Six goals for Newport, five goals for Charlton, four goals for Orient, three apiece at Argyle, two at Sheffield Wednesday, and...
23 December 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 ●
…A Partridge-esque intro from me.
There are no wild turkeys in the UK. Without the seasonal festivities, they would be eking out a meagre existence, sucking whatever nutrients they could from a wasteland of Quality Street wrappers and discarded vapes. But, like me, they assess the manifestos and vote for the party that best meets their needs, and it’s a simple choice: the Christmas party.
I suppose our reasons differ. I relish the stuffings, the roastings, and the victories stollen from the jaws of defeat. The logic of turkeys is, of course, far more existential. Still, this time of year matters – especially when there’s 9% of a season taking place within 10 days. It’s the football Feast of Stephen, and everyone else besides. But first, we sampled the amuse bouche. Careful, it’s hot!
Welcome to Weekend Notes.
🚨 Big Stories
A selection of decisive moments from across the EFL.
🍷 Christmas time, miss a pen and whine — Sheffield Wednesday 2-0 Stoke —Narcis Pelach’s Potters turned 0-0 with an extra man into a two-goal defeat, and are slippy-sliding towards big, big trouble, not helped by wins for Hull (climbing out the bottom three from 24th) and QPR (winning again, and up to 14th). The rot is real: it’s 4 points from a possible 24 for Stoke. Wednesday, on the other hand, overcame sickness bugs and a red card with a courageous second-half display to make it 13 points in 6 games, with James Beadle saving a penalty from a misfiring Cannon. Pelach, currently presiding over the longest winless run in the top four tiers (P8 W0 D4 L4), believed his side should’ve had two more penalties — kinda had a point… kinda didn’t.
Pelach: There were some decisions which changed the game in big moments… This is unacceptable, but it is what it is at the moment.
🔵 A Blue Christmas — Portsmouth 4-1 Coventry — Pompey responded to last week’s miss-ive (a 4-0 defeat) with a Christmas card of their own: a 4-1 win thanks to the guy all the kids are calling Diego Four-Lang. A Norman Bassette tap-in gave Cov an early lead but John Mousinho’s side scored two in an even first half before nabbing a couple more after the break, while Coventry could muster only two shots. Not since Yakubu had one player struck 4 times in a single game for Portsmouth, but Callum Lang’s quartet of strikes — one belter, one deflection and two from close range — secured a third win in four, taking Pompey out of the drop zone.
👑 We Three Kings — Plymouth 3-3 Middlesbrough — This Christmas story depends on the telling. Did Argyle drop two points, having led 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 while creating the better opportunities, or was this an impressive draw against quality opposition? Did Boro show some (snow)balls by coming from behind three times, or was this another indication that Michael Carrick’s side cannot put a run together? Instinct would have me side with the “Good point for Argyle; points dropped for Boro” narrative. However, Argyle were good, as they were against Sheffield United last week, and Wayne Rooney will be frustrated that conceding three equalisers puts his side bottom on goal difference. Carrick’s Boro are 6th, but 10 points behind 2nd – have they put themselves out of the automatic running already?
🦃 Stuffing — Barnsley 0-4 Leyton Orient — Bet it was a bit of fun on the Orient National Express home. This was a story of 8th-place Barnsley losing by four goals at home to 18th-place Orient. A bit of a shock? On the surface, perhaps – but Barnsley have somehow won just 2 of 11 home games (and 6 of 10 away) while Orient have sneakily put together a serious run of late – that's now four consecutive league games without conceding and six straight wins in all competitions.
🔔 Jingle Bell Shock — Newport 6-3 MK Dons — The shock wasn’t a wild scoreline in an MK Dons game, but Newport increasing their season’s home goal tally by 50% in a single afternoon, as Bryn Morris notched one-sixth of their total Rodney Parade tally in a first-half hat-trick and Bobby Kamwa added another one-sixth in his own (in fact, this 9-goal bonanza had only 4 different goalscorers). This was the first time Dons have ever conceded 6 goals, and they are the only League Two team yet to keep a clean sheet on the road. It was probably a blip – only Walsall have gained more points in the last 10 games – but what a blip!
❄️ In the Bleak Midwinter — Northampton 0-5 Charlton — Frosty winds blowing in Northampton, but a five-goal thrashing provides some early Christmas cheer for Charlton, who had scored only 3 league goals since the start of November (6 games). Nathan Jones needs to capitalise on this, their biggest win for more than four years, as the mood music has kept tempo with Scrooge-like scorelines this season – and yet Charlton are only 4 points off the play-off places. As for Cobblers, upcoming trips to League One’s bottom two, Shrewsbury and Burton, means opportunity… and pressure.
👣 Step in… to Christmas — Burton 1-2 Exeter — The Brewers actually had a chance of winning Gary Bowyer’s first match in charge, leading early against an Exeter team with just 2pts from their last 6 league games, but they still contrived to lose. There’s not much they could do about Millennic Alli’s absolute belter of a winner, mind (see 5ivelights), which was accompanied by a sigh of relief across all of Exeter.
💪 Once in Royal David’s City — Notts County 3-0 Bradford — Obligatory Didzy strongman celebration here, but this was a big win after a frankly awful spot of Notts’ form. They climb back into the top 7, with Alassana Jatta bookending the goals, but this was their first league win since October! Bradford have 6pts from 6 games and need a Christmas pick-me-up.
😇 ‘Evanly hosts sing hallelujah — Mansfield 1-0 Rotherham — Steve Evans returned to his old club, who’d taken one point from the last 18 available, hoping for a third consecutive win to kickstart Rotherham’s season. The writing was on the wall… but the form book went out of the window. Mansfield won to end a streak of bad results, if not bad performances, while the Millers mull their nightmare before Christmas – Evans’ supposed promotion-chasers are just 4pts above the relegation zone.
📊 Monday Morning Cheat Sheet
From the WhatsApp group to the watercooler: stats to keep you ahead of the game.
☢️ Away from the danger — No crib for a bed, but QPR are now unbeaten across their last seven league games (W4 D3), following a 2-1 win at home to Preston.
🪽 Hull! The Herald Angels Sing — Hull put a 13-game winless streak behind them to lift themselves out of the relegation spots just in time for Christmas Day.
✖️ No L, No L, No L — In drawing 0-0 with Bolton, Wycombe Wanderers made it No L in 18 games: the longest undefeated streak in the EFL.
👍 Goodwill to (Wals)All men — With a game in hand, Matt Sadler’s Saddlers straddle the whole of League Two, and 43 points is their highest tally after 20 games of a league season since 2006/07. They won the title that year.
☃️ White Christmas — Leeds’ 4-0 procession against Oxford took them to a combined scoreline of 24-2 across their 9 consecutive league wins at Elland Road; no team in England’s top four tiers have won more home games.
🎁 Regifting — Norwich have lost more points from winning positions than any other side in the EFL this season (21), with a 2-1 defeat at Sunderland making it twice in a row that the Canaries have lost in the league after leading.
0️⃣ Do They Know It’s Christmas? — No team has scored fewer goals in League One this season than Stevenage (15), who have now failed to net in five of their last six away games in the league, and have scored in both halves only once in 2024/25.
⏱️ Happy Xmas (Wall Is Over) — Millwall scored their latest goal since 2016, nicking it at the death against Blackburn thanks to Mihailo Ivanovic on 95:53.
🎯 Ping Crossby — Plymouth Argyle registered almost 10% of their season’s crosses against Middlesbrough, scoring all three of their goals from deliveries out wide.
⤴️ 10! Bromley are leaping — After a solid debut, then a tricky second album, Bromley are back at it, securing 10 points in their last 4 games to take them closer to the play-off spots than the relegation zone.
🎦 5ivelights
In no particular order, a collection of our favourite goals or clips from across the 72.
Donny have Tranmere’s pants down — quite literally — before scoring their second. Not very festive.
Driving Home for Christmas — Just that bit Moore quality from Kieffer.
All I want for Christmas is… you to see this match-winning screamer for Exeter
Gavin and Stacey return for one last dance, but you’ll see no better performance from ‘Uncle’ Bryn Morris — here’s the first of his hat-trick.
Clem-it’s-time — Swindon fans pick up the role of Ghost of Christmas Present to call for their owner, Clem Morfuni, to sell the club.
The View From…
The final weekend before Christmas has come and gone. Attention can now turn to the big day itself and Boxing Day. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love Christmas Day, but I also have a real soft spot for Boxing Day. The combination of leftovers from Christmas dinner, a few new gizmos to try out and a shedload of football makes for one hell of a recovery day.
As a lover of tradition, I also enjoy New Year’s Day. I can’t think of a better way to start a new year (and recover from the night before) than standing in a jam-packed away end and cheering on my team, before making my customary tongue-in-cheek remark about the performance being either the best or worst of the year.
There is, however, one particular gameweek over the festive period that I and many others who work within football could do without. Be honest: do we need a full round of fixtures on Sunday 29th December?
Granted, it’s the weekend, and weekends are for football. But by the time next Sunday comes around, I’m pretty sure that 90% of the population won’t have the first idea what day of the week it is. At a time of year renowned for over-indulgence, it feels like unnecessary gluttony to me.
All 72 EFL teams will play four fixtures between Boxing Day and 4th/5th/6th January. If you look at the 2024/25 season so far, that’s as many league games as some teams have played in entire calendar months – more, in some cases. Whether that earlier dearth is down to international postponements (Huw’s already had his say on them), other competitions or the impact of Storms Bert and Darragh, it does feel like the EFL calendar could do with a bit of tweaking.
Of course, I’m well aware that some will say, “If I got paid as much as they do to play football, I would play every day of the week!” or something to that effect. Personally, I don’t think the amount that footballers get paid should come into it – especially when we’re talking about players in the fourth tier. I would argue that they are athletes and the powers-that-be have a responsibility to look after them. It’s also important to point out that many people who work on matchdays aren’t paid particularly well.
Finally, there is an element of quantity over quality. This is the crux of the issue for me. Too many games in a short space of time often results in the general quality of games being diminished. Key players missing, others playing at 70-80%, heavy pitches and an understandable lack of inspiration are all contributing factors. Sometimes, less is more and more is less. The last time I checked, ticket prices don’t go down because it’s your club’s fourth game in ten days.
Festive football is special. Fixtures on Boxing Day and New Year’s Day should be protected at all costs. While a winter break at this time of year is unthinkable for British football fans, our football calendar is still far from perfect.
🏆 Fantasy Football
Go head-to-head against team NTT20 in our EFL Fantasy Football league
Team NTT20 picked a side comprising players exclusively from our Targets series, plus Sam Byram – our 0% pick and captain (well done, Huw). Byram did pretty well but he also hit the bloomin’ beans on toast…
Still, it’s another strong showing and we’re on the comeback trail now, climbing towards the top 100 with a 77-point haul. Well done to Jurassic Park The Bus who managed a table-topping 89-point gameweek, and to Flossie's Foxes for leading the way.
📺 Watching Brief
Upcoming live EFL games
Dec 26, Boxing Day (all 3pm Kick Off unless stated)
CH: Blackburn vs Sunderland, Bristol City vs Luton, Coventry vs Plymouth, Middlesbrough vs Sheff Wed, Norwich vs Millwall, Oxford vs Cardiff, Preston vs Hull, Sheff Utd vs Burnley, Swansea vs QPR, Watford vs Portsmouth, Derby vs West Brom (5.30pm), Stoke vs Leeds (8pm)
L1: Leyton Orient vs Crawley (1pm), Birmingham vs Burton, Bolton vs Barnsley, Charlton vs Cambridge, Exeter vs Bristol Rovers, Huddersfield vs Stockport, Peterborough vs Mansfield, Reading vs Northampton, Shrewsbury vs Lincoln, Stevenage vs Wycombe, Wrexham vs Blackpool
L2: AFC Wimbledon vs Swindon, Bradford vs Port Vale, Bromley vs Newport, Carlisle vs Morecambe, Cheltenham vs Crewe, Colchester vs Gillingham, Fleetwood vs Chesterfield, Grimsby vs Harrogate, MK Dons vs Notts County, Salford vs Barrow, Tranmere vs Accrington, Walsall vs Doncaster
Sun Dec 29 (all 12.30pm Kick Off unless stated)
CH: Norwich vs QPR, Preston vs Sheff Wed, Sheff Utd vs West Brom, Derby vs Leeds (5.45pm) & Middlesbrough vs Burnley (8pm)
L1: Charlton vs Wycombe & Rotherham vs Stockport
L2: Carlisle vs Accrington Stanley | Bromley vs Swindon
Mon Dec 30
L2: AFC Wimbledon vs Gillingham (8pm)