The Championship is ridiculously brilliant. It is the football league with the tagline ‘anyone can beat anybody’ and, from what we have seen of the action so far in 2022-23, it is once again wide open.
As it stands, only 11 points separate Blackburn Rovers in first and Blackpool in 19th, while there are only five points between Queens Park Rangers in sixth and Wigan Athletic in 17th.
It is crazy how much the league positions can change in the space of one round of fixtures and there are several quirky details surrounding the division right now that prove just how competitive it is this season.
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Blackburn’s bizarre form
Rovers moved to the top of the table on Tuesday night after a 2-0 victory over Sunderland at Ewood Park. It was a game that had controversy as well as a stunning strike. Premier League referee Craig Pawson missed a clear foul on the visitors' Jack Clarke in the box that should have seen the visitors given the chance to go ahead moments before Ben Brereton Diaz curled in a sublime opener.
Blackburn's victory over the Black Cats saw them win back-to-back games for the first time since 14 August, with their 10 games before Tuesday night following a recurring trend of a loss followed by a win. Rovers haven’t drawn a game and they currently have more losses (seven, almost half their games) than Coventry City in 24th (five), albeit having played five matches more than the Sky Blues. It is a strange way of climbing the table but it's working.
Preston thriving despite contrasting form at both ends of the pitch
At the start of the season, Preston North End went on a strange run, keeping seven clean sheets in their first seven Championship matches while only scoring two goals, as they recorded five goalless draws in that period.
Since then, they have attained a further three clean sheets and seven more goals as Ryan Lowe’s side sit eighth in the table, just two points off the play-offs. They boast the best defensive record in the league with just 12 goals conceded, but they are also the joint-lowest scorers (with Coventry) having found the back of the net on just nine occasions.
Bristol City remain an enigma
It is extremely hard to understand what is going on at Ashton Gate this term. A few games into the season, the Robins looked like a side destined to make the top six due to the volume of goalscorers they had at their disposal. Nahki Wells, Andreas Weimann, Tommy Conway and Antoine Semenyo have all been regularly contributing goals, 18 in total, which amounts to 72% of Bristol City’s goals this campaign.
However, their defensive record is worrying. While they have scored 25 in the Championship so far, they have conceded 24 goals themselves. One of their most notable poor defensive performances came in a 3-0 loss against Birmingham City where all three goals came from corners and the marking and defending shown by the Robins was comical.
Despite their inconsistency, they sit three points off sixth even after losing almost half their fixtures.
Rotherham haven't been fazed by Paul Warne’s departure
It has already been stated how much of a good job Paul Warne did with the Millers over his six-year spell in charge. When he swapped Rotherham for Derby County last month, the Millers were eighth having lost just one of their first nine games.
It was feared that his exit would see Rotherham slide down the table, but they are still holding firm under his successor Matt Taylor. They have picked up seven points in their last five matches as they sit 10th. Only Burnley (one) have lost fewer games in 2022-23 than them (three). The fact that Rotherham have one or two games in hand on teams above them makes their position even more impressive.
Birmingham don’t look like the relegation fodder they were tipped to be
Every man and his dog thought this was going to be the year that Birmingham City would fall through the trap door to League One having flirted with it so frequently in recent years. Many thought the appointment of inexperienced John Eustace would not change anything, but it has.
The Blues have lost just one of their last seven matches, winning four in that run. Eustace has got them looking good going forward and tight at the back. They are not the most prolific goalscorers in the division but their defensive record (12 conceded) is only bested by Preston. There hasn’t been a single game where the Blues have been completely dominated in a match and they have sometimes dropped points due to fine margins. The former Kidderminster Harriers boss has transformed this club on the pitch in such a short space of time.
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