Just one team stand between Coventry City and a return to the Premier League after a 22- year absence. They face fellow underdogs Luton Town in the Championship play-off final at Wembley on Saturday for a place in the 2023-24 Premier League. Whatever the result, there’s one man you feel cannot lose: Viktor Gyökeres.
Should Coventry win, they’ll have a player ready to burst onto the Premier League scene in Sky Blue. Lose, then the top-flight vultures will be scrapping for the undoubted talents of the Swedish forward ahead of August’s season start.
While it was Middlesbrough’s Chuba Akpom who won the Championship Player of the Year award this season, no single player has had a greater impact for their club than Gyökeres has for Coventry.
Akpom (28) was the only player to better Gyökeres’ 21- goal tally in the Championship this season. Watching his goals from 2022-23, it’s clear that there’s no specific ‘type’ of goal that he’s known for, which is a good thing for a striker who can often be forced to make something out of very little. That’s not a slight on Coventry and the players that surround him in the side, but fans of the club will be the first to admit that their counter-attacking style is only really made effective due to the talents of Gyökeres.
Mark Robins’ side thrive in the chaos of transition. If the opponent commit men forward only to lose the ball in the attacking third of the pitch, you best believe that Coventry are going to swarm up the pitch quickly. Gyökeres – quick on the turn, a powerful, fast runner with the ball at his feet and a threat in front of goal – is a major problem for opposition defences when these transitions occur.
Coventry have attempted 46 shots from fast breaks in the Championship this season – that’s nearly double the next most prolific side in the competition (Sheffield United & Middlesbrough: 25).
The Sky Blues are one of the most direct sides in the Championship across 2022-23. This isn’t to mean that they are a long-ball team – far from it, in fact.
Coventry have a direct speed of 1. 68 metres/second – the second highest in the Championship, indicating their ability to hit sides quickly in transition. Interestingly, play-off final opponents Luton are the only side with a higher direct speed (1. 81 m/s), making the cat-and-mouse style battle to reach the Premier League on Saturday a mouth-watering prospect for the neutral. Overall, 32% of the distance Coventry have covered in their open-play sequences this season has been upfield – the fifth highest. In contrast, champions Burnley’s directness was only 19%.
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Just one team stand between Coventry City and a return to the Premier League after a 22- year absence. They face fellow underdogs Luton Town in the Championship play-off final at Wembley on Saturday for a place in the 2023-24 Premier League. Whatever the result, there’s one man you feel cannot lose: Viktor Gyökeres.
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