By Tony Attwood
And so with all the “it seems like only yesterday” stuff taken as said and written, off we go. And we can start with the historic results I guess, since there isn’t anyone saying “You’ve got to do something about that game in 19xx”. Whatever it was it happened a while ago and we’ve all forgotten.
Our biggest win in the past was 6-1, and they once won 2-3 (which was in 1999) at our place. But mostly Arsenal win. Of all the games we have won eight, they have won one and five have been draws.
But what is funny about looking up a match at this point in the season is how much utterly irrelevant detail there is provided. For example, Arsenal have won the opening match in each of the last four seasons but in 1993/4 we did have this match as the opening game of the season and Coventry won 0-3at Higbury. Which just goes to show.
What it goes to show I don’t know, but despite that win Coventry did not charge ahead and slaughter the league for the table ended…
Premier League Hone Away
P W D L F A W D L F A Pts
1. Manchester Un. 42 14 6 1 39 13 13 5 3 41 25 92
2. Blackburn Rovers 42 14 5 2 31 11 11 4 6 32 25 84
3. Newcastle United 42 14 4 3 51 14 9 4 8 31 27 77
4. Arsenal 42 10 8 3 25 15 8 9 4 28 13 71
5. Leeds United 42 13 6 2 37 18 5 10 6 28 21 70
6. Wimbledon 42 12 5 4 35 21 6 6 9 21 32 65
7. Sheffield Wednesday 42 10 7 4 48 24 6 9 6 28 30 64
8. Liverpool 42 12 4 5 33 23 5 5 11 26 32 60
9. Queen's Park Rangers 42 8 7 6 32 29 8 5 8 30 32 60
10. Aston Villa 42 8 5 8 23 18 7 7 7 23 32 57
11. Coventry City 42 9 7 5 23 17 5 7 9 20 28 56
But if we come forward to last season what we can find is that Coventry started out with a goalless draw with Hull City, then beat Derby away from home 3-5 and then on 23 August 2025 Coventry beat Queens Park Ranges 7-1, which must have given their fans quite a boost.
So I imagine they will be looking to get themselves moving smoothly ahead remembering that in the opening eight games of last seasons they won three, drew four and lost one. Mnd you those three wins came in successive August matches and the last two of them (both league games) saw them score 12 and concede four.
Coventry have spent the summer doing what clubs that want to get a stable mid-table season under their belts do, before they look to do anything spectacular and their purchases have looked like moves that could deliver that. The most expensive player coming in has been Caleb Yirenkyi who cost £26m from FC Nordsjaelland who played in the Danish Superleague. They also bought the goal keeper Carl Rushworth from Brighton & Hove Albion.
As for the past meetings between the two there have been 76 of these games, with Arsenal winning 43 (57%) and Coventry 14 (18%), the rest being draws. Below is the comparison table which takes last season’s results and then runs an extra line to show how they would have looked if the clubs have both played the same number of games.
| P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
| Coventry | 46 | 28 | 11 | 7 | 97 | 45 | 52 | 95 |
| Arsenal | 38 | 26 | 7 | 5 | 71 | 27 | 44 | 85 |
| AFC Comparison | 46 | 32 | 8 | 6 | 86 | 35 | 51 | 104 |
In the comparison table we take the number of games played by the team playing the most games (in this case Coventry with 46 games) and then assume that the other team in the table (Arsenal) has played that number, and that they have achieved the same level of results, goals scored etc, as they actually got across the season. So in this way we can compare how the teams have actually competed – although of course not accounting for the strength of the opposition in each case.
So what we find is that Coventry were indeed a high scoring team last season although with a weaker defence than Arsenal.
Coventry City have been making strong but steady progress as they climb up the leagues over recent seasons Nine years ago they were in Football League 2 (division 4) and they came sixth but still managed to get promoted through the play offs to the Football League 1.Then in 2018/19 they came 8th, but the following season won the league and so in 2020/21 found themselves in the Championship. In that season they came 16th, and in the following season 12th, but in 2024/25 they managed to claw their way back and again ended up fifth. Promotion to the Premier League came last season when they won the Championship scoring a remarkable 97 goa.ls
Much will depend on how good Arsenal’s preparatory work has been ahead of this match – if the players are aware of just what Coventry achieved last season and how much of an upward journey they are on, then we should be fine. But any attempt to treat them as a Championship side that has been having a bit of a good run, could see Arsenal come unstuck.
As we have seen they scored almost 100 goals last season, and their forward line will almost certainly be keen to show any watching scouts just how they do it. A certain level of caution and measuring up of the opposition would not go amiss. Any attempt to swat them aside could go seriously wrong.
On 17 August 2025 Arsenal opened their league season with a 0-1 away win at ManU., and followed that with a 5-0 home win against Leeds. A 1-0 away defeat to Liverpool was followed by an 11 match unbeaten run. A better set of prelims and then the sort of start we had last year would be most welcome.
We have a difficult start to the season. I think many may claim at home to newly promoted Coventry is a push over.
Their manager is no ‘push over’ and as a former player for Chelsky will want to prove he can beat Arsenal.