Birmingham City were involved in a nailbiter at home to Swansea City, the Blues requiring a 90th minute equalizer to earn a point. The game proved the team’s mettle, as they showed signs of getting better after starting the season rough. The story’s a similar one in League Two, where two of the promotional sides are riding high. Oldham Athletic and Barnet are joint bottom, accumulating 13 points from their opening nine fixtures.
Coventry City began the season as a scoring juggernaut in the Championship. For all the goals they have netted, it’s more than any other team in the league this season. Still, they are understandably wary, having just played two friendlies that ended in goalless draws leaving clear areas to improve so far. Next up Coventry will face Derby County, who as it stands, sit deep in the league’s bottom three.
Birmingham’s Late Heroics
Birmingham City scored a last-gasp goal to steal a point against Swansea City, earning a draw that sent their home fans into raptures. This result shows the fight in this group and lays the stage for a huge test with Coventry City coming in.
David Prutton couldn’t stress enough how vital Birmingham’s impressive streak is.
“Birmingham needed that late goal against Swansea, and the late scenes we saw were fantastic. This will be another good test of two teams.” – David Prutton
With hopes of a top-six finish going into the season, Birmingham has made a better start than many would’ve expected. As they get ready to take on Coventry, all eyes are on them to deliver a much more steady performance from here on out.
Coventry’s Offensive Prowess
Over the past few months, Coventry City has established itself as one of the most dynamic attacking forces in the Championship. They rank first in the league for goals scored this season. Make no mistake, their prowess in front of goal has been what’s distinguished this team from the rest. Their two 0-0 draws show that they still have work to do in refining their offensive strategies to break down opposing defenses.
As they prepare to face Derby County, Coventry’s confidence will be high — not least because of their recent scoring form. They can’t let their guard down on hubris as they work toward delivering more uniform performance.
“Coventry are just marginally further along in where they want to be this season. With Birmingham there was a lot of presumption they would blast their way through, almost like Ipswich did. But not quite yet. 1-1 here for me.” – David Prutton
League Two Developments
In League Two, two of the promoted clubs, Oldham and Barnet, have earned 13 points from 1-1-7 starts to their season. Their impressive starts illustrate the competitive nature of the league this season. This weekend, they will go head-to-head, and it should be an interesting battle.
This past Saturday, Wrexham secured their most important win yet, beating Norwich City. This win — if anything — has injected the team with a much-needed dose of momentum. Though Wrexham have found life at home difficult so far this season, their statement victory might prove a catalyst to start a new beginning.
Leyton Orient still end up through a sticky season by the play-off final loss. By comparison, Notts County just the other day qualified for the fourth round with a convincing 4-0 win at Crawley Town, not that all of this seems to bother Stevenage, who right now are second in the table.
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