The Tyne-Wear Derby! Or is it the Wear-Tyne Derby? To stay out of trouble, we’ll just call it this weeks’ big game! Sunderland are back in the big time and flying high, sitting a point above their Saudi-owned neighbours, but who will come out on top as the two sides face off this weekend?
Champions League places, title charges, relegation battles – sure, they’re all important, but nothing in football quite beats the glory of holding the bragging rights over your fiercest rivals. And they don’t get much fiercer than Sunderland and Newcastle. They’ve spent some time apart as Sunderland slipped down the leagues and had chance to reflect, and they’ve both come to the realisation that they still really hate each other. It doesn’t get better.
Contrary to pre-season expectations, this game might actually mean something in the context of the battle for Europe too! Sunderland have performed well over-odds and currently sit just three points from fourth, while Newcastle seem to have overcome their sluggish start and are back in the race to return to the Champions League again next season. With so much on the line, expect fireworks in North East this weekend!
Form:
Newcastle stuttered a bit at the start of the season as they re-adjusted to playing in Europe and shook off the hangover from the Isak drama that raged on all summer, but they’ve been much better as of late. They’ve picked up three wins and lost just once in their last five league games, including an impressive victory over Manchester City and a 4-1 away thrashing of Everton. The win on Merseyside is their only away win in seven attempts so far this Premier League season, however, they’ll hope it’s the start of a trend and not an outlier.
Newcastle also have a midweek Champions League game in Leverkusen to contend with while the Sunderland players rest up and prepare for Sunday’s big game.
Sunderland have suffered a little dip in form after their blistering start, winning just once in their last six. That being said, they have drawn three of those and only lost two, one of the losses coming at the hands of Manchester City and two of the draws against Liverpool and Arsenal in this time. I doubt Sunderland fans will be overly worried about their form with the difficulty of their run-in. The crucial stat is that they are yet to lose at home. The Stadium of Light has been a fortress since their return to the top-flight, with 4 wins and 3 draws in 7 games they have one of the best home records in the division and are the only other unbeaten home side alongside leaders Arsenal. It’ll be a tough ask for their rivals to break the home streak, but nobody will be more motivated to do so than them.
Head-to-head:
The Black Cats are back in the big time – marking the return of this fixture for the first time in the league since 2016!
There was an FA Cup fixture between the two in January of 2024, which Newcastle handily won 3-0, but there was a clear gulf in quality between the Championship side and their Champions League rivals. That gulf has now closed, and with just one point between them it really is anyone’s game.
As far as league games go, as I’m sure the Sunderland fans are well aware, it’s been a rough time in recent memory for the Toon Army.
In their last 10 league meetings, Newcastle have won just once, and that was 10 games ago. In the proceeding 9 matchups, Sunderland have won 6 and there have been 3 draws.
History certainly favours Sunderland, and Black Cats have proven to be unlucky for Newcastle. Can Eddie Howe’s men break the curse after 9 years without a league meeting between the two northern giants?
Key Matchup:
Granit Xhaka vs Bruno Guimaraes
Even this far into his tenure as a Sunderland player, I’m still double checking as I write this to make 100% sure I didn’t dream that Granit Xhaka signed for Sunderland over the summer. It was a massive statement of intent from the club, and a big gamble for the Swiss midfielder as he banked his reputation on the Sunderland project. For all parties, it has worked out better than we could have imagined.
Xhaka is a force in the midfield, everything runs through him for Sunderland and he has hardly put a foot wrong since his debut. The tendency to see him as a rough-and-ready defensive enforcer is harsh, I think, he has many more strings to his bow than just kicking the ball and people incredibly hard. He is a creative threat, as evidenced by his 4 assists already this term, he can pop up with a goal and also break the play up to allow Sunderland to fly up the pitch on one of their trademark devastating counter attacks. He is the engine in their well-oiled machine, and it will take a serious player to stop him.
Newcastle, fortunately for them, are flush with midfield talent of their own. Joelinton, Sandro Tonali and even young Lewis Miley have all been fantastic in spells this season and bring something different to that energetic Newcastle midfield, but the pick of the bunch for me has always been Bruno Guimaraes.
Bruno, like Xhaka, makes his side tick. As crucial as they both are, they both operate in very different ways and seeing how they counteract one another and try to deal with the challenges they each pose will be extremely interesting. The game could be won and lost in the middle of the park between these two.
Bruno is more of an out-and-out goalscoring threat, he has hit 5 in the league already, but is also plenty capable of creating chances for his teammates. He tends to push high to win the ball in the final third and get his team on the front-foot and has also been one of the most accomplished long-passers in the league this season.
The direct tenacity of Bruno vs the more measured control of Xhaka. Who can come out on top in the biggest battle of the weekend?
Preview:
One of English football’s fiercest rivalries finally renewed on the big stage. Both teams have very different looks than the last time they both met at this level, will it be Regis Le Bris’ odds-defying Black Cats or the Toon Army fronted by Eddie Howe that control the North East on Sunday?
Everything’s at stake and there’s nowhere to hide in the Derby.
Newly-minted Saints manager Tonda Eckert took charge of his first game of his official tenure this weekend at home to Birmingham. After impressing with 4 wins from his 5 games as the interim head coach, the German was awarded the position on a permanent basis this week and celebrated in style. Two from Armstrong proved too strong for Blues as their away form, or lack thereof, continued on the south coast.
Home is where the heart is. In the case of Birmingham City, home is the only place they have any hope of picking up a win as of late. If they’re going to achieve their promotion dreams they set out in pre-season, sorting out their away form needs to be a priority. At St. Andrew’s they’re strong, they have the third best home record in the division and have only lost once in nine games, but they’re 21st in the away table. They’ve won 2, drawn 2 and lost 6 of their 10 away games thus far, crucially only managing to score 7 goals across those games. It isn’t good enough, and it won’t get your promoted no matter how easily you put teams away at your place. In their last 4 homes games they’ve hit a maximum 12 points and scored 14 goals in the process, away from home in the same period they’ve managed just a singular point and three goals, the disparity is plain to see. The away fans will certainly be feeling blue on the coach back to the midlands.
In Southampton’s case it’s all smiles as Tonda Eckert has delivered an early Christmas present by returning the now unfamiliar winning feeling back to the south coast. In his six games in charge, he has already picked up more points than the previous regime had in their eleven games. You wonder if Will Still will still be hot property now the footballing world sees what his Saints side can really do. Southampton, much like Ipswich and potentially Sheffield United, have had their slow starts almost totally forgiven by the rest of the league as everyone continues to beat each other and drop points in unexpected games leaving the gap from the bottom half to the play-off places relatively short. Despite being really quite dreadful, Saints are just three points from Stoke in 6th with 27 games to go. They should be able to close that gap. With the win this weekend, Tonda Eckert has also surpassed the points total achieved by Southampton in the whole Premier League season last time out, the good times are well and truly back at St. Mary’s.
Finn Azaz’s £10m+ summer move from Middlesbrough had been largely ridiculed after a poor start to the season, and it was clear to see why. The attacking midfielder just couldn’t replicate his scintillating form from last year in his new colours, failing to register a single goal or assist in the eight games he played under Still, finding himself eventually being used as a bit-part substitute at times. Up to that point, Azaz looked like another expensive bust in a long line of Southampton failed transfers in recent years, and his own fans began to get on his back. Since Eckert has come in, however, Azaz has come alive. He has yet to go a game under the new boss without registering a goal contribution, netting 6 goals and providing 2 assists in the 6 matches since the German took charge.
The Irishman managed a goal and an assist today to take the game beyond Birmingham’s reach in the first half. His goal was the opener, and the first in a series of goals in this game that seemed to be part of a 90 minute goal of the season competition. It was interesting defending from a Birmingham perspective, Azaz found himself with acres of space and plenty of time just outside the box, shifted the ball onto his left foot and drilled his shot from the edge of the area into the bottom right-hand corner and well beyond the reach of the outstretched hand of James Beadle.
Similarly for the second, Azaz found Armstrong in miles of room 30 yards from goal. The forward took the ball inside and effortlessly beat the weak challenge of Christoph Klarer, lining up a shot as nobody charged him down and firing his effort into the opposite corner to double the hosts’ advantage. It looked like Chris Davies’ side were playing with ten men for both of these goals, that amount of space and time afforded to players of that quality will hardly ever go unpunished, and they found themselves 2-0 down before the half hour mark. You can’t help but feel it was preventable.
For the remainder of the first half and the start of the second, Blues piled on the pressure in search of a way back out of the hole they’d dug for themselves. Finally, on 54 minutes, Southampton cracked after some magic from Demarai Gray. The Blues’ hometown hero made his triumphant return in summer following a 10 year absence that saw him lift a Premier League title at Leicester, compete in Europe at Leverkusen and travel across the globe to play for Al-Ettifaq. And who can forget the pre-season Florida Cup win with Everton? He showed once again that he hadn’t left all the magic in his boots in the Saudi sand dunes, cutting in from the left onto his right foot and bending a beauty across goal and into the far corner. It’s always a shame to see goals of that quality scored in big losses, another belter that will be lost to the sands of time.
Deficit halved, Birmingham were back in the game. All they had to do was keep it tight and continue pushing for the all-important equaliser. Four minutes later, Saints restored their advantage. Feeling left out and wanting to get in on the action, Brazilian attacking midfielder Leo Scienza worked the ball from the left flank across the box to the same area the first two goals had been scored from, and lo and behold he was also greeted with an expanse of green grass and a half-hearted challenge from Klarer. At least this time Beadle was ready, saving the shot from Scienza into the path of Armstrong for a proper poacher’s finish. 3-1, and that’s how it would stay. A huge 3 points and the continuation of Eckert’s stunning record for Southampton, while Blues’ away blues continued.
All of Birmingham’s best work came at two goals down, wether that be at 2-0 or for the remainder of the game at 3-1, they were able to create chances and dominate the ball against a very adept Southampton side. But playing well at 2-0 down doesn’t win you any points. Davies needs to tighten them up defensively on the road, this isn’t League One anymore and teams aren’t just going to sit back and pray at the sight of a £40m team bowling into their patch. If they can manage to sort themselves out when they travel, they’ll be comfortably in the play-offs and have a chance at a second consecutive promotion, but if Davies can’t manage to get them there then there’ll be questions as to if someone so inexperienced should be trusted with such a big job and financial war chest.
Jolly old Saint Nick won’t be the only Saint eyeing up the December calendar with glee (yippee). Southampton have a blend of real top-to-bottom tests of their capabilities in Coventry and a return trip to St. Andrews as well as some games they’d really fancy themselves to dominate with ease on current form away at Norwich and Oxford. If they can pass their tricky assignments and turn over the teams they should be beating, things could look a lot more merry and bright for Tonda Eckert’s side as 2026 rolls around. Who knows, they might even be making faces at automatic promotion if their run-in continues at the same pace.
It’s the most wonderful time of the year! The Rams are kicking off the busy Christmas fixture list with the first of two games against Leicester City in December.
There’s a sense that this six-game run will be make-or-break in regard to the Rams’ potential foray into the play-off race this season. Leicester will always give you a difficult game and we play them home and away, Birmingham and Millwall are well in the mix at the top end and will provide Derby with a thorough examination and Portsmouth and Wednesday are there to be beaten at the moment, and if you can’t beat them then do you really deserve to be up there? When the New Year fireworks are popping overhead, will the Derby fans be dreaming that 2026 could be the year we return to the top tier?
Before we get ahead of ourselves, we need to take it one game at a time, and Leicester at home are first up to the plate. How are the visitors likely to set up and are Derby likely to get a result? Let’s take a look.
The Run-In:
Since the return of Sondre Langas and the back 5, Derby have been on a bit of a tear. From relegation battle to promotion fight in just over a month, the Rams are a prime example of just how much a good run of form can change your fortunes in a league as tight as this. 6 wins from 8 has Eustace’s boys sat in 11th and within touching distance of the play-offs. Three points against Leicester would give their promotion credentials some real legitimacy.
Leicester have been operating under a self-imposed transfer ban to try and balance their allegedly extremely wonky books since their relegation from the Premier League last time out. A hearing over a potential points deduction still looms, and we may hear the outcome of that very soon. On the pitch, the Foxes have struggled. They started strongly, winning 3 of their opening 4 league games, but have since found victories hard to come by. They’ve only won another 4 from the proceeding 14 games, instead opting to draw or lose most of their games – an interesting strategy from Cifuentes. 2 of those wins did come in their last 4 games, but they were immediately followed by two big losses to Southampton and Sheffield United. They certainly have the quality in their squad to compete at a higher level than they’ve shown, so does the blame fall on Marti Cifuentes’ tactical setup?
If there’s a solace for Leicester fans, we are awful against them. The clubs last met competitively over eight years ago in the February of 2017, the infamous FA Cup replay in which Abdoul Camara managed his one and only Derby goal. Good times, eh?
Leicester have won 9 of the last 11 meetings between the two sides, drawing the first game in that FA Cup round and somehow managing to lose to us all the way back in 2013. Our last win against the Foxes was that long ago that Craig Forsyth assisted the winner. I wonder where he ended up.
Leicester have Derby’s number but their recent form has left a lot to be desired. Winning streaks have to end somewhere – don’t they?
Tactics:
I expect the lineups to look something similar to, if not exactly like, this. The only possible changes may be a replacement for Ben Brereton Diaz, who has struggled of late, and Oliver Skipp starting in the holding midfield area with James pushed forwards and Reid dropping to the bench. Eustace likes Diaz, and he provides a third aerial outlet up front for the Rams, so I doubt he’ll be dropped. As for Leicester, Skipp has started more frequently than Reid but Reid started their last game. They did lose that game, however, so Cifuentes may revert to Skipp once more.
Something I’m sure Eustace will have highlighted are Leicester’s struggled against back 3/5s this season. They’ve played against them on 6 occasions, losing 3, drawing 2 and only beating Sheffield Wednesday – which hardly counts. If the rams can exploit their weaknesses in the same way these other sides have, we could see an end to the Leicester curse at Pride Park this weekend. That being said, both of the Rams’ recent losses to Boro and Watford have been against sides playing 4-2-3-1 as you’d expect Leicester to line up, so it could go either way.
Going forwards, Leicester like to play high-possession football with high volumes of short passes in their build-up play. They have the 3rd highest average possession in the league, the 4th most total passes but the second fewest total long balls. They like to work the ball steadily out wide and cross into the box, completing the 6th most crosses in the division. Their difficulty against 5 at-the-back systems may stem from the fact the outside channels are typically more congested with the wide centre-half covering alongside his wing-back as well as an attacking winger potentially dropping deep to cover. This stops Leicester playing their natural game and they don’t seem to have a plan B on file. At least not one that works.
If they advance down the flank with their full-back on the ball, their winger will curve their run into the box to draw a defender away from the ball, while the opposite winger makes a run from deep towards the back post to turn in a cross if it comes. Daka will peel slightly to one side, leaving room centrally for the 10 to advance into and further room the other side for one of the holding midfielders to step up into to latch onto any loose balls or challenge for the ball aerially. The other midfielder will sit around the edge in the event of a counter attack, also to pick up loose balls and recycle possession to keep an attack going, and the opposite-side full back tucks inside centrally for the same reasons as well as to drag their opposition out of position and create an overload in attack.
Alternatively, if their wingers have the ball the full-back will burst inside for an underlap to create central pressure and drive into space inside the box to shoot or square the ball to a forward to miss an open net. Fatawu and Mavididi are both so dangerous that they cannot reliably be shown inside or outside as they are capable of whipping crosses, finding through-passes or just beating their man and finding the far corner with an effort from the edge of the box. Joe Ward’s limited defensive capabilities will certainly be tested in this game.
Luckily for Wardy, he could also get a lot of joy. This will be music to Derby fans’ ears, Leicester are particularly susceptible to crosses and set-pieces. Hoorah! They conceded two goals from corners in the loss to Sheffield United last time out and one form a corner and one from a free-kick in the 3-0 defeat at Southampton. They also let in both of their goals in the loss to Blackburn from crosses into the box, if any team are going to exploit that weakness it’ll be Derby. Just 12 of our 25 goals this season have been from open play, and even the majority of those have been from crosses. With big Pat and Lars lurking, Leicester will certainly be worried.
Despite their preference for excessive passing, Leicester have actually looked most threatening from fast breaks. It baffles me that they don’t look to exploit this more with the pace and quality they have in attack, but that’s also part of the reason Cifuentes is potentially facing the sack with a loss to Derby this weekend. They’re also more than capable of a defensive calamity or silly error, as well as an inexplicable miss at the other end. Once is a coincidence, every game is definitely more like a pattern.
My final word of warning is to watch out for James shooting from range. They look to overload the final third and leave him unmarked from 25 yards knowing full well he is capable of burying a shot in the top corner from miles out. Keep tight to him, Bobby.
Prediction:
It’ll be tight. It’ll be cagey. I expect both sides to score here, Leicester have an overwhelming amount of quality and Derby are in the middle of a hot-streak. I probably make us the favourites, and if any other side than Leicester were facing us in this form I’d be certain of a home win, but I just can’t shake the fact that we don’t seem to be able to beat them.
For that reason, I’m going for a draw.
If you want to get really specific, it’s a Matt Clarke opener from a Joe Ward corner in the first half and a late leveller from Bobby Reid.
It’s FA Cup 2nd round weekend so we’re left with just one fixture in League Two – luckily for us all it’s a big one as 8th placed Gillingham travel to Colchester in 10th with both sides knowing a win will see them jump into the play-offs while everyone else has the week off. Points on the board are always better than games in hand – who can take advantage of FA Cup week in this weekend’s big tie?
These clubs have both been marooned in League Two after long spells in the division above, Colchester are in the ninth year of their sentence and Gillingham are making their way through their fourth consecutive season at this level. After years of unsuccessfully trying to navigate their way to promotion, they now both find themselves smack in the middle of a pack of teams all crammed together like sardines trying to squeeze their way into the play-offs by any means necessary. We’re eighteen games into the season now and still only six points separate Cambridge in 6th and Oldham in 16th, League Two is tighter than ever and everyone is on edge as a few good results can see you shoot up the table and into contention, and a rough run of form could see you sink without a trace before the race has really even gotten started.
With the rest of the division taking a break from league action due to FA Cup commitments, this weekend is a fantastic chance for either of these teams to stake their claim on a top seven spot and get their points in early to show that they do mean business and they will be a force to be reckoned with in the promotion battle this season.
Who will take charge of their own destiny in this weeks’ game?
Form:
Gillingham and Colchester are just a point apart at this stage, but the routes they’ve taken to get to that total couldn’t be more different.
The Gills started hot. They went their first 9 league games unbeaten, winning 6 of them and sitting pretty atop the League Two tree after also going unbeaten for the last 12 games of the 2024/25 campaign. Surely this was their year. Right? Well, not quite. They lost. And lost again. And now they find themselves with just a singular win in their last 9 league matches. Luckily for them, 4 draws across this time has kept their points tally topped up enough that they haven’t dropped out of the picture after their fantastic start, but something will have to change quickly to see them maintain their position as play-off contenders.
Gareth Ainsworth’s side have limped to a few vital points in recent weeks. With just one win in 12 in all competitions, they have managed to eke out a few draws, including their last three games in the league. Going back all the way to the start of October, the only teams they have managed to not lose to are the four teams from 19th to 22nd and Barnet in 14th. Hardly inspiring form, and they seem physically unable to even scrape a result against superior opposition. Uncharacteristic of an Ainsworth side to say the least, who usually prides himself on making his teams hard to beat and a nightmare to play against.
Colchester have essentially done the opposite, 1 win from their first 10 had them worrying about a potential relegation to non-league before a huge 6-2 victory over Chesterfield sparked them into life and was the first of 6 wins in their last 8 games that has seen them shoot right up into the play-off race alongside the early pace-setting Gills.
Colchester have won their last 4 games, only conceding once along the way. Crucially, two of those games came away against Walsall and Notts County, who occupy top and 4th position respectively. They’re winning well, and they’re beating good teams. It’ll be a tough ask for Gillingham to go to Colchester and get anything.
Head-to-head:
Since Gillingham dropped down to meet Colchester in League Two, the clubs have met six times in the league. Of those, 3 have been Colchester wins, 2 for Gillingham and a draw, with the result in this fixture last term ending in a 2-0 victory for the hosts.
Of these games, only one was won by the home side – the aforementioned fixture last season. The other four victories all fell to whoever was visiting on the day, could an upset be on the cards here?
Crucially, this fixture has been replicated this season in the group stage of the EFL Trophy. This game fell just as the fortunes of both teams started to change, and though they admittedly both fielded weakened lineups, it’s our best look as to how this match may play out. Colchester put on a dominant display with 71% of the ball and 22 shots to Gillingham’s 10. Despite this, it still took a 92nd minute penalty to seal the three points in a 2-1 win for Colchester.
A win is a win, they know how to beat their opposition and they’re in much better form. Will the experience-loaded Gillingham side powered by the wit and guile of Gareth Ainsworth have enough to turn their tricky run around here?
Key Matchup:
Kyreece Lisbie vs Max Clark
Kyreece Lisbie has steadily been contributing to all things good in the Colchester attack over the whole season, even when they had their tricky run to open the campaign he was popping up with goals and assists at crucial moments. His output has only ramped up in recent weeks as the rest of the team starts to perform and pick up points too. The 22 year-old made the move from Braintree town to Colchester last season and struggled for minutes, making just four appearances and failing to register a goal or an assist. This year he has been trusted with a starting berth, and he has more than repaid that faith with 7 goals and 6 assists across all competitions – all 7 goals and all but 2 of those assists coming in the league.
As effective as he’s been, there’s a valid criticism around his game that if he isn’t contributing to goals he doesn’t really do much else. I know that seems a bit irrelevant for a forward player, 13 goal contributions by this point in the season is a great record and what more do you need? But if he is being defended well or the team are struggling to create chances for him, he is pretty ineffectual and finds creating by himself difficult. Numbers wise, he is in the 1st percentile for total touches amongst his peers but the 98th for touches in the opposition box. When he isn’t stood in the box poaching chances, what is he actually doing? He’s also only in the 1st percentile for total successful passes and 18th for successful crosses, he doesn’t pass or dribble but he’s clearly deadly in the area. Despite all this, he has the highest xG+xA per 90 in the whole league at 0.8, so more often than not you should expect him to contribute to a goal in some form. Can Gillingham stop him?
If anyone is going to, it might have to be experienced full-back Max Clark. Lisbie is likely to be deployed on the right-hand side so should be coming up head-to-head with Clark down the Gills’ left. Clark himself is an offensive threat, with 2 goals and 2 assists this season, but also one of the few consistent performers in a patchy Gillingham side. He is in the 89th percentile for interceptions per 90 amongst other full-backs, 84th for tackles and 76th for blocked shots. Defensively, he is performing impressively this season and will need to be at his best to ensure Lisbie doesn’t find himself on the end of any chances in the box. If he gets one, he’ll bury it.
Preview:
A big headline game could be the tonic both sides need here. A win in a massive tie could be the rocket that Gillingham need to restart their season and get back amongst the form and potentially back amongst the automatic promotion places come May. For Colchester, a huge victory with the whole league’s eyes on you could be the stamp on their credentials they need to prove to everyone that they’re up there on merit and that they don’t intent on making it ten straight seasons in the fourth tier.
One League Two game all weekend, and it’s absolutely huge in the context of the early season play-off battle.
Will the Gills return to their thrills or will the U’s use the form to their advantage and fire themselves into the play-offs?
Wimbledon had their hosts at match point on three occasions but were unable to convert their lead into a victory, settling for a draw in a pulsating game in Yorkshire.
Both of these sides are chasing a play-off place, Huddersfield after spending big in summer and Wimbledon performing above expectations after promotion through the League Two play-offs last time out. A draw keeps them both in the hunt as the table shows no sign of shaking out at this early stage – the Terriers and the Dons are both three points from 5th placed Stockport and four from Burton Albion in 19th as they occupy 8th and 9th respectively. A good few weeks can have you dreaming of the automatic spaces, and a bad result or two has you staring down the barrel of relegation. League One is as competitive as it’s ever been.
Wimbledon’s success this season has largely stemmed from a continuation of what made them so good in League Two last year. They made themselves incredibly difficult to beat, having the best defensive record in the division by a long way, and achieved promotion despite scoring nineteen fewer goals across the season than Walsall, who they beat in the play-off final. Wombles are organised, work as a team. This had been the case until recently, but results have suddenly become hard to come by for the Dons as they had lost four of their last five in all competitions prior to this game, including a 5-0 hammering by relegation-threatened Peterborough and a 2-0 home defeat to non-league Gateshead in the FA Cup. Their principles seemed to go out the window in this game, conceding chance after chance and wave after wave of attack to a Huddersfield side that, on another day (or under another manager), might have stuck five or six past them. Still, they emerged from a tricky away trip in the middle of a difficult period of form with a point and three goals. Having taken the lead of the game on three occasions, they may feel hard done by to only come away with a solitary point despite the dominance from the home side. The Wimbledon of last season probably would’ve seen the game out at 1-0 or 2-1.
The opening goal came from an excellent bit of centre-forward play from Danilo Orsi. A long ball came looping over the top looking for him and he stopped it dead with a beautiful touch, all the while holding off the defender and allowing his teammates to make runs into the box as he shielded the ball. One of these teammates was overlapping full-back Steve Seddon, who was found in acres of space with a perfectly weighed ball through the defence. Seddon unselfishly squared the ball to Marcus Browne who stroked home the opener for Wimbledon, all credit to Orsi in the build up.
Huddersfield Town were a feature of the Premier League as recently as 2018/19, and now find themselves battling for promotion out of the third tier. Despite being a financial juggernaut in comparison to the Burton Albions and Mansfield Towns of this world, they struggled to make an impression last year after relegation from the Championship, finishing in just 10th place and a healthy fourteen points from troubling a play-off place. Something clearly had to change. They have a huge ground for the division and are relatively well followed and well backed financially, and with their recent foray onto the Match of the Day running order still fresh in the minds of supporters it is important they don’t get stuck languishing down in the third tier constantly falling just short of promotion. Nobody wants to be a Barnsley. Plenty of players were let go and a substantial outlay of funds was allocated to replace them, building a whole new team to tackle promotion head on. The biggest change, however, was in the dugout. Michael Duff’s tenure was deemed a failure by the board at Huddersfield and he was relieved of his duties partway through last season and replaced by Lee Grant for his first managerial role this summer. It hasn’t quite gone to plan, Grant is averaging the same lacklustre win percentage and PPG as Duff after a summer of big spending and there are now question marks around the former goalkeeper’s future at the Terriers.
Their equaliser came straight after the break, a ball into the box wasn’t dealt with and Leo Castledine was the fastest to react as he buried his shot beyond the ‘keeper into the bottom corner. The perfect start to the half, undone in two minutes as Wimbledon retook the lead. A free-kick was hit poorly but Goodman in the Huddersfield goal made a meal of it, spilling the ball into the path of Danilo Orsi for a tap-in on the goal line. They don’t make it easy for themselves.
Wimbledon’s defensive work was equally suspect, the second equaliser for the hosts coming from a Lyndon Gooch cross onto the head of Ben Wiles. The midfielder had days to pick his spot as he had somehow not been picked up in the area and he dispatched his header with confidence to tie the game back up just beyond the hour mark.
Fans of the Premier League have been complaining as of late at the rise in prevalence of set-pieces and long ball tactics making the league “worse”. If they think it’s bad up there, don’t let them watch League One. Wimbledon regained the advantage for the final time with twenty minutes to go, Jake Reeves’ free-kick was perfectly spun into the area and Ryan Johnson rose highest to dispatch a wonderful header beyond Goodman right in front of the travelling supporters. If you’re keeping track, that’s 3-2 to Wimbledon with all the goals coming from long balls it crosses in the box. Time for one more?
Summer signing Alfie May netted the games sixth and final goal with five minutes left on the clock. The big Serbian Bojan Radulovic was the target of the cross, he rose well but was unable to direct his header anywhere but straight at the ‘keeper. As seems to be the theme, he couldn’t keep hold of the ball and May ended up latching onto it and tapping home a true poacher’s finish. Full-time, 3-3. A whirlwind of emotions in the Yorkshire rain for both sets of fans, with everyone left ultimately disappointed.
A draw did neither side much good as nobody in top 6 lost this weekend and, especially if they win their games in hand, the leading pack are seriously starting to pull away from the rest of the division and create a clear divide between the play-offs and mid-table.
For Huddersfield, it’s make or break. Stick with the unproven Grant and risk wasting a summer of big spending to fall short and remain in League One or twist to a new gaffer and hope he can guide them to where they feel they deserve to be? If they’re going to pull the trigger, they might go early if they’ve learnt from their mistake of giving Michael Duff too long last season and being unable to salvage the scraps of the campaign in time after his departure.
Wimbledon would love to go up, obviously, but anything above the drop zone is a success for them following last season’s promotion. They’ve struggled for results as of late, which is to be expected, but their overall league position is astounding and they will hope to build on their strong start in January and potentially push for a fantastic back-to-back promotion.
It’s the most wonderful time of the year. Christmas fixtures will start to pile up and once all the crackers have been pulled, turkeys carved and new years fireworks lit we should know more about where there clubs stand in this division and whether or not their promotion hopes are tangible or just a Christmas wish.
We’re into the second half of the league phase now and it’s getting nervy for teams from the top to the bottom of the table! If some teams don’t start picking up points now, their European campaign could be all over. Whereas other sides need to pick up wins to ensure they qualify in the top eight and avoid the dreaded play-offs.Whatever happens, it’s sure to be dramatic.
Another week of Champions League action and it’s the biggest of the lot so far. Huge matches at both ends of the table as two of the early favourites in Bayern and Arsenal clash for top spot while the only two sides with zero points, Benfica and Ajax, duke it out to ignite a small hope they could scrape into the play-offs. Everything is still on the line and nobody’s quite out of it yet. Who will get themselves into the knockouts and who will be stranded at the foot of the table looking ahead to next year’s Champions League before this one’s really gotten started?
Credit: OptaAnalyst
The Results:
Tuesday 25th November
Ajax 0-2 Benfica
The opening game of this week was the rubbish-off between the two sides rooted to the bottom of the table with zero points, and they did not disappoint. As long as what you were hoping for was two of the greatest and most storied clubs in European football being reduced to the shadows of their former selves. In many ways it was vintage Mourinho, Benfica opened the scoring early through one of the goals of the season from Samuel Dahl – a arrow into the top corner as the ball bounced out of the box following a set-piece – before sitting back and surrendering possession. Benfica were happy for Ajax to come at them because, honestly, Ajax are too terrible to inflict any harm. It had the energy of a bored older sibling holding their younger brother at arms length while they flail their arms and kick out to no effect. Benfica added a second on the counter as the clock ticked over to the 90th minute and left with a vital three points. Ajax are finished, you’d think. They’ve won once in their last ten games and look hopeless at both ends, but they do have Qarabag, Villareal and Olympiacos left. Even if they win all of their remaining games, it’s unlikely 9 points will ever be enough for a play-off spot. Benfica could sneak in there, but would have to overturn a significantly tougher run in of Napoli, Juventus and Real Madrid. The reality is, unfortunately, it’s over for both these sides this year.
Galatasaray 0-1 Union St. Gilloise
My pick for Galatasaray to go far in the tournament is looking a little bit shakier after this result. The Turkish side are in the midst of an injury crisis, most notably missing their talisman Victor Osimhen, and had to resort to having two goalkeepers and six teenagers on the bench just to make up the numbers. It was a massive three points for the Belgians, picking up their second win and keeping themselves well in the hunt for a play-off spot on their maiden Champions League voyage. Galatasaray have a grudge match against Fenerbahce in the league to worry about next, in this competition they should just need another win to qualify for the play-offs.
Bødo/Glimt 2-3 Juventus
It’s starting to feel like Bødo/Glimt’s foray into the Champions League is a twisted social experiment aiming to see how far they can push the people of Norway before they snap. The latest batch of heartache came baked by the Old Lady, Jonathan David grabbing a stoppage time winner for the Italian side to leave Bødo on just two points and well adrift of the knockouts. Somehow, despite being well in all five of their matches so far, the Norwegians are yet to win and are probably out of reach of the play-offs already. You have to feel for them. Juve finally got their first win of the campaign, and just in time. They’re hovering just inside the play-offs with some winnable fixtures on the horizon, they may just limp over the line but don’t expect to see them go deep in the competition.
Dortmund 4-0 Villareal
The German side held a narrow lead in a nervy game until former Spurs man Juan Foyth decided to make a save on the line and get himself sent off, as well as conceding a penalty. BVB ran riot with the man advantage, compounding their goal difference and even managing to miss another penalty on their way to victory. They sit pretty on ten points and will almost certainly play in the knockouts, the same cannot be said about their opponents. Just one point for the Spaniards at this stage and, while not mathematically impossible, it’s time to call it a day on their hopes of progressing.
Chelsea 3-0 Barcelona
The red card on the brink of half-time was a kindness for Barca as it provides them with an excuse to those who didn’t see the game. They couldn’t live with Chelsea’s relentless attack and their high line was being caught out every time the home side came forward, tactically bizarre from Hansi Flick. As for Chelsea, there was so much to be proud of in this game and if I were a supporter I’d be more than optimistic of their chances of winning at least one trophy this season, maybe even this one. Barca are now three points adrift of the top eight and, while they’ll definitely qualify for at least the play-offs, need to kick it up a gear to make sure they avoid having to play the extra matches. The jury is still out as to whether Chelsea’s young squad have the consistency and grit to get through tricky periods, but as it stands they’re doing fantastically.
Manchester City 0-2 Leverkusen
Manchester City made ten changes to their starting lineup for the arrival of Leverkusen, and the German side made them pay. City probably had the better of the game but were unable to get a proper handle on it before Leverkusen were already 2 goals up. Manchester City look listless without Haaland, are they now a one man team? Both of these will qualify, neither currently occupy the top eight but both will go all-out in the last three matches to grab one of those automatic spots I’m sure.
Marseille 2-1 Newcastle
A 5-minute brace from 36 year-old Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was enough to overturn a Harvey Barnes opener in France and enough to drop Newcastle out of the top eight for now. It was also enough to claim Marseille’s second win of the Champions League campaign and sneak them just inside the play-off positions at close of play this week. Both teams will fancy their chances with some winnable fixtures on the horizon and plenty of points on the board, they’ll have to avoid a slip up against lesser opposition to guarantee they don’t need points from Liverpool and PSG respectively.
Slavia Prague 0-0 Athletic Club
The most glamorous fixture and result of the round for sure. A wet night in Prague ended up with the spoils shared, a result that doesn’t really benefit anyone. Prague are yet to win, but have managed three draws, so are still within a distant shout of making a knockout fixture. Similarly, Atheltic Club sit on four points thus far so are still definitely in the conversation, but with PSG, Atalanta and Sporting coming up it may be too little to late for the Basque club on their Champions League return.
Napoli 2-0 Qarabag FK
The peoples’ champions Qarabag suffered defeat at the hands of man of the people Scott McTominay in Naples. The Scotsman bundled home a corner shortly after his teammate Rasmus Hojlund had his penalty saved then turned provider as his shot cannoned off a Qarabag defender into the net for an own goal. Both sides now sit on 7 points and will know they need at least another win to guarantee a spot in the knockout rounds. Napoli have strugglers Benfica and København before a tricky tie against Chelsea and will definitely fancy their chances to get over the line. Their Azerbaijani opponents have zero-point Ajax next and will be targeting that game as the one they have to win. Fixtures against Frankfurt and Liverpool follow, both winnable or potential 5-0 losses depending on which version of these sides turns up. All focus turns to the next gameweek for both of these sides.
Wednesday 26th November
FC København 3-2 Kairat Almaty
The Danes put on a domineering display and nearly threw it all away in the final moments. Two goals in the last ten minutes weren’t enough to claim a result for the 10 travelling Kairat fans that made the one million mile trip on Wednesday night. København’s first Champions League win of the season is enough to keep them in contention for the knockouts, but with Napoli and Barcelona to come they’re going to have to pull of a spectacular result to make it to the next stage. Kairat are still on just one point but have put on a valiant display in their first ever Champions League season. Plenty to be proud of for the Kazakhstani side.
Pafos FC 2-2 Monaco
David Luiz (yes, that one) became the second oldest Champions League goalscorer in history this week with a superb bullet-header from a corner to level the score at 1-1. Former Liverpool man Takumi Minamino opened the scoring, before former Chelsea and Arsenal defender David Luiz levelled things up. Former Arsenal man Florian Balogun then put Monaco back in the lead before half-time and they held the lead until the 88th minute. Former Southampton man Mohammed Salisu’s own goal made the final score 2-2 and made it a great night for the Cypriot side. These two occupy the final two places in the play-offs as it stands, and both would be delighted to make it to a knockout fixture. Particularly Pafos on their European debut. They’ve been solid and only lost once so far with Juve, Chelsea and Slavia Prague to come. They couldn’t, could they?
Arsenal 3-1 Bayern Munich
Arsenal are the business. Bayern gave them their best test of the season so far, dominating large portions of the first half before Arsenal really kicked into gear after the break. Arteta’s use of substitutes has been superb this season, with two goals and an assist off the bench again this game. He is making full use of his squad and has options all over the pitch, they look like a different beast to the perennial runners-up we’ve seen previously. 17 year-old Lennart Karl got another goal for Bayern and he looks fantastic, it’s nice for them to finally have a good player on their hands for a change. Arsenal are now the only side with a perfect record in the competition and look like an early favourite for every competition they’re in, will the pressure of competing on multiple fronts cause them to crumble and miss out on them all? Or can they prioritise, divide and conquer and win the elusive league title as well as a first ever Champions League triumph?
Atletico Madrid 2-1 Inter
Inter’s unbeaten European record came to an end with a 93rd minute José Giménez header from a corner that sent the Atleti fans into raptures. Since they were demolished by Arsenal, the Spaniards have won the subsequent six games and are in superb form. PSV, Galatasaray and Bødo await Simeone’s side, they can definitely turn their 9 points from the opening 5 games into a top eight position if this form continues. Inter shouldn’t be too downbeat about losing to a very good Atleti side, and their 12 points will be enough for the play-offs even if they are to lose the rest of their games. Liverpool, Arsenal and Dortmund to come – they could struggle to make the top eight despite their early dominance if their opponents hit form at the right time.
Frankfurt 0-3 Atalanta
Atalanta have struggled to get going this season and have only managed three wins in their last twelve games, but all three of those have been in the Champions League. They have fought off some tricky opposition and find themselves outside the top eight on goal difference and looking like a sure bet to make it to the next stage despite being sat down in 13th in Serie A. Their games are rarely firecrackers, managing to get to their record of 3 wins 1 draw and 1 loss by scoring just 6 goals and conceding only 5, 4 of those in an opening week pummelling by PSG. Chelsea are next, and that will be a test, but Athletic Club and USG will provide much easier opposition and any points picked up should all but guarantee a spot in the next round. The story is less rosy for their hosts. The German outfit have shipped goals on an industrial scale so far this season, boasting the third worst defensive record in the Bundesliga and second worst in the Champions League, only bettered (or worsened?) by nil-point Ajax. It’s all in Frankfurt’s hands. Wins against Spurs and Qarabag, which are entirely achievable, and potentially a shock result in Barcelona will see them get into the play-offs. With how they’re choosing to defend, however, it’s looking unlikely.
Liverpool 1-4 PSV
Oh, Arne. Liverpool’s recent record has been dreadful, obviously, but there was an inking of hope that they’d turned it all around with back-to-back wins against Villa and Real Madrid. That hasn’t happened, as Man City, Nottingham Forest and now PSV have discovered to their pleasure. 10 conceded and 1 scored in their last 3 games. Ouch. PSV were excellent, on the other hand. After their disappointing opening week loss to USG at home they have gone on a twelve game long unbeaten run that sees them comfortably atop the Eredivisie tree and within touching distance of the Champions League knockouts. Tricky tests against Atleti, Newcastle and Bayern to come may leave them short, however, and regretting a disappointing point at Olympiacos and the loss to USG early on. I have no idea what to say in Liverpool’s case. They might win the rest of their games and they might lose them all, there really is no telling which Liverpool side will turn up on any given day. Inter, Marseille and Qarabag left, they should have enough to get over the line – it’ll be interesting to see where Arne Slot stands if they don’t.
Olympiacos 3-4 Real Madrid
Kylian Mbappé, quite good at football as it turns out. FOUR goals, including a seven-minute first half hat-trick, were enough to quash a spirited uprising by the Greek side, who will be disappointed not to come away with anything from an excellent performance against one of the big dogs. Madrid started slow, but when you have Mbappé in your side you seldom have to worry about goals. They sit on 12 points and in 5th place, well primed to skip the play-offs entirely. Their hosts are languishing on just two points after another solid display went unrewarded, Kairat, Leverkusen and Ajax are their final opponents and a very achievable 9 points could see them steal a play-off spot. It’s not quite over yet in Athens.
PSG 5-3 Tottenham
Vitinha. Blimey. A superb hat-trick from the silky midfielder was the difference in a pulsating affair in Paris. PSG loanee Randal Kolo Muani showed his parent club what they’re missing with two goals and an assist in Spurs colours on their patch, that’s the last time PSG do the nice thing and let a loanee play against them. Spurs somehow dominated large swathes of the first half and the opening to the second before succumbing to the superior quality of PSG, the champions are still waiting on some of their superstars being fully fit to show what they really can do. It was Spurs’ first loss in Europe this season and they are pretty well poised, aside from any Spurs-esque slip ups, to reach the play-offs on their Champions League return. PSG will qualify, of course, probably in the top eight without having half their team fit and firing. Frightening.
Sporting CP 3-0 Club Brugge
The final tie of the round ended with an emphatic win for the home side, who now find themselves sneaking into 8th position against all odds. They have Bayern and PSG to come, so it may not last forever, but they’re in an excellent position to qualify if they get a result on the final day against Athletic Club. They won the game at a canter, taking their stunning domestic form and translating it to the big stage with ease, a tricky day out for the Belgians. Brugge face Arsenal next before easier games against Kairat and Marseille, they’re outside of the knockouts as it stands and will need to at least get 6 points to make it to the next stage. A tough ask, and probably a step too far.
Game of the Round:
Liverpool 1-4 PSV
Liverpool’s downfall is so reminiscent of Manchester City’s last season. They just can’t win. Even when they do win and you think it’s all happy families again, they go and lose by three goals three games on the bounce. Astonishing.
Take nothing away from PSV, they were excellent all night and fully deserve the victory and a famous night in their history books, but the defending on display from Liverpool was comical at times.
The first goal, a penalty, is conceded by Van Dijk jumping to meet a corner hands-first – for some reason. The second goal comes from Mauro Junior turning Salah inside out with a simple dummy and the Egyptian refusing to press or chase after his man after losing out to him, allowing him to run into acres of space and pick out a wonderful through ball for Guus Til to finish beyond the ‘keeper. The third, oh my god the third, comes from the most comical and nonsensical bit of defending you’ll ever see at the top level. Konate charges at the ball like a schoolboy, misjudging its path and allowing Ricardo Pepi in behind, his shot comes off the post into the path of his teammate Couhaib Driouech who taps home the third into a gaping net. And finally, for 4-1, Sergino Dest starts his run about 10 yards behind a sluggish Van Dijk who just cannot keep up when the ball is played to the USA international. He plods back as if making an attempt to challenge, but is never in any danger of actually having to get involved as the ball is pulled back to Driouech in miles of room to finish beautifully into the bottom corner.
PSV were brilliant, but Liverpool were once again their own worst enemies. Arne Slot’s days may be numbered.
Liverpool.com
Player of the Round:
I considered picking someone else, I really did. Vitinha’s hat-trick, old man Aubameyang’s winning brace and any number of superb Chelsea players could have made the cut. But he scored 4 goals. It’s Kylian Mbappé.
Just the 9 goals in the opening 5 matches of the Champions League for Real Madrid’s main man – 22 in 18 across Europe and LaLiga. Just sublime.
There isn’t much I can say that hasn’t been said, or that you don’t already know. Scored in two World Cup finals, including a hat-trick last time out, lightning quick, amazing on the ball and a lethal finisher. He’d get a game for every side in history.
Source: FBref
If you were in any doubt, somehow, take a look at the numbers. He is the world’s premier attacking talent and doesn’t need me to tell him that. Four goals. Player of the week.
realmadrid.com
Table:
Automatic QualificationPlay-OffsElimination
Nobody’s technically out and nobody’s technically automatically through, but this was the week a few teams finally began to essentially to confirm whether we will or will not be seeing them in the knockout phase.
Arsenal will be there! Probably in the capacity of top eight finishers – maybe even top of the tree entirely.
And it’s goodbye to Ajax, Kairat and Villareal for sure. Miracles can happen, I just have a feeling they won’t.
It really ramps up next time out, there’ll be tears, celebrations and red cards galore across another 18 hard-fought games. See you then.
This weekend’s Premier League action concludes with the biggest game of the lot. These sides come into the weekend occupying the top two positions in the table and off the back of huge midweek fixtures in the Champions League. Can Arsenal maintain their course to Premier League glory, or will Chelsea throw their hat into the ring as potential challengers? As far as big games go – it doesn’t get much bigger.
This game hardly ever disappoints. Two of the biggest teams in the country – if not the world – clashing in a London Derby always brings the fireworks. Cup finals, the race for European football and close-run title fights, this fixture has had it all over the years.
It’s still relatively early in the season, but Arsenal look the clear frontrunners for the title. Manchester City and Liverpool have faltered, the latter to an unbelievable degree, leaving the space open for the red side of North London to finally claim that elusive league title under Mikel Arteta after so many runners-up medals. If anyone can spoil the party, Chelsea might be the best fit. Arsenal come into this game looking to extend their lead at the top of the tree coming into a congested Christmas period, and Chelsea can shorten that gap to just three points with a win. If the Blues manage to claim victory here, with Arsenal’s growing injury list and the never ending depth of the Chelsea squad, the title race could be a lot closer than people think after the busy winter fixtures conclude.
It really is all to play for this week – is the title on the line already?
Form:
In a word; impeccable. Arsenal have only lost once all season, drawn twice and won on the other sixteen occasions. They haven’t tasted defeat for fifteen games and they certainly won’t want to start here, after a statement victory over Bayern in midweek spirits will be high and it looks like nobody is capable of toppling Arsenal on current form. Being so hard to beat has also left them with the third best away record in the division, only bettered on goal difference by rivals Spurs and Chelsea. This weekend is their first big test on the road since the narrow loss to Liverpool early in the campaign, a win here would be the cherry atop a very big, delicious cake for Mikel Arteta to tuck into after a near-perfect opening to the season. Even Arsenal can’t bottle it from here – can they?
Well, if anyone is going to give us a proper title race and offer some entertainment this season, it may just have to be Chelsea. They’re coming off the back of an amazing 3-0 victory against Barcelona in midweek and are deservedly in second place in the league after showing much more consistency than the teams predicted to be challenging Arsenal at the top, and Chelsea as a club just seem to have this intangible ability to keep winning things even when their squad doesn’t seem at the level of the competition. The Blues’ home form has been particularly poor, however, winning three and losing two of their opening six league games at Stamford Bridge this season – good enough for just 13th in the home table. Arsenal seem to thrive in a hostile atmosphere and won’t let the crowd at Chelsea get on top of them easily, an early goal for the home side might be necessary to swing the momentum in their favour on and off the field. They come into this match full of confidence, unbeaten in six and with just one loss in their last eleven games, everyone has written them off already – why can’t they go on and win it?
Head-to-head:
Since the turn of the decade, after a long stretch in the 2010s where beating Chelsea felt like an insurmountable task for Arsenal, The Gunners have had Chelsea’s number.
From January 2020 until now, these two sides have faced each other in competitive fixtures on 12 occasions. They’ve drawn 3 times, Chelsea have won just once and Arsenal have come away with the victory on the other 8 outings. In fact, Chelsea haven’t beaten Arsenal at Stamford Bridge in the league since August 2018.
It’s going to take a rewriting of modern history for Enzo Maresca’s side to take all three points this time out, but Arsenal’s run can’t last forever.
Key Matchup:
Moisés Caicedo vs Declan Rice
These huge ties are often decided by who can grab the game by the scruff of the neck and take control of the midfield battle, and I don’t think this time will be any different. The two £100m men have been pivotal to all things positive for their sides so far this season, and with the entire Arsenal strike force and Cole Palmer out injured in attack, the control of the midfield area will be more crucial than ever.
Both are also capable of pulling a goal out of nowhere, so it’ll be crucial that they marshal each other as well as focus on their own games to make sure that their team comes out on top.
Preview:
A massive tie at the top of the tree before the Christmas fixtures kick off. If Arsenal win, you’d think the title race might be over before it’s even begun. A Chelsea result definitely makes things interesting.
Both played fantastically midweek against some of the trickiest opposition in Europe and will be full of confidence coming into this game, will Arsenal run away with it or can Chelsea push them all the way?
I wouldn’t be shocked to see them duking it out on multiple fronts as the season progresses.
Have Chelsea got enough in their arsenal to overcome the league leaders? Or will Mikel Arteta’s Gunners fire themselves further out in front with a statement win?
It doesn’t get much bigger – who are you going for?
In a game of little quality, it was the visitors who came out on top in the battle of the bottom two at Vale Park. An important victory on the road for Argyle saw them catapulted into the heady heights of 23rd, and finally within touching distance of safety.
Sometimes you watch teams at the bottom end of the table and wonder how they’ve ended up so low down with the quality they’ve got. This wasn’t one of those times.
If you believe in numbers, newly promoted Port Vale boast the impressive 8th highest xG in the division, a statistic made even more remarkable by the fact they are also comfortably the lowest scorers in the league. This disparity was made readily apparent this weekend with the visit of Plymouth. It was all one-way traffic in favour of the home side for the first half, Vale capitalised on loose passes and worked the ball nicely on the counter on a few occasions, but were unable to make the breakthrough. Had it not been for a pair of well-timed last ditch interventions from defenders Mathias Ross and Alexander Mitchell, we could have been looking at a very different outcome in this match. However, as is the case this season, Darren Moore’s side just couldn’t make their dominance count and entered the break with the score still at 0-0.
Plymouth have been notably awful in their first season back in League One following relegation, but have chosen to buck the trend of hopping on the ever-revolving manager merry-go-round and have stuck with their man Tom Cleverley despite him having them stuck to the bottom of the table prior to this weekend’s action. They’ll be hoping this result can kickstart a trend and their faith will be repaid, after a top-to-bottom fire-sale from the coaching staff through to most of their first team squad in summer, they should still be sat on a healthy mound of gold should they need to splash out on January reinforcements to get them over the dreaded red line.
One of the players they did decide to go out and purchase in the transfer window was former Port Vale striker Lorent Tolaj. The Swiss forward has been a rare bright spark for his side so far, managing seven goals in twelve games in the league already. An impressive goal record for the new man, particularly as the side he’s been playing in have hardly created any chances for him in the first place. Argyle struggled to create anything of note, and his former teammates had his number, so Tolaj was restricted to just one shot across the whole game at his old stomping-ground. If you’re a good enough striker, however, one chance is all you need.
Just 18 seconds after the restart, Argyle winger Matthew Sorinola held the ball up out wide before delivering a stinging low cross into the danger area. The Vale defenders were still adjusting into the second half, allowing Tolaj to ghost between them and stab home the only goal of the game. After the talk of xG earlier, it might refresh you to know that Tolaj chose to forgo the now-traditional “I’m so sorry for scoring” muted celebration against his former side and instead opted for a gleeful knee slide towards the home crowd. We’ve got our game back.
The goal was Plymouth’s first real chance of the game, and even as the game opened up and Port Vale chased an equaliser they still struggled to capitalise on the extra space afforded to them. All things positive from a Green and White perspective seemed to come from Sorinola down the right-hand side, forcing a good save himself before creating a similar chance to the goal that was blocked by a covering defender on this occasion.
Devante Cole tried his best to get Vale back into the game, setting up two chances for his teammates which really should’ve been buried if not for the heroic performance of Plymouth ‘keeper Conor Hazard. When a chance finally fell to Cole himself, he spurned his free header straight into the ground and wide of the post. It would be tempting to look at this Port Vale showing and say it just wasn’t their day, but after consistently under-delivering on the chances they create it’s more than just bad luck. They now find themselves rock bottom of the division and staring down the barrel of an immediate return to League Two, if they don’t sort out their finishing then there’s no hope of dragging themselves out of relegation zone anytime soon.
Plymouth thought they’d cracked it earlier on in the year, after a tricky start they went on a brilliant run and won 5 in 6 in all comps through September. This weekend’s victory was the first win since then, eight games later. They certainly have the quality to get well clear of the drop, but is Cleverley the right man to take them there?
Put down your England flags and dust off your season tickets – Championship football is back baby! There’s plenty of exciting fixtures to sink your teeth into this weekend, but if you’re stuck as to which game to tune into then look no further than this week’s preview match as Charlton welcome Southampton to The Valley for the first time since 2011.
Had you said before the season kicked off that one of these teams would come into this fixture in 9th and the other in 17th, you’d have been forgiven for thinking they’d be the other way around. In fact, 17th would’ve been well above expectations for the League One Play-Off winners and Southampton fans would probably be pretty disappointed to be outside the top six with the quality of their squad.
The Championship works in mysterious ways, however, and this weekend Nathan Jones is welcoming the club he was laughed out of to his new home. I’m sure he takes great pleasure in the fact his Charlton side are in much better shape than his former employers.
It’ll be a big test for both sides, are Charlton the real deal? And have the managerless Southampton actually turned their form around – or have they just been fortunate with their fixtures?
Struggling to pick a winner? Hopefully this guide can un-muddy the waters for you.
Form:
Despite their excellent start to the season, The Addicks’ form has been patchy. They’re yet to string more than two wins together, but have also only lost back-to-back league games once so far, so they don’t get themselves stuck in a rut of bad form either. Over their last five games they’ve picked up two impressive wins at home to West Brom and away at Ipswich, the latter an emphatic 3-0 drubbing. They’ve also drawn 1-1 with Hull and Swansea and, last time out, suffered a 1-0 defeat away at Wrexham.
When they do lose, they don’t tend to lose heavily and are always in every game until late on. They make themselves very tricky to beat and are tight at the back, boasting the division’s second-best defensive record. Phenomenal for a side that finished fourth in League One last season. They definitely lack firepower, having scored less goals than anyone else in the top half of the league so far, but if you aren’t conceding any you only need to score one.
Southampton relieved Will Still of his duties after he wildly underachieved against expectations at the start of the season. U21s gaffer Tonda Eckert has taken charge of their last two games, masterminding wins against a QPR side with one win in six and a Sheffield Wednesday team who can’t sign anyone and are still in negative points. A win is a win is a win, but it’s unclear wether they will still struggle. Prior to those two wins, Southampton had won just twice in their opening twelve matches. And one of those was against Sheffield United, so you probably can’t even count that either.
They have had a habit of dominating teams without managing to get the ball over the line so far this season, if they can start getting the best out of the vast pool of talent available to them I wouldn’t be surprised to see them creep up into Play-Off contention. If they are going to manage a push up the table, they not only need to take more of their own chances but also stop giving away so many to their opposition. They have the fifth-worst defence in the league at this point and have only managed two clean sheets, both 0-0 draws where they have failed to capitalise on rare defensive solidity. Concede less goals, score more goals. With insight like this, it’s a wonder I don’t get the job.
Charlton have only lost once at home this season to date, and only let four goals past them at their place in the seven games they’ve played there so far. If Saints are going to get a win, they’ll have to be resolute at the back and take the few chances they do get. Neither of those have been characteristic traits of this season’s Southampton side. If they win this one, maybe they really have turned a corner and their season can kick on from here.
Head-to-head:
These clubs had been on opposite trajectories for a while now, finally converging in the same division again this season for the first time since the 2010/11 League One campaign. While Southampton were flirting with European football and selling stars to Liverpool for £70m a pop, Charlton were steeling themselves for a tricky away trip in Scunthorpe. And yet, here they both are!
In their last ten meetings, Charlton have won on two occasions, drawing four times and losing the other three. Both their wins came at St Mary’s and the Saints actually haven’t lost at The Valley since the 2003/04 Premier League season.
There’s very little to go on, and none of it is in the last decade, but Southampton have the marginally record in this fixture’s recent memory.
This weekend also marks the first time Nathan Jones has taken charge of a match against Southampton. If his time in the dugout at St Mary’s is anything to go by, he certainly knows how to make them lose.
Key Matchup:
James Bree vs Ryan Manning
No right-sided wing back has created more chances in the Championship this season than James Bree. No left-sided wing back has created more chances in the Championship this season than Ryan Manning. Tasty.
Bree made the move to Charlton from Southampton in summer and has set the world alight for his new club from minute one. He’s popped up with two goals and three assists already so far, an excellent return for a wing-back in a team so focussed on the defensive side of the game. He wins the ball high up the pitch, is one of the most accurate crossers of the ball in the division and very rarely gets dribbled past. He is the ideal Nathan Jones wing-back, hard working in the press and proficient defensively while also being able to contribute with devastating effectiveness on the counter-attack. I’m sure Bree, along with his boss, will be keen to show his former employers just what they’re missing this weekend.
Manning has been a bright spark in an otherwise miserable Southampton season so far. A solitary sequin on a sack of potatoes. He has managed two goals of his own so far but is yet to register an assist. With the volume of chances he creates, this says more about the forward players he calls colleagues than it does about Manning himself. He’ll be nursing an almighty headache after being part of the miraculous Ireland squad over the international break, let’s hope for Southampton’s sake he’s shaken that off before he’s tasked with taking on James Bree.
Will one of them forgo utilising their offensive strengths to try and nullify their opponent? Or will both push forward as they have been doing and hope their opposite number backs down? Whichever way it goes, it’s sure to be an intriguing battle down that flank this weekend.
Preview:
Overachievers vs Underachievers.
“Aren’t they doing well!” vs “Blimey what’s happened to them?”
A victory here could start to set the record straight as far as Southampton are concerned. The Valley has proven itself to be a tricky away ground to try and scrape any points from, so to take all three will show the league that Saints are more than capable of turning their start around and mounting a real challenge for the top six.
The story is much the same from a Charlton perspective. Despite their poor start, Southampton are still very much a scalp. They have a squad of top-end championship players with a few Premier League lads scattered about here and there too. I know they only got twelve points, but Taylor Harwood-Bellis scored for England last season! A win here shows Charlton are here to stay. Frame it and hang it up next to Ipswich away. If there’s one thing that’s for certain, the Nathan Jones celebrations will not be muted come full-time if Charlton get a result.
Will Will Still’s shadow still hang over the Saints – or can they exorcise their demons and begin their ascension to the promised land?
In a game that Lincoln simply had to win in the League One promotion race, they did just that. Three vital points this weekend has edged them that bit closer to a return to the second tier for the first time since before the moon landings.
If there’s one thing that everyone involved in football can agree on, it’s that points on the board are much more valuable than games in hand. While the rest of the top six dozed off with their games postponed for international week, Lincoln City welcomed Doncaster to Sincil Bank with dreams of piling the pressure on their rivals with a statement win. And with the rest of the promotion-chasers watching on, the Imps did just that. They stuck their man on the moon. Or, more accurately, they eked out a tight victory against a Doncaster side that hadn’t won in eight league games.
The push for promotion from League One this year is as tight as I can remember it. Dependant on cup runs, sides have played between thirteen and sixteen games so far. Despite being a decent chunk through the season, just eight points separate Leyton Orient in 16th and league leaders Stockport. For context, if you were eight points off the top of the tree in the Championship this weekend you’d be in 4th. It’s closer than ever, a good string of results can drag anyone from mid-table obscurity to within a few games of Wembley Way and dreams of promotion.
None will be more aware of this than Lincoln, who came into this game knowing a win could take them into the automatic promotion places and a loss could see them drop as low as 13th once everyone’s games in hand had been caught up on. Their opponents, on the other hand, have been in free fall of late. After seven games Doncaster found themselves second in the league with an impressive five wins, a fantastic start for a newly promoted side. Performances have started to slip, however, and since then they have gone nine without a win and are now teetering above the drop zone by just three points and in worse form than anyone else in the division. Troubling times for Grant McCann’s side.
If Lincoln are going to return to the second tier for the first time since 1960/61, these are the games they have to win. They started brightly, midfielder Robert Street having his headed goal chalked off after 22 minutes for a push in the build up. It was probably a fair decision, and ultimately didn’t affect the full-time result, but I’ve definitely seen them given as goals.
The hosts nearly graciously gifted their visitors the opener shortly afterwards, Sonny Bradley flicked a lazy pass back to his ‘keeper that was easily intercepted by Owen Bailey for Doncaster. Bailey found Billy Sharp and he lined up to shoot, but by the time he could get his effort away Bradley had scarpered back to the goal line to head clear and spare his blushes. If anyone was going to finish that chance, you’d probably expect it to be Sharp.
The breakthrough finally came just after the half hour mark, and it was Lincoln who drew first blood. Right-back Tendayi Darikwa was given too much space and time down the flank, and wasn’t pressed with any urgency. He picked out a beautiful cross into the middle for on-loan Everton winger Francis Okoronkwo to head home his first league goal in Lincoln colours, he did brilliantly to run between the defenders and divert the ball into the far corner well beyond the goalkeeper’s grasp. That goal saw the hosts entered into the break in a deserved, but fragile, lead. Doncaster would have to climb a mountain to put an end to their months-long winless run.
They came out for the second half with plenty of intent. Star-man Luke Molyneux’s long-range effort was barely tipped wide by Lincoln ‘keeper George Wickens seemingly out of nowhere. When you have a player of his quality in midfield, you’re never truly out of the game.
Bizarrely, Wickens was nearly the architect for the next Lincoln goal. The ball was rolled back to him and he pumped it forward over the top of the entire Doncaster backline. Sonny Bradley managed to beat the offside trap and passed the ball sideways to the goalscorer Okoronkwo for a tap into an empty net. It was the easiest chance of the game, he had plenty of time, nobody pressuring him and the goal gaping before him. The ball trickled wide for a goal kick. You can take the boy out of Everton…
Lincoln were made to rue the missed opportunity, their visitors equalising with 70 minutes on the clock. Molyneux was, of course, at the heart of all things good for Doncaster. He won the ball out wide from a Lincoln clearance and drove forward, playing an excellent ball through to substitute Brandon Hanlan who turned and finished well into the bottom corner beyond Wickens. It was a lovely touch and finish, but an experienced defender like Bradley really has to be tighter to him than, and he’ll know it too. If Bradley marks him properly, the goal never happens.
Doncaster, as we’ve discussed, have been having a terrible time of late. With twenty minutes to go, they were level at one of the trickiest away grounds to travel to in the division and in with a serious chance of getting something. Keep it tight, don’t do anything silly and be strong on set pieces and they could walk away with a great point on the road.
A minute after the equaliser, Lincoln regained the lead with a scrappy own goal from a long throw. The ball bounced multiple times in the box and Doncaster failed to clear their lines, eventually it fell to Ben House whose shot hit the ‘keeper and ricocheted off of Robbie Gotts into his own net. A calamity for Doncaster at the back and a disaster for their chances of getting anything out of the game. The rest of the game played out largely without incident, Owen Bailey came closest to equalising as he stretched to meet a teasing cross into the goal but he couldn’t direct the ball on target. The full-time whistle rang out and the hosts celebrated three crucial points in the hunt for an elusive promotion place in this year’s League One campaign.
With all the postponements across the division, this week was the opportunity for both these sides to put out a statement of their intent to stay in, or get promoted out of, the league this year. Lincoln showed they have what it takes and Doncaster should seriously be looking over their shoulder at the bottom four and a swift return to League Two.
With Blackpool undergoing somewhat of a resurgence since the appointment of Ian Evatt, Peterborough looking significantly more capable under Luke Williams and Plymouth with a superior squad and the financial muscle to flex from their summer exodus all snapping at Doncaster’s heels, they need to return to their early season form sooner rather than later to avoid being dragged back into League Two at the first attempt after a three year stint trying to get themselves out.
For Lincoln, they’ll hope this victory can set them off on a run of results to maintain their position in the top two. There are some big clubs with big budgets around them, but with their wiley and experienced squad they’re more than capable of giving everyone a game in this league.
A massive result at both ends of the table that could have huge repercussions in the promotion and relegation battles. Could these sides both find themselves out of League One come May?
White Noise 