Cardiff hit different, Luton hit three, Wycombe hit their straps...
21 October 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 ●
This time last week, I was in Antarctica…
…in freezing temperatures, drinking ice water, watching penguins and reading a biography of Captain Scott’s doomed voyage on The Discovery.
When I say Antarctica, I mean Istanbul. When I say freezing, I mean boiling. When I say ice water, I mean coffee. When I say penguins, I mean seagulls. And when I say biography, I mean, of course, Weekend Notes.
It’s great to be back on Terra EFLirma. We’re bang at it today, fresh from publishing a behind-the-curtain piece on our research methods to stay across the whole 72. I’ve leaned on that heavily today. It may not be Turkish but the stats, stories and analyses are a delight. Tuck in…
🚨 Big Stories
A selection of decisive moments from across the EFL.
💥 Hits Cardifferent — Cardiff 5-0 Plymouth — How the Bluebirds needed that. The Omer Riza refresh brought a refreshing performance to blow away the clouds on a sunny Saturday lunchtime, with the hosts scoring five goals in a competitive fixture for the first time since February 2017. Ibrahim Cissoko’s first-half red card for throttling Perry Ng wasn’t the turning point – Argyle already trailed 2-0 – but it was the point of no return, and having let Bristol City off the hook in their last fixture, Cardiff followed Cissoko’s lead and went for the throat. Alex Robertson was excellent, Rubin Colwill sublime, and Argyle ill-disciplined: a fourth red card already this season doesn’t reflect well on Wayne Rooney, not least as he was serving a suspension himself here.
🤔 Remember Luton? — Luton 3-0 Watford — The real Luton re-emerged in this derby, with two up top, 41% possession, set-piece goals, Carlton Morris a battering ram, Victor Moses and Alfie Doughty WBs, last-ditch tackles and snap in midfield, not through-the-thirds stuff. Is that the (re)model ahead for Edwards?
🏹 Wycombe ain’t wandering aimlessly — Wycombe 3-1 Peterborough — Matt Bloomfield’s side aren’t wandering but sprinting in League One: that’s six wins and two draws from their last eight games, taking 20 points from a possible 24. The latest victory was courtesy of a perfect 10-minute hat-trick from substitute Richard Kone – back in January, we saw you, Richard, we saw you…
🔺 The Mo-Barr-Acc Triangle — Accrington 1-0 Barrow — When Accrington played Morecambe a fortnight ago, both sides were chasing a first win; John Doolan’s side won the clash of the supposed no-hopers, and Barrow have since given heart to the not-so-hapless by losing first to Morecambe and now to Accrington. In ably defending their 18th-minute lead, Stanley picked up a third consecutive league win for the first time since October 2023. League Two is all the better for having – like the glutes of a weightlifter – a competitive bottom.
🏳️ All white on’t night — Leeds 2-0 Sheffield United — Chris Wilder’s 3-5-2 surprised Daniel Farke’s side for 10 minutes. After that, it was all Leeds. Joe Rothwell and Ao Tanaka pulled the strings, Pascal Struijk and Mateo Joseph applied the finishes, and there is now no team unbeaten in the EFL.
🔼 Demure rise in Devon — Shrewsbury 0-2 Exeter — Kamari Doyle and Josh Magennis struck at one end and star loanee Joe Whitworth stood firm at the other, ensuring Exeter kept a club-record sixth consecutive clean sheet in all competitions. The last time they conceded in the league it was September, Sue Gray was still in post and Brat Summer had just given way to Demure Fall. Quiet but deadly.
⛽ Pomp to the pump — QPR 1-2 Portsmouth — John Mousinho’s side have been on the wrong end of tight games. They were the beneficiaries this time. The better team in the round, they’d missed the returning match-winner Callum Lang. A first win gives them a platform, while Marti Cifuentes’ QPR have lost 4 in a row and are winless in 6.
One for the nostalgia merchants: the last time these sides met in league football was the 2010/11 season, with two XIs oozing sweet, sticky Coca-Cola Men.
💰 Wham bam thank you Cambs — Cambridge 2-0 Wigan — George backed Cambridge in Thursday’s Betting Show. Cambridge had to win a game at some point. Wigan couldn’t keep sheets clean forever. Garry Monk’s men didn’t bother with possession (28% vs 72%) but they did fashion the better opportunities and registered early goals for their first victory of the season.
👏 Emotional win for Robins — Middlesbrough 0-2 Bristol City — Liam Manning was absent from the dugout after the horrific news of his baby son’s passing last week. Chris Hogg took charge and oversaw a win against Boro in front of an emotional away end at a very difficult time.
📊 Monday Morning Cheat Sheet
From the WhatsApp group to the watercooler: stats to keep you ahead of the game.
🥇 First, the worst — Rotherham have conceded first in 9 of their 12 games so far this season, the latest coming early doors against Wrexham on Saturday…
⏱️ No mullin’ it over — …and at the New York, it was Hollywood protagonist Paul Mullin who took the spotlight: his goal after 16 seconds was the fastest scored in England this season.
🐦 High-flying Bluebirds — Cardiff did a demolition job on Plymouth Argyle, and as records shifted minute-by-minute, Huw was on the ground with the updates:
🌟 Many couldn’t, Colwill — Within that demolition came 67 minutes of Rubin Colwill magic: 1 goal, 2 assists, 5 chances created, 5 shots, 7 recoveries + 90% pass success.
❌ Not fair, child — Reeco Hackett-Fairchild made his first league appearance of the season, coming on as a substitute to take a penalty for Lincoln against Birmingham. First game, first touch… penalty saved.
📖 Read Receipts for Blue Records — Birmingham are breaking them left, right and centre: this week they’ve won their eighth game in 10 matches for the first time since 1899/1900.
🥊 Bantams make weight — Bradford are now unbeaten across their last 9 home league games (W7 D2). Last season, they were 16th in the home league table, registering 35 points from 23 games.
🐟 Gills’ fishy form — Defeat to Bradford made it four defeats in a row for Gillingham for the first time since January 2023, under Neil Harris.
❤️🔥 Embrace the burn — Blackburn’s 18 points from their opening 10 games is their best start in modern Championship history, equalling their record in the second tier of 18 points in 1989/90.
🎲 The No-Four Four — Every team in the EFL has been involved in a game where 4 or more goals have been scored, with the exception of four teams: Tranmere, Swansea, Exeter and Stevenage.
👶 They are young — they run green (they being the 12 of 20 outfield players in the Hull-Sunderland game aged 22 or under, 6 for each side), no idea about their teeth.
📊 Win dispersion — At the time of writing, the home team has won 50% of the time in the Championship; it becomes less likely as you go down the leagues, but what’s that? League One: the king of the no-draw.
🎦 5ivelights
In no particular order, a collection of our favourite goals or clips from across the 72.
Grecians GK passes the first Labour of Hercules.
Chest. Strike. It doesn’t get much sweeter than a Jellis Baby!
A goal every three minutes for a perfect King Kone hattrick.
Royals starman puts the win and the wing in swing.
Rubin Colwill + Alex Robertson = BANGER.
The View From…
17 Jun 2020 — Football had been absent for 100 days – the first enforced break since the Second World War. Sheffield United were playing Aston Villa and David McGoldrick organised for all 22 players to take the knee on the first whistle as the whole world watched on. McGoldrick said later:
“It wasn't about anything other than showing the players were together. All races, all backgrounds, all nationalities, all religions, all coming together to say no to racism. That was the main concept behind it.”
This week, school classrooms turned red as part of Show Racism the Red Card. The work of anti-racism campaigns continues across football, and we’d like to flag a couple of things. The EFL’s Together Against Racism campaign began on Thursday last week and will run until 28 October, with clubs across the country holding events and campaigns on match days and beyond. As part of this, the EFL published an interview with Omar Bogle, recalling an incident of racist abuse he experienced last year — it’s a shocking but important read.
Reporting racism — and discrimination of any kind at football matches — is simple. But it’s also important. If you see or hear something that shouldn’t be seen or heard, then report it with Kick It Out: https://www.kickitout.org/report.
🏆 Fantasy Football
Go head-to-head against team NTT20 in our EFL Fantasy Football league
Sam’s on this double-game week, working from the assumption that home teams are more likely to win than away teams. Oddly enough, only five sides have back-to-back home games, and all were in the Championship. As is tradition, we select one <0.1% pick and this week, it’s Joe Bryan of Millwall.
Gah - 29 points! Too Latte to change course now… How long can E.L.L underperform those xG numbers? We’ll see against Blades on Wednesday.
Top work by Barney's Ballers and Pilgrim Arms for topping the charts so for this game week. In first place overall we have Don’t Look Back Tanganga who just keeps going well.
📺 Watching Brief
Upcoming live EFL games
Tuesday 22 October 2024
20:00 QPR vs Coventry
Plus 19:45 Sky Sports+ fixtures
Wednesday 23 October 2024
20:00 Middlesbrough vs Sheffield United
Plus 19:45 Sky Sports+ fixtures
Friday 25 October 2024
20:00 Portsmouth vs Sheffield Wednesday
Saturday 26 October 2024
12:30 Oxford vs West Brom
Plus 12:30 Sky Sports+ fixtures
Sunday 27 October 2024
15:00 Norwich vs Middlesbrough