QPR are definitely enjoying the games against Yorkshire clubs. Having seen off Barnsley last week they travelled to Neil Warnock's old club Sheffield United yesterday, went 3-0 up in 23 minutes and by the end of the game Blades boss Kevin Blackwell, Warnock's former assistant, was on his way.
Millwall meanwhile have surprise many with their start following promotion via the play offs. Last week they won 3-0 at Bristol City and they've followed that up with a 4-0 home win over Hull, a Premier League club last season.
Whilst they sit two points clear at the top, we might spare a thought for our closest rivals geographically Preston North End. This morning they were one of three teams without a point, now they sit bottom all on their own after the other two, Nottingham Forest and Leeds, drew 1-1 this afternoon at the City Ground.
Yesterday, North End were beaten 4-0 at Swansea who had four different scorers including former Burnley loan man Nathan Dyer. It's in stark contrast to the Paulo Sousa days at the Liberty Stadium. Despite finishing just a point below the play offs last season they were the league's lowest scorers with just 40 goals.
Preston's third attempt at getting off the mark will come next week when they face Portsmouth at Deepdale. You never know, Steve Cotterill's lot, the cheats from the Premier League, might have a few more players by then. They still had just the four on the bench yesterday. What are the odds on David Nugent scoring the winner?
The weekend stats are below with the early leading scorers (and no one has more than two yet), the disciplinary records of each club and next week's fixtures.
Saturday 14th August | |
Barnsley1 Crystal Palace 0 | Portsmouth 1 Reading 1 |
Derby 1 Cardiff 2 | Scunthorpe 0 Norwich 1 |
Doncaster 1 Bristol City 1 | Sheffield United 0 QPR 3 |
Ipswich 1 Burnley 1 | Swansea 4 Preston 0 |
Leicester 0 Middlesbrough 0 | Watford 2 Coventry 2 |
Millwall 4 Hull 0 | . |
Sunday 15th August | |
Nottingham Forest 1 Leeds 1 | . |
The Week's Stats | |
Biggest win | Millwall 4-0 v Hull (home) |
Total goals scored | 28 (16 home - 11 away) |
Player scoring most goals | 2 - Steve Morison (Millwall) |
Highest Attendance | 25,103 - Derby v Cardiff |
Lowest Attendance | 6,042 - Scunthorpe v Norwich |
Total Yellow Cards | 29 |
Total Red Cards | 1 |
Most cards in a game | Barnsley v Crystal Palace (5Y) - Neil Swarbrick |
The leading scorers (league only) | |
2 | Freddy Eastwood Coventry) John Eustace (Watford) Danny Graham (Watford) Jamie Mackie (QPR) Steve Morison (Millwall) Adel Taarabt (QPR) |
Disciplinary Record (all domestic games) | |||||
Club | Y | R | Club | Y | R |
Barnsley | 6 | 0 | Middlesbrough | 4 | 0 |
Bristol City | 6 | 1 | Millwall | 2 | 1 |
Burnley | 4 | 1 | Norwich | 1 | 0 |
Cardiff | 1 | 0 | Nottingham Forest | 5 | 0 |
Coventry | 3 | 0 | Portsmouth | 1 | 0 |
Crystal Palace | 3 | 0 | Preston | 7 | 0 |
Derby | 5 | 0 | QPR | 6 | 0 |
Doncaster | 4 | 1 | Reading | 1 | 0 |
Hull | 2 | 0 | Scunthorpe | 5 | 1 |
Ipswich | 3 | 0 | Sheffield United | 5 | 1 |
Leeds | 5 | 0 | Swansea | 3 | 0 |
Leicester | 2 | 0 | Watford | 2 | 0 |
The Next Fixtures | |
Saturday 21st August | |
Bristol City v Barnsley | Leeds v Millwall (12:30) |
Burnley v Leicester | Norwich v Swansea |
Cardiff v Doncaster | Preston v Portsmouth |
Coventry v Derby (1:15) | QPR v Scunthorpe |
Crystal Palace v Ipswich | Reading v Nottingham Forest |
Hull v Watford | . |
Sunday 22nd August | |
Middlesbrough v Sheffield United (13:15) | . |