Coventry City vs Aston Villa preview: Team news, opposition lowdown and score prediction

Aston Villa travel to the CBS Arena on Wednesday night for a Midlands derby clash with Coventry City.

The two rivals meet in the third round of this season's Carabao Cup for an 8pm kick-off.

Frank Lampard's side are learning just how tough being a newly-promoted Premier League team can be so far this season.

The Sky Blues sit bottom of the table with four defeats from their opening four games.

City have scored zero goals and conceded 10, and enter this cup tie off the back of a 5-0 thrashing at the hands of Brighton.

Ahead of Wednesday night's game, Villa News has you covered with everything you need to know.

Coventry City: What can Aston Villa expect from struggling Sky Blues?

Last season saw Coventry run away with the Championship title, finishing on 95 points and scoring a whopping 97 goals.

Competing at Premier League level is tough for any newly-promoted side, but City are finding it particularly difficult so far.

As per FotMob, only Hull City (29.4 per cent) average less possession per game than Coventry's 39.3 per cent in the top flight.

Meanwhile, no team covers less distance per game than their 109.3 kilometres.

Surprisingly, they do put more than double the shots on target per game than Villa do this season, with City averaging 3.3 to the Villains' 1.5.

Lampard's men have also created six big chances to Villa's four, with the latter being the lowest of any side in the Premier League.

City's strength lies in their direct play, with their 23.3 accurate long balls per game ranking as the seventh-most in the Premier League.

The Sky Blues also love to get crosses into the box, with their 4.5 accurate ones per match placing them eighth in the top flight.

So, Unai Emery needs to formulate a gameplan that limits Coventry's ability to play long balls, as well as shutting down crosses when they get in wide areas.

But what is the latest team news emerging from both camps ahead of Wednesday night?

Star Coventry striker amongst notable Aston Villa absentees

Starting with the home side, Lampard will be without a host of important players for the visit of Aston Villa.

Taiwo Awoniyi is facing a three-game ban after being sent off for violent conduct against Brighton, and thus won't be available on Wednesday.

Haji Wright, Josh Eccles, Luke Woolfenden and ex-Villa defender Kaine Kesler-Hayden are all long-term absentees who won't play any part either.

Midfielder Frank Onyeka had to leave the Brighton defeat with a slight knock, and faces a race against time to be fit for this one.

As for Villa, Brian Madjo, Leon Goretzka and Amadou Onana are all out injured and unavailable to Emery.

Matty Cash and Pau Torres are both injury doubts too, but aren't ruled out from playing some kind of part at the CBS Arena.

So, how do we see this Midlands derby panning out?

We say: Coventry 1-2 Aston Villa

Aston Villa were on the wrong end of a 2-1 defeat to Nottingham Forest last time out, but we're backing Emery's boys to reverse that on Wednesday.

We do think Coventry will find a way to penetrate Villa's defence, but the Villains should still have too much for the Sky Blues on the night.

Emery is sure to take this one seriously given the rivalry and the fact his side have only won one in five this season, so a strong XI should be named.

Coventry feels like a prime opportunity to really kickstart an upturn in form, and we think Villa will progress to the fourth round.