Team guides · Coventry City
Coventry City FPL team guide 2026/27
Squad, fixture runs and rotation partners
Schedule pulse
Difficulty across the next 5 listed fixtures.
Attack vs defence
Bawler's own split — the same run can be kind to one end and cruel to the other.
Rated 1 (easiest) to 5 from the opponent's attacking and defensive strength, not the official single number. How it's built →
Rotation partners
Own one from each pair and start whichever has the kinder week.
Scored by taking the easier of the two clubs' fixtures each gameweek across the listed horizon.
Fixture run
Every listed fixture ahead, coloured by official FPL difficulty.
Latest updates
Coventry officially confirmed Hamer's return on 11 August on a long-term contract, fee reported at roughly £6m (c.€7m) after two earlier bids were rejected. The 29-year-old made 132 appearances in his 2020-23 spell and was Player of the Year in both 2021-22 and 2022-23. Hamer said: "I'm buzzing, it's the move I wanted to make."
FPL: A first-choice-calibre central/attacking midfielder arrives who was Lampard's top target — he should start regularly and is a set-piece and creativity candidate. Squeezes the minutes of Torp, Rudoni and Sakamoto in the midfield rotation.
In an interview published 12 August, Frank Lampard said of Wright: "I felt quite quickly that he's a No. 9 and he prefers to be in that position too... with his speed, size and ability to run in behind defenses." Wright scored 18 goals in 40 games in the promotion season and has been linked with West Ham, but Lampard has told the hierarchy he wants to keep his key players.
FPL: Reinforces Wright as the lone central striker rather than a wide/rotational option, and lowers (without eliminating) deadline-day exit risk. No change to his existing role — he stays the primary Coventry attacking asset.
Oliver Dovin has not played competitively since rupturing an ACL in March 2025 and had a confirmed setback in February. Named on the teamsheet on 18 July but watched from the stands; Ben Wilson played all 90.
FPL: Dovin at £4.0 is a trap until he proves fitness — Wilson is the interim, Rushworth the intended #1.
Coventry agreed a fee of £22.5m rising toward £30m on 28 July, eclipsing the £17m Amenda record. Rushworth was their loan Player of the Season in 2025/26 with 17 Championship clean sheets. Not yet officially announced by the club.
FPL: Once completed, Rushworth is the intended first-choice keeper. Do not build around any current Coventry keeper until this resolves.
Tracked daily from cited sources. News for every club is on team news.
Manager & style
Base 4-2-3-1 with reported flexibility to shift to 3-4-3 or 3-5-2 by opponent - a deliberate departure from the more rigid 4-3-3 of his Chelsea days. High-energy, aggressive/direct pressing; credited with 'setting the Championship's tempo' in the 2025/26 promotion season. Possession-dominant (Coventry dominated the ball but 'lacked a cutting edge' in the 0-0 vs Northampton on 18 Jul). NOTE: no source addresses whether he will adapt to a more conservative approach for the Premier League step-up - do not assume either way. Signed a new contract through 2029 in July 2026 after summer interest from other clubs. Named Championship Manager of the Season 2025/26
Usual shape: 4-2-3-1
Summer transfers
In
| Player | Pos | From | Fee | Expected role |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loum Tchaouna | RW | Burnley | £20m | Club-record-scale signing, expected starting right winger; already being integrated (noted crossing under pressure vs Northampton) |
| Aurele Amenda | CB | Eintracht Frankfurt | £15.4m | Likely straight into the XI, competing with Woolfenden, Latibeaudiere and Kitching |
| Frank Onyeka | CM/DM | Brentford | £6.8m | Premier League-experienced double-pivot midfielder, likely starter alongside captain Matt Grimes |
| Nsemi Bassega | CF | Wycombe Wanderers | Free | Squad depth / development |
| Elijah Briscoe | CF | Aston Villa | Undisclosed | Development signing |
| Billy-Ray Cullinane | LB | Brighton & Hove Albion | Undisclosed | Left-back depth behind Jay Dasilva |
| Harrison Gray | CAM | Swindon Town | Undisclosed | Development signing |
| Victor Madu | CB | Norwich City | Undisclosed | Squad depth |
| Jimmy Holman | CB | Eastbourne Town | Undisclosed | Development signing |
| Jack Ruddy | GK | Undisclosed | Undisclosed | Goalkeeping depth |
Out
| Player | Pos | To | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bradley Collins | GK | Bristol City | Free (contract expired) |
| Isaac Moore | — | Walsall (loan) | Loan |
| Callum Perry | — | Cambridge United (loan) | Loan |
| Norman Bassette | CF | KVC Westerlo (loan) | Loan |
Current injuries
No injuries were flagged in this guide's sources at research time.
Injury picture as of 30 July 2026 — availability moves fast in pre-season, so confirm against official team news.
Expected XI & selection battles
Formation: 4-2-3-1
- GK Oliver Dovin
- RB Milan van Ewijk
- CB Bobby Thomas
- CB Aurele Amenda
- LB Jay Dasilva
- CM Frank Onyeka
- CM Matt Grimes (captain)
- RW Loum Tchaouna
- AM Jack Rudoni
- LW Tatsuhiro Sakamoto or Ephron Mason-Clark
- ST Haji Wright
Battles to watch
- LOW CONFIDENCE XI - no beat reporter has published a predicted lineup, and both friendlies so far were rotation-heavy (Coventry fielded two different outfield sides vs AFC Wimbledon)
- Left wing: Tatsuhiro Sakamoto vs Ephron Mason-Clark, with the £20m Tchaouna's arrival squeezing the wide areas
- Centre-back alongside Bobby Thomas: Amenda vs Luke Woolfenden vs Joel Latibeaudiere vs Liam Kitching - four-way, unsettled
- No.10: Jack Rudoni vs Victor Torp vs Josh Eccles
- Right-back: Milan van Ewijk vs Kaine Kesler-Hayden
- Striker: Haji Wright is first choice but Ellis Simms and Brandon Thomas-Asante both had strong 2025/26 spells (Simms 5 goals in 3 matches, Nov 2025 Player of the Month; Thomas-Asante 6 goals in 6, Oct 2025 POTM)
Set-piece takers
FPL winners & losers
Research calls from the sources below, not model output — the model's numbers for these players are on predicted points.
Key uncertainties
The honest list — what this guide could not pin down as of 30 July 2026. Any of these can change the FPL picture before Gameweek 1:
- No reliable current (post-mid-July) injury list could be found for the first-team squad - the injuries array is empty because nothing could be VERIFIED, not because the squad is confirmed fully fit
- No confirmed GW1 starting XI - the XI above is inference from squad composition plus partial preseason team news, not reported. Both friendlies played so far were rotation-heavy
- Penalty taker and corner/free-kick takers are not reliably confirmed by primary sources - only thin, single-source claims
- Whether Lampard adapts to a more conservative Premier League approach - completely unaddressed in available sources
- Haji Wright's exact preseason return date and involvement level post-World Cup (USA reached the Round of 16, eliminated by Belgium) - not found. He does not appear among scorers in either friendly
- Gustavo Hamer (Sheffield United) return and Sorba Thomas (Stoke, ~€25m) are both live but UNCONFIRMED incoming rumours - do not model either at Coventry
- Wikipedia listed no permanent sales; the only confirmed departure is Bradley Collins on a free after his contract expired. A promoted club with no meaningful sales is unusual, so late-window outgoings remain possible
- The £5.5m top price band (Haji Wright, Ephron Mason-Clark) comes from a club-site announcement seen only via a search snippet - treat the exact figure as probable rather than confirmed
- 2025/26 assist totals came from a single aggregator with a minor internal inconsistency (Rudoni 7 goals + 10 assists vs a reported combined '15') - likely a league-only vs all-competitions scope difference
- Three predicted-lineup aggregator sites (Starting11, Football-Lineups, Fomelabo) returned mutually inconsistent XIs naming different goalkeepers - all appear auto-generated and were not used
- Espanyol (8 Aug) and Monaco (14 Aug) friendlies had not been played at time of research - they are the best remaining chance of a genuine XI signal before GW1
Sources
- Northampton Town 0-0 Coventry City match report — 2026-07-18
- Coventry City F.C. (squad, as of 16 July 2026) — 2026-07-16
- Manager line-up complete for 2026/27 season — 2026-07-13
- 2026-27 Coventry City F.C. season — 2026-07
- Coventry City news (Lampard contract to 2029, Hamer talks, fixtures) — 2026-07
- 2025-26 Coventry City F.C. season — 2026
A point-in-time research snapshot compiled 30 July 2026, showing the six most recent of the sources the research drew on. It does not update in real time — line-ups, fitness and transfers can all move before the deadline, so always confirm against official team news. All 20 club guides are on team guides.
FPL is a free fantasy game — this is squad research, not betting advice.
Updated 13 August 2026, 07:21 UK · Source: Official FPL API