Sky Sports’ EFL expert David Prutton has predicted goals galore in Friday evening’s intriguing meeting between Coventry City and newly-promoted Oxford United.

Optimism has been humming around the CBS Arena following a promising summer transfer window which has included the acquisitions of proven Championship talent in Brandon Thomas-Asante and Jack Rudoni, although Coventry flattered to deceive in their opening encounter by falling to a slender 1-0 defeat away at Stoke City.

They did, however, offer some form of redemption by advancing past Bristol City by the same scoreline in the first round of the Carabao Cup, coincidentally teeing up a second-round draw at home to Oxford on August 27 after the U’s claimed beat off Peterborough United 2-0.

Meanwhile, Oxford enjoyed the finest of starts to their first Championship crusade in more than 20 years as they beat Norwich City by two goals to nil, with Mark Harris and Cameron Brannagan scoring either side of the interval to inspire a memorable opening-day victory at the Kassam Stadium.

Coventry will be vying to chalk up their first three points of the season on home soil on Friday night, whereas Oxford may have every chance of continuing their strong start to life in the second-tier – and Prutton has given his own thoughts on how he thinks the contest could pan out.

Sky Sports’ Championship Predictions podcast duo Simeon Gholam and Prutton both took time to preview the showdown, citing Oxford’s inaugural victory over Norwich and Coventry’s disappointing opening-day defeat.

“Oxford, about as dreamy a return as dreams can be after 25 years out of the second-tier, beat Norwich of course and what a confidence boost that will give them for competing at this level after being tipped by many for relegation, so that will make them feel good for this trip to the CBS Arena,” Gholam began.

Prutton weighed in by saying: “What they [Oxford] did to Borja Sainz and Josh Sargent, two key men for Norwich City. Twenty touches between them in the game, which goes to show how good they were at stopping the opposition.

“And the celebration that came from doing it at that level for the first time in a very, very long time was wonderful to see in the first game of the Championship, of course,” he continued.

“So plenty to like about that and plenty to give Mark Robins food for thought ahead of Friday. Coventry haven’t necessarily started too well.”

Ghoulam said ahead of the fixture: “The last time these two sides met, Coventry gave them a 6-2 rollocking in the FA Cup in January, so not even that long ago. It’s also their first ever meeting in the second-tier,”

To conclude the discourse, Prutton issued his prediction for Friday’s affair. “I’m going to go for Coventry 2-2 Oxford,” he said.

There are some interesting match-ups taking place across the weekend.

Derby versus Middlesbrough invariably promises to be a tasty affair given the bad blood between the two clubs over the infamous Steve Gibson and Mel Morris saga. The fixture between West Bromwich Albion and Leeds United could be a real interesting one too, while Sunderland and Sheffield Wednesday should assure an eye-catching showdown amid the transfer tussles the two have engaged in this summer.

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That said, Coventry versus Oxford does look like it could be the match of the weekend, and Prutton’s prediction of multiple goals is more than reasonable. Both sides play with the handbrake off and at a high intensity on and off the ball, they are both extremely well coached and each possesses outstanding attacking talent, too.

Thomas-Asante, Haji Wright and Ellis Simms might well be as good as they come in the way of Championship forward lines, whereas impressive U’s attackers such as Tyler Goodrham, Ruben Rodrigues and Malcolm Ebiowei are supported by a strong midfield containing the likes of Brannagan, Will Vaulks and Idris El Mizouni.

There may be no division more difficult to predict than the Championship, but it is nonetheless likely that this weekend’s opening fixture will provide plenty of entertainment and a few goals to boot.