Hood morning and welcome to your latest edition of the EFL Championship Roundup, where hoddle headquarters takes a look at all things second-tier English football.
We’re just over 25% of the season already
– crazy! And while it’s still early days, this season’s brought some big surprises like Charlton in the top six and Sheffield United sitting below the drop. We’re still a long ways to go, but some interesting races are beginning to develop. Let’s take a look:
Top two: Coventry (28 Pts), Middlesbrough (25 Pts)
With preseason contenders Sheffield United and Leicester City struggling, Cov and Boro are looking the two likeliest to be promoted. I was a little dismissive of Coventry after that 7-1 win against QPR some weeks back, but they continue to rack up the goals and now have a +25 goal differential, which is crazy.
And then you have Rob Edwards who looks poised to get another side promoted. I feel Boro have underachieved the last two seasons under Michael Carrick.
Playoff spots: Millwall (23 Pts), Bristol City (22 Pts), Stoke City (21 Pts), Charlton (19 Pts, +4 GD)
A big win against Leicester this weekend brings Millwall up to third in the table. I had expected them to be in the mix for the playoffs – and I’m a big fan of Alex Neil – but even I’m surprised by how well they’re doing.
What’s more surprising are the clubs behind them: Bristol City, Stoke and Charlton. Don’t think anyone would have predicted that.
In the hunt: Preston (19 Pts, +3 GD), Hull City (19 Pt, 0 GD), QPR (18 Pts), Leicester (17 Pts, +3 GD), West Brom (17 Pts, -2 GD)
And now we have the strugglers with Leicester and West Brom. But let’s take a quick look at Ryan Mason’s squad, who are in a bad run of form. They’ve had some difficult matches in recent weeks including Millwall, Preston, Leicester and Boro. But the only game they won out of all those was Preston. Mace needs to do more here with a side whose owners are anticipating a top-six finish.
Bottom three: Sheffield United (9 Pts), Norwich City (8 Pts), Sheffield Wednesday (-6 Pts)
Sheffield United sacked their manager only to bring back Chris Wilder, but even he’s struggling with the squad right now. Then there’s the other club in the town: Sheffield Wednesday, who were deducted 12 points after going into administration. But it seems that, despite the points deduction, they are in good spirits after it was confirmed that owner Dejpon Chansiri is leaving the club.
Fitzie’s track of the day: Last of the Steam Powered Trains, by The Kinks
And now for your links:
The Standard: “Newcastle 2-0 Tottenham: Spurs outfought at St James Park as Carabao Cup run ends with a whimper”
The Athletic ($$): “Newcastle 2 Tottenham 0 – Why are Howe’s side so good in the Carabao Cup? Was opener unfair on Spence?”
Football London: “Every word Thomas Frank said on Newcastle defeat, Spence incident and Vicario absence”
The Independent: “Will Fish fires Cardiff past old foes Wrexham and into Carabao Cup quarter-finals”
