Coventry City prop up this preview at 18th with 3 points from 5 games, and the numbers behind that position are brutal: 1 scored, 10 conceded, a goal difference of minus 9. Newcastle United arrive 9 places and 5 points better off in 9th, level on goal difference with 9 scored and 9 conceded from the same number of matches.

Coventry City's patchy form band is generous if anything. Across their last 10 in all competitions they have won 4 and lost 5, scoring just 11 and shipping 16, with a clean sheet in only 3 of those 10 and a return of scoring in just 5. Strip out the two pre-season friendlies against Monaco and Espanyol and the competitive picture darkens further: a 1-0 win away to Nottingham Forest is the one bright spot among defeats that include a 0-5 home hammering by Brighton, a 0-1 home loss to Hull City and a 0-3 away reverse at Arsenal. A side averaging 0.20 scored and 2.00 conceded per game in the league, with 42.9 percent possession and just 3.7 shots on target per game across their season sample, is not one set up to trouble a team that scores regularly.

Newcastle United's steady form band fits a side that has found the net in every single one of its last 10 matches, racking up 16 goals in that span against 17 conceded, with 4 wins, 3 draws and 3 losses. The competitive results tell a story of scoring without always keeping things tight: a 2-1 win at home to Hull City and a 2-0 away win at Tottenham sit alongside a 1-4 defeat away to Leeds and draws at 2-2 with both Bournemouth and Liverpool. Clean sheets are rare for them too, just 2 of 10 in that run and only 20 percent across their season sample, but with 13 shots and 4.4 shots on target per game plus 51.9 percent possession, they look built to score against a defence as leaky as Coventry City's.

The head to head context here is really the league table and the form bands doing the talking: a side that has failed to score in half its season sample hosting one that has scored in every single one of its last 10 outings. Newcastle United's own defensive numbers, level goal difference and a mere 20 percent clean sheet rate, mean this is unlikely to be routine, but Coventry City's struggles at both ends point toward a game where the visitors create enough to win it while still being there to be got at. Expect goals, with Newcastle United doing the bulk of the scoring.