Huddersfield Town 1-1 Coventry City

Had things gone differently over the past two weeks, this report would have likely contained some scathing reviews on the toothless attack of Coventry.

Huddersfield had conceded 68 goals before this game. The second-worst in the Championship. Coventry did create chances but failed to take advantage.

The first half was fairly non-descript. Huddersfield had 60% of possession, both teams with 5 shots, but the tactics from both teams stifled the game.

Huddersfield back four plus Hogg built out versus the Coventry front three. The result was an easy build into the Coventry half.

After breaking the initial press, Huddersfield pinned Coventry deeper with a front three and supporting full-backs. Hogg dictated much of the game as the deeper of the midfield three. Coventry are in their usual, deep 1-5-3-2.

The result of such a deep, pinned line is a moment like this. Coventry wins the ball, but Huddersfield are higher up the field and able to press quickly, winning the ball back in a dangerous area. The front two of Coventry struggled to get into the game or have any sustained pressure from moments like this.

The Huddersfield structure, when in possession, would allow for O'Brien to break the defensive line with a run. His run took Hamer away and allowed Koroma to drive inside and search for the overload on the right side. Again, Coventry are pinned deep with the two strikers high and isolated.

Credit to the halftime change from Robins.

A front two works well against a back three because two occupy three. In the first half, Walker and Gyokeres were man-to-man with Keogh and Sarr, plus Hogg was holding deep and covering. It allowed the full-backs to attack, whilst still controlling any Coventry counter-attack.

Taking Walker off and replacing him with Shipley made a lot of sense to connect the Coventry attack.

Almost immediately the change pays off as Gyokeres and Shipley combine, only to be denied by the post. You can see that Shipley, playing as a false striker, was able to receive the ball between the lines. Gyokeres is playing a 2v1 and the team has won the ball higher up the field, allowing the wing-backs to attack. The changed formation afforded Coventry more players to connect in the attack.