Tottenham v Coventry: Preview, predicted line-ups and team news

Tottenham have gone six Premier League games without a win and the home crowd is running short of patience. The hosts have drawn three and lost three, picking up three points from a possible 18.

The latest result was a 1-1 draw at Manchester United on 10 October. It was the first goal Spurs had scored in three games, and it came in a season where all three of their goals have arrived between the 76th and 90th minutes.

Coventry visit on Monday night in much better heart. They have won their last two league games, and the most recent was a 4-1 home win over Newcastle on 12 October.

Spurs have scored 0.5 goals per game and conceded 1.5. Four of their six matches have ended with them failing to score. At the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium they have drawn one and lost two, scoring twice and conceding five.

Their recent-form numbers are better than the results. Spurs average 13.8 shots a game, 3.7 of them on target, with 58.2% possession and an expected goals figure of 1.1 for against 1.43 expected against. They create chances. They just do not finish them, and they concede too easily.

Coventry started with four straight defeats, including a 5-0 home loss to Brighton on 13 September, and scored in none of those four games. A 1-0 win at Nottingham Forest on 19 September, followed by the Newcastle result, has changed the mood.

The visitors average 0.8 goals a game and concede 1.8, and they are much stronger at home (1.3 scored per game) than away (0.3). They have scored once in three league trips. They have 38% of the ball on average and 10 shots a game, so they will sit deep and hit on the break.

Tottenham's last six read no wins, three draws and three defeats, with three goals scored and nine conceded. Coventry's read two wins and four defeats, with five scored and 11 conceded. On the surface Coventry are the side with momentum, and they have won both of their last two games. But the shape of those results matters. Their four goals against Newcastle came at home, and they have scored once in three away games all season. Spurs have the better underlying numbers, with 1.1 expected goals for against Coventry's 1.06, and a better defensive expected figure too (1.43 against 1.75). If Spurs finally convert some of their chances, form will mean little.

Tottenham have three points from six games, and Coventry have six from six. That is a three-point gap, which puts the visitors ahead of the hosts in the lower reaches of the table. Neither side has any cushion over the relegation places this early, so a win matters more than the number of games played suggests.

For Tottenham, a seventh game without a win would deepen a crisis that is already costing them ground on the sides above. For Coventry, victory in north London would make it three league wins in a row and take them well clear of the bottom of the table.

The two sides have met twice in the last ten meetings, both in cup competitions, and Tottenham have won both. The average is three goals a meeting, and both games produced three or more. Both teams scored in one of the two, a 2-1 Tottenham win at the Coventry Building Society Arena in the League Cup on 18 September 2024. Spurs also won 3-0 at Tottenham's former home in the FA Cup on 5 January 2013.

Two meetings is a thin sample, and neither was a league game. The goal-heavy history does not match what these sides are producing now. Spurs have gone over 2.5 goals in two of six this season, and Coventry in three of six. A low-scoring home win is a more likely correct score than another 2-1.

The biggest gap is territorial. Spurs average 58.2% possession and 7.0 corners a game, against Coventry's 38% and 3.7. Spurs will have the ball and Coventry will defend in numbers.

The second is defensive. Coventry have conceded 11 goals in six games, 1.75 expected against, and 4-5 goals in their two worst results. Spurs have scored too few to take advantage so far. Coventry also failed to score in four of six games, so the question for Spurs is whether they can score first. They have not led at half-time all season, with every goal arriving after the 75th minute.

The game kicks off at 20:00 BST on Monday 19 October at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. In the UK it is shown on Sky Sports where selected. A specific channel has not been confirmed yet, and this page will be updated closer to kick-off.

The value sits in the under. Neither side scores freely, Spurs have not scored more than once in a league game this season, and Coventry's one big away win was 1-0. The home side are the likelier winners but are hard to trust at short odds, so we back the unders and a home-or-draw safety net.