim Mbaye arrived from Paris Saint-Germain for 47 million pounds.
Joao Gomes served the final match of a three-game ban on 12 September. The Brazilian midfielder is therefore available again for this cup tie, giving Emery proper rotation without lowering the level too much.
Probable Coventry City line-up: Not available at the time of publication.
Probable Aston Villa line-up: Not available at the time of publication.
Football Prediction Coventry City vs Aston Villa
Our prediction : Aston Villa to win
Villa scored three times at Bruges in the Champions League and finally opened their league account against Nottingham Forest on 12 September — one goal in a 1-2 defeat. The attack is still brittle against an organised side, but the quality gap with Coventry is still obvious.
Coventry are yet to keep a clean sheet this season and will be without four players for several weeks through injury. Joao Gomes returning from suspension gives Emery the chance to rest key men without weakening the side.
The promoted club have only one win since the restart, that came in the previous round at Plymouth. Villa, by contrast, have just beaten a Champions League club on their own patch.
The balance of power between a Coventry side missing four players and the Europa League winners is pretty clear. Take Aston Villa at the CBS Arena.
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