The two areas Coventry City can hurt Aston Villa ahead of Carabao Cup showdown
Unai Emery must ensure one specific area of his Aston Villa side aren't snoozing against Coventry City.
The Villains travel to the CBS Arena on Wednesday night for a Carabao Cup third-round tie.
It's a Midlands derby that will be played with passion and intensity, with both sides desperate to claim the bragging rights.
Neither side has started 2026-27 in the way in which they would've liked, with Villa sitting 19th in the Premier League and Coventry 20th.
Despite that, should the Sky Blues soar to victory on Wednesday, it would still have to be viewed as a significant upset.
And if Emery's side are to avoid that embarrassment, then much of the responsibility will actually fall on his defensive unit.
The two areas Coventry are amongst Premier League's best in 2026-27
Coventry are winless from their opening four Premier League games this term, conceding 10 and are yet to score a league goal.
As a result, you could be forgiven for thinking that Aston Villa's defence would be in for a quiet night at the CBS.
That's likely not going to be the case, however, as proven by City's surprising performance levels in two important metrics.
As per FotMob, Coventry rank as the seventh-best team in the top flight for their 23.3 accurate long balls per game average in 2026-27.
That puts them above the likes of Man City (21.0), Brentford (20.3), Chelsea (19.3) and Manchester United (18.5).
On top of that, they also place eighth for their 4.5 accurate crosses per game average too.
So, if Villa's backline aren't switched on at all times on Wednesday night, Coventry have the ability to catch then napping.
Considering Coventry haven't scored a league goal this season, to be ahead of some of the best sides in the top flight in these metrics is impressive.
This latest renewal is the first between these two sides in a long time, but just how far back do you have to go to find Coventry and Villa's last meeting?
What is the most recent head-to-head form between Coventry and Villa?
Given the differing trajectories of these two Midlands rivals this century, rarely do Coventry and Aston Villa tussle.
In fact, the last time they met was on matchday 37 of the 2000-01 Premier League season, in which Villa ran out 3-2 winners.
Coventry have only won two of the previous seven games against Villa, dating back to April 1998.
The Villa Park outfit are currently on a three-game unbeaten run against the Sky Blues, which started with a 1-0 Premier League win in March 2000.
As per Transfermarkt, the all-time head-to-head record has Villa sitting on 30 wins to Coventry's nine, with the other 15 clashes ending in draws.
Let's hope Villa can extend that.