Argyle Wazzup, Wednesday wake up, plus The View From the toughest opening fixtures
30 September 2024 | Weekend Notes brings you the biggest stories, stats and insights from the EFL weekend.
● BIG STORIES ● CHEAT SHEET ● 5IVELIGHTS ● THE VIEW FROM ● FANTASY FOOTBALL ● WATCHING BRIEF ●
Comeback wins and tabley things…
Some 3-2s this week. Some big comebacks. And, soon enough, a new addition to the NTT20 ecosystem. In the summer, we asked you to share your views on the NTT20 world in the first ever NTT20.COM annual survey. The loudest chorus?
“More midweek coverage is the dream…”
Well, guess what? NTT20: UNDER THE LIGHTS will be hitting inboxes and eardrums later this week. The kids would call that ‘levelling up’. The big kids — us — call it wall-to-wall coverage of everything EFL, until the earth explodes.
Speaking of explosives…
🚨 Big Stories
A selection of decisive moments from across the EFL.
📞 Waz up, Argyle?! — Plymouth 3-1 Luton — Argyle won their second home game of the season and it all started with a sweet first-time finish from Rami Al-Hajj on his full debut. He was good value, receiving the ball between the lines and showing the technical quality to make things happen. It might’ve been different for Luton but for two headed opportunities being spurned by Elijah Adebayo (18 shots from inside the box this season, 0 goals). But Ibrahim Cissoko came off the bench and put on a show. His first goal was a classy finish off the left; his second came at an apposite moment, just after Luton had pulled one back. It began with two Lewis Gibson tackles and was finished by Cissoko, with quick feet and thinking to slide in on the keeper’s blind spot.
*Special mention for Victor Moses, who scored his first goal in the Championship since 16th January 2010 with a neat chest and thunder-crack finish. The team sheet that day?
⏰ Wednesday Awaken — Sheffield Wednesday 3-2 West Brom — Danny Röhl’s Owls gave up the ball, gave up a two-goal lead, and must’ve come close to giving up hope in the second half after Alex Mowatt’s half-time introduction changed things. WBA were better, slicker, and Mowatt’s equaliser – drilled into the ground and lobbing James Beadle – looked to have secured a point from 2-0 down. However, there was still time left for Jonny-on-the-spot, Antony-Musaba-in-the-6-yard-box to snatch a first league win for Wednesday since opening day.
😁 Grinsby — Carlisle 2-3 Grimsby — When does a #comebackwin oversimplify a comeback win? Here. In this game. Where Grimsby deserved all three points. Carlisle were 2-1 up at half-time but the Mariners were exceptional in the second half, notching more shots (10-4), more shots on target (5-0), more big chances (2-0) and, vitally, two more goals. Though they needed a late winner, Dave Artell’s side were a consistently good watch.
📘 Read the manual — Reading 2-1 Huddersfield — In the first half, the Royals gave up a lead, were second-best and relied on goalkeeper David Button to keep the score down with four important saves. His goalkeeper’s manual is required reading. Two second-half goals and better defensive shape ensured Reading came out on top for another #comebackwin.
😇 Saintly Sainz — Derby 2-3 Norwich — Norwich’s Borja Sainz converted three of his five shots for a masterful hat-trick of hitting the ball low beyond the goalkeeper from varying distances. Paul Warne’s side couldn’t quite match Norwich for creating quality opportunities, but they played their part in an encounter full of fizz.
📜 Bluenoses, green form — Birmingham 3-2 Peterborough — It’s now six consecutive league wins for Chris Davies’ Birmingham, the first time they achieved such a sextuplet since 1985. It was another #comebackwin in the EFL, as Posh made the early running but didn’t take a shot in a second half where the Blues got their noses in front and squeezed them out.
🟥 Inspiral Red Carpets — Doncaster 0-3 Chesterfield — Red carpets for Luke Molyneux and Tom Anderson as the Donny duo wandered down the tunnel at 1-0 and 2-0 respectively. Rovers were in a tight affair when a goal down, but Chesterfield eased to victory, making the man (men?) advantage count.
📊 Monday Morning Cheat Sheet
From the WhatsApp group to the watercooler: stats to keep you ahead of the game.
🫥 Cardiff… TT;DR (Too Traumatic; Didn’t Read) — Cardiff have 1 point. With the exception of Posh (2012/13) and Wycombe (2020/21), no club has registered fewer points after 7 games in modern Championship history, and the last second-tier team to have a -15 goal difference at this stage was Birmingham in 1988/89.
🗓️ Awaiting away wins — Rotherham have gone 692 days and 40 matches without winning an away game, a run that extends back to 2022, when they beat Sheffield United.
⛓️ Durable leads — 5 teams have been leading for more than 50% of minutes played so far this season: Swansea, Sunderland, Sheffield United, Barnsley and Fleetwood.
🔍 No leads — So far on the EFL trail, only one club is yet to take the lead in a game: sorry, Cambridge, but no longer are Cardiff keeping you company here.
😈 Seven Deadly Sins — Coventry, Cambridge, Plymouth, QPR and Accrington have failed to keep a clean sheet in their last 7 games.
🔥 Drop it like it’s hot — 6 teams have dropped 3 or more points from winning/drawing positions after the 75th minute of games, and they are:
Accrington — 7 points
Barnsley, Fleetwood — 4 points
Portsmouth, Millwall, Bristol Rovers — 3 points
🏁 Race to the finish line — 16 teams have won 3 or more points from losing/drawing positions after the 75th minute of games, and they are:
Wycombe, Crewe — 5 points
Stoke, Watford, Charlton, Cheltenham, Notts County — 4 points
Coventry, Bristol Rovers, Blackburn, Rotherham, Northampton, Birmingham, Salford, Colchester, Grimsby — 3 points
🎤 Didn’t he do well? — Steve Bruce has become the first Blackpool manager to win their first four games in a row. Nice to see you…
👃Smells like team spirit — Blackburn Rovers have gone unbeaten in their opening seven fixtures of a league campaign for the first time since they won the 1994-95 Premier League title.
🛏️ When September Ends — Following their 0-0 draw with Portsmouth, Sheffield United have seen off September without conceding a goal, and have let in only one since the arrival of goalkeeper Michael Cooper.
🧑🍳 Cooking — Andy Cook’s fourth of the season took him to 49 league goals since the start of the 2022/23 season, a record only beaten by that unstoppable goth, Erling Haaland.
🍴 The Kitchen Sinc — Scott Sinclair’s goal at the weekend means he has now scored in 14 of the last 16 league campaigns in British football.
🎦 5ivelights
In no particular order, a collection of our favourite goals or clips from across the 72.
From Barcelona to Bromley: Oh, Michael Cheek…
I don’t think you’re ready for this Jellis
A Gnonto Manifesto: Technique, Technique, Technique…
After 120 years, Hull enjoy themselves – it’s later than they dink…
The View From…
Tough start? Tough s***. Who’s had the runs?
Portsmouth’s league position is early-table trickery incarnate. Their return of four points from 21 available masks a run of fixtures against some of the Championship’s most-fancied and highest-performing teams: Leeds, Luton, Middlesbrough, Sunderland, West Bromwich Albion, Burnley and Sheffield United have a combined average *PPG of 1.83.
Yep, the table lies all right, especially at this stage. No team in the EFL has endured a tougher start. However, presented here are four teams who’ve had it trickier than most, plus some thoughts on what happens next…
*Note: Run-in analysis per Soccerstats measures home and away PPG distinctly, with a PPG value assigned at the time of the match, not combined over time.
Gloomy for Cardiff (24th):
They’ve faced the sides currently in 2nd, 4th, 5th, 8th, 10th, 12th and 13th, and those teams have a combined average PPG higher (1.86) than those faced by Pompey.
However, more than most, Cardiff’s performances have had a huge hand in their results. You’ve seen the TT;DR already… big improvement needed fast.
Lighter load ahead for Leyton Orient (18th):
Orient have played Bolton (14th), Charlton (8th), Birmingham (1st), Shrewsbury (23rd), Reading (15th), Stockport (9th), Peterborough (12th) and Wrexham (2nd) — that’s the highest combined PPG for a set of opponents in the entire EFL.
After a solid point against Wrexham at the weekend, the O’s are entitled to expect improvement over the next eight games.
Watch out for Wycombe (7th):
Matt Bloomfield’s side have played Wrexham (2nd), Birmingham (1st), Rotherham (19th), Blackpool (4th), Mansfield (5th), Northampton (17th), Cambridge (24th) and Bristol Rovers (21st).
After negotiating the first half of those fixtures in a decent position, Wycombe have now won four out of five, and look capable of competing with those at the top of League One and more than capable of beating the weaker sides.
Tipping point for Tranmere (17th):
Opening fixtures of Notts County, Port Vale, Walsall, Carlisle, Salford, Gillingham and Colchester total a combined PPG of 1.68, the highest in League Two. Not easy. Not a huge tally to boast.
Their next four opponents have a combined PPG of 1.06, and we’ll be able to glean more about their level on the other side of October.
🏆 Fantasy Football
Go head-to-head against team NTT20 in our EFL Fantasy Football league
Double game-week with Maxwell at the helm. He’s going to beat our 77-point high from last week, surely? With a team comprised of entirely <0.1% picks, he’s racked up 53 already.
There’s a midweek slate to come. Points to grasp. Positions to claw back. Props to Harchester United for topping the billing overall, and to Gotham Pirate who have nicked 84 points, the most so far this game week.
📺 Watching Brief
Upcoming live EFL games
Tuesday 1 October 2024
20:00 West Bromwich Albion vs Middlesbrough
Tuesday 1 October 2024
20:00 Bristol City vs Sheffield Wednesday
Friday 4 October 2024
20:00 Sunderland vs Leeds
Saturday 5 October 2024
12:30 Burnley vs Preston
12:30 Norwich vs Hull
12:30 Portsmouth vs Oxford
12:30 Huddersfield vs Barnsley
12:30 Peterborough vs Stevenage
12:30 Fleetwood vs Bromley
12:30 Grimsby vs Doncaster
Sunday 6 October 2024
15:00 Bristol City vs Cardiff