I have my suspicions this line has been priced incorrectly, perhaps based on the fact he’s not played a massive amount of football in recent years while at Brentford. Onyeka is not just a tenacious ball winner and tackler, he has the ability to drive the ball forward with speed and spearhead counter attacking moves, and this often results in opposition players engaging in contact with him illegally. 

Indeed, since joining Coventry, Onyeka has been fouled an average of 2.55 times per 90. These numbers have remained fairly consistent across the whole duration of his career. Accounting for every single season he’s played, the average fouls received per 90 hovers around 2.50 times. Such an average implies there are numerous occasions where he’s being fouled 3+ times over the duration of a match.

There’s plenty of tenacity in the Preston midfield with the likes of Alistair McCann and Ben Whiteman making a cumulative 2.9 fouls per 90; the most likely candidates to commit a foul on Onyeka.

It wouldn’t surprise me if tonight is somewhat of a siege, Coventry have put themselves in a fabulous position for automatic promotion, but there will be huge motivation to tighten their grip on the automatic promotion places. This could lead to a very aggressive and attacking performance.

I’m very open to the idea of Coventry having massive amounts of territory and possession, and this is likely to create set piece opportunities via free kicks and corners. Liam Kitching is a centre back and currently taking on 1.27 shots per 90, these are very strong numbers for a player in his position. Coventry’s aerial prowess to win the first contact from set pieces is also exemplified by the fact Kitching’s centre back partner Bobby Thomas is averaging 1.20 shots per 90. 

Preston’s season has slowly but surely declined into mediocrity despite a promising start, I imagine it could be a very passive and defensive performance here. Preston conceded a cumulative 17 corners in tough away games against Middlesbrough and Ipswich, with both of Ipswich’s centre backs having 2+ shots.

0.41 of Kitching’s 1.27 shots per 90 have found the target, taking into account the variables of being at home, and playing with a high level of attacking intent against a side with little to play for, I definitely feel there’s an edge on playing the Kitching shot on target at 2/1.

There’s one other really interesting stat; Preston have conceded the most shots from set pieces in the Championship, 10 more shots than any other team. This has amounted to an average of 4.97 shots being conceded from set pieces per match.