Buzzin Championship Football

The top three are now all seven points clear of the pack – an unprecedented situation since the second tier was renamed the Championship. Since the start of the 2004/2005 season there have been a couple of occasions where two teams have made the early running: two years ago Southampton and West Ham were six points ahead of Cardiff and at the end of November 2005 Reading and Sheffield United were nine points ahead of Watford.

Here’s the interesting bit. This weekend’s games featuring the top three are huge: in four of the last five seasons, the teams that have been in the top two at the end of November have eventually been promoted. Not only that, in four of the last five seasons – although not the same ones – all the clubs that have eventually been promoted have been in the top six at the end of November.

Regular readers will know what’s coming next – the bottom six at the end of this month will give us a clue about who I’ll be writing about next season at the Buzzin’ League One blog. Without exception, the teams in the bottom six at the end of November have produced the sides that are eventually relegated. If Yeovil lose at Watford, that’s basically the end for them. In four of the last five seasons, the club at the bottom at the end of November has been relegated.

Burnley and QPR are both away this weekend – the leaders make the short journey to Huddersfield, where they’ve been remarkably successful over the years. Although the Terriers won at the beginning of last season, Burnley’s last league defeat at Huddersfield had been in February 1956 – but even though they’ve not really shown any discernible signs of improvement this season, Mark Robbin’s side has only been beaten at home once by the teams in the top half of the table this season and this looks like a very competitive match.

QPR arguably have the easier task at Doncaster, but this is the type of game that could be a lot tricker than Rangers might have wanted. They’ve only won twice in seven attempts in league games at either the Keepmoat or Belle View and although Rovers have already lost to Burnley and Blackpool at home, they’ve also beaten Leicester and drawn with Nottingham Forest.

It’s Leicester that probably have the most to gain if they can beat Millwall: it’s a big if, because the Lions have won three of their last four trips to the King Power Stadium. The hosts have won all of the games against teams in the bottom half of the Championship table and although Millwall have only won once away from the New Den this season, if you’re looking for ‘isn’t the Championship unpredictable’ cliches on Saturday night, this game is where you may find them.

At the bottom of the table, Barnsley v Birmingham looks like the eyecatcher, albeit for all the wrong reasons. As it looks increasingly likely that we’re going to be waving a long goodbye to Yeovil, this match already looks vital to the long term Championship survival of both clubs who have both regressed at a rate of knots since last season. Although the Blues have managed to avoid losing their last two games and can’t drop into the bottom three if Barnsley win, the Tykes are a far tougher proposition at home than they have been on the road this season. However, the midlanders have the advantage at Oakwell: they’ve only lost one of their six league games there since the turn of the century.

I’ll be back on Tuesday afternoon for a look at the last midweek round of games before Christmas.