Friday evening will see La Liga pitted against the English Championship as Getafe and Coventry City lock horns in a pre-season friendly at Oliva Nova Sport Center in Valencia.
The Sky Blues will conclude their week-long training camp in Spain with a tough test against the Azulones, who have established themselves as a top-flight club once again in recent times.
Match preview
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Since their promotion to the top table of Spanish football after winning the playoffs in 2017, Getafe have become part of the furniture in La Liga, with Friday's "hosts" enjoying a 12th-placed finish during the 2023-24 term following three consecutive placements of 15th between 2021 and 2023.
For those more accustomed to watching the English game, the arrival of Manchester United loanee and former England international Mason Greenwood at Estadio Coliseum was the biggest talking point for the Azulones last term, with the 22-year-old bagging eight goals and six assists in 33 La Liga appearances.
Although Greenwood stole most of the limelight, Borja Mayoral was Getafe's leading marksman by some stretch during the 2023-24 campaign, netting 17 goals across all competitions, with the former Real Madrid man equalling his impressive tally of strikes for Italian giants Roma during the 2020-21 season.
Returning after a mixed 13-month spell at La Liga rivals Valencia, Pepe Bordalas is back in the managerial hotseat for the Azulones, whom he previously managed between September 2016 and May 2021, guiding his troops to promotion from the Segunda Division at the first attempt.
The Spaniards have moved decisively in the opening half of the summer window to re-sign a loanee from last season, with former Bournemouth man Diego Rico joining on a free transfer after providing a commendable total of seven assists from left-back during 2023-24.
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After missing out on promotion to the Premier League due to defeat in a penalty shootout with Luton Town at Wembley in May 2023, Coventry City were well in the hunt for top-six contention last season in the Championship, however the East Midlands outfit eventually fell short of the playoff positions.
The summer departures of star players Gustavo Hamer and Viktor Gyokeres to Sheffield United and Sporting Lisbon impacted the Sky Blues' start to the term, whilst an emotional run to the semi-finals of the FA Cup certainly drained a thin squad near the end of the season, leaving their second-tier campaign to tail off significantly.
Mark Robins has waved goodbye to some of his key men over the off-season, with Matt Godden and Callum O'Hare leaving to Charlton Athletic and Sheffield United respectively, meaning that even fewer players remain from the club's League One title-winning campaign of 2019-20.
As well as high-profile departures, the Sky Blues have welcomed a pair of talented attackers from clubs who are plying their trade in League One this season, with Jack Rudoni and Ephron Mason-Clark joining from Huddersfield Town and Peterborough United.
Friday night will see Coventry play their second pre-season fixture of the summer following a behind-closed-doors clash with League Two outfit Port Vale at Loughborough University last week, when goals from Ellis Simms, Justin Obikwu and new arrival Rudoni sealed a comfortable 3-0 success.
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Team News
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Owing to a knee injury sustained at the beginning of March, Getafe's leading goalscorer Mayoral will be unavailable for selection on Friday night.
Supporters of the Azulones could see a host of new signings in action for the first time in Valencia, including winger Alex Sola and goalkeeper Jiri Letacek.
Following his spell at this summer's Copa America with the United States, Haji Wright has linked up with Coventry in Spain this week, although the 26-year-old might be rested for this match.
The Sky Blues will be delighted to have Tatsuhiro Sakamoto back in contention for game time after the 27-year-old attacker suffered a season-ending injury in February.
With the start of competitive action still over three weeks away, Robins is expected to hand a host of youngsters minutes on Friday night, so Coventry fans should expect to see the likes of Kai Andrews and Bradley Stretton on the pitch.
Getafe possible starting lineup:
Soria; Djene, Aberdin, Alderete, Alvarez; Milla, Alena, Risco, Martin, Santiago; Jorge
Coventry City possible starting lineup:
Wilson; Van Ewijk, Thomas, Binks, Bidwell; Sheaf, Andrews, Allen; Sakamoto, Simms, Mason-Clark
We say: Getafe 1-1 Coventry City
Having already played a friendly this month, Coventry should be sharper than their Spanish opponents, giving the Sky Blues an advantage for this behind-closed-doors clash.
Getafe are missing their main striker and are likely to field an XI containing academy players, so we cannot imagine the Spaniards collecting a win.
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Coventry City win with a probability of 44.43%. A win for Getafe had a probability of 29.48% and a draw had a probability of 26.1%.
The most likely scoreline for a Coventry City win was 0-1 with a probability of 10.97%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (9%) and 0-2 (7.96%). The likeliest Getafe win was 1-0 (8.56%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.41%). The actual scoreline of 0-0 was predicted with a 7.6% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole correctly predicted a draw in this match.
Carter White
