The Sky Blues face Fulham for the first time since 1982 tomorrow, as we celebrate our annual Jimmy Hill Day against Marco Silva’s side at the Coventry Building Society Arena for a 12:30pm kick-off in the SkyBet Championship. Here’s everything you need to know about tomorrow’s game.
Fact file:
Founded: 1879
Stadium: Craven Cottage
Capacity: 25,700
Nicknames: The Cottagers, The Lilywhites, The Whites
Address: Stevenage Road, London SW6 6HH
Pitch size: 100 x 65 metres
The opposition:
Fulham have accumulated 20 points from their opening ten games of the Championship season, putting the London club in third place – one point above the Sky Blues. Last time out, Fulham claimed a 3-1 victory versus Swansea as Aleksandar Mitrović struck a hat-trick to overcome Jamie Paterson’s consolation goal.
Tomorrow’s visitors suffered relegation from the Premier League last season, occupying 18th place, while also making it to the fourth round of both the FA Cup and Carabao Cup.
Since then, former Watford and Everton manager Marco Silva has replaced former Fulham boss Scott Parker over the summer, bringing in five new signings also. New arrivals Paulo Gazzaniga, Harry Wilson and Rodrigo Muniz all featured in Wednesday’s win over Swansea, whereas Nathaniel Chalobah and Domingos Quina have also recently joined the club.
This season, twenty-two goals in ten games has helped fire Fulham into third place in the league - winning six games, drawing two and losing two. Meanwhile, in the Carabao Cup it took penalties to separate Fulham and Leeds, with the Premier League side narrowly claiming victory.
Aleksandar Mitrović is currently in fine scoring form, topping the Championship goal scoring charts so far this season with ten goals to his name, as well as three assists.
Manager:
During his playing days, Fulham manager Marco Silva played predominantly at right-back, making his most appearances for Portuguese club Estoril.
Silva immediately demonstrated his managerial prowess after retiring as a player by being named Manager of the Year in his first season in charge of Estoril, guiding the club to a league title that season.
Silva was appointed Sporting CP boss in 2014 following two seasons in the Primera Liga with Estoril, and he guided his new club to a third place league finish to earn Champions League football as well as a Taça de Portugal in his only season at the club.
Greece became Silva’s next destination when he was appointed as Olympiacos boss in 2015, and he instantly became a success at his new club when he won his first seventeen league matches to claim the league title.
Silva’s first job in England came in 2017, when he was appointed manager at Hull City. With Hull at the bottom of the Premier League at the time of Silva’s appointment, The Tigers went on to narrowly miss out on a great escape, however Silva earned plaudits for his efforts in trying to turn around the club’s fortunes.
A short stint at Watford preceded a move to Goodison Park in 2018, where wins for Everton over the likes of Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United saw Silva lead the club to eighth place in the Premier League.
Having waited for his next challenge since departing Everton in 2019, Silva joined Fulham this summer.
Last six games:
Won – Fulham 3-1 Swansea (SkyBet Championship)
Drew – Bristol City 1-1 Fulham (SkyBet Championship)
Lost – Fulham 0 (5)-(6) 0 Leeds United (Carabao Cup)
Lost - Fulham 1-2 Reading (SkyBet Championship)
Won – Birmingham 1-4 Fulham (SkyBet Championship)
Lost - Blackpool 1-0 Fulham (SkyBet Championship)
Last time we met:
We have to look all the way back to 1982 for the last occasion where the two sides met, when the Sky Blues drew 0-0 in the League Cup at Highfield Road.
An aggregate score of 2-2 saw the Sky Blues win on the away goals rule 38 years and 11 months ago, as two goals from Jim Melrose in the first leg sent the Sky Blues into the third round.
Head-to-head record:
Sky Blues wins – 12
Draws – 9
Fulham wins – 16
Match officials:
Gavin Ward will referee tomorrow’s fixture, which will be the first time that Ward will have taken charge of a Sky Blues game this season.
For more information on tomorrow’s match officials, click HERE.
Tickets:
A crowd of over 18,000 is expected for our annual Jimmy Hill Day game tomorrow, when we celebrate the life of our legendary former manager and chairman.
Supporters can view our matchday guide for details on buying tickets by clicking HERE.
For ticket information, click here
