Coventry City will take on Bundesliga opposition on Saturday when they host Werder Bremen at The Coventry Building Society Arena in a pre-season friendly as they prepare for the upcoming campaign.
The hosts have won two, drawn one and lost one of their four friendly matches, while the visitors have won two, lost one and drawn one of their four pre-season fixtures.
Match preview
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After the heartbreak of a playoff final defeat on penalties to Luton Town in 2022-23, Mark Robins would have been hoping for his side to mount another push for promotion into the Premier League in the following season.
However, Coventry disappointingly missed out on the playoff places entirely, finishing ninth in the league with 64 points, trailing sixth-placed Norwich City by nine points.
Ahead of their fifth consecutive Championship campaign, with Robins aiming to lead the side to the Premier League for the first time since 2000-01, his team has played four friendly fixtures, drawing with Getafe, beating Stevenage, losing to Darmstadt 98, and most recently defeating Everton 3-0.
The long-standing Coventry manager will be delighted with that result against a strong Everton side, with goals from former Everton striker Ellis Simms, Ephron Mason-Clark and Victor Torp making the difference.
Robins will be looking for another positive performance against a top division side against Werder Bremen on Saturday in preparation for their Championship opener against Stoke City.
As for Werder Bremen, after a surprising fall from eighth place in 2018-19 to being relegated in 2020-21, they have quickly climbed back to the top tier of the Bundesliga in the following seasons.
They were promoted in second place in 2021-22, secured their safety with a 13th-place finish in 2022-23, and then impressively finished ninth last season, narrowly missing out on a European spot to FC Heidenheim on goal difference.
Ole Werner, who has been in charge since November 2021, will now be hoping he can guide his side to European qualification through the league for the first time since finishing third in 2009-10.
Werder Bremen have endured a mixed pre-season schedule so far, winning their opening two matches against Blumenthaler SV and FC Verden 04 before losing to Lecce and drawing to Sheffield Wednesday in their last outing.
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Team News
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Robins will be delighted with the 3-0 victory against Premier League opposition in their last match, and the Coventry manager could decide to name the same side in this one.
Last season's top performer Haji Wright, who scored 16 and assisted a further seven in the league, is likely to remain unavailable after being forced off with an injury in their friendly against Getafe.
Simms, who scored 13 times last season as well as opening the scoring against Everton last time out, is likely to start in his place, leading the line alongside Tatsuhiro Sakamoto and Mason-Clark.
Naby Keita is expected to be the only absentee of note for Werder Bremen as he is yet to return from his involvement with Guinea at the 2024 Olympics.
The visitors were 2-0 up against Sheffield Wednesday before making a whole host of changes that allowed their opponents to get back into the game, and Werner could name the same starting side here.
Coventry City possible starting lineup:
Dovin; Van Ewijk, Thomas, Binks, Bidwell; Eccles, Allen, Rudoni; Sakamoto, Simms, Mason-Clark
Werder Bremen possible starting lineup:
Zetterer; Agu, Veljkovic, Stark; Weiser, Lynen, Hansen Aaroen, Salifou, Adeh; Topp, Kownacki
We say: Coventry City 2-1 Werder Bremen
The hosts will be coming into this one full of confidence after their past victory, and with them playing at their home stadium, we expect Coventry to snatch another win here.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Ellis Stevens
