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It's the same top six but the results have allowed Watford to close the gap on those above them and are now just two points behind Leeds, and with two games in hand. QPR's lead at the top is now five points and again there are three clubs separated only by goal difference behind them, this time Cardiff, Norwich and Swansea.
Watford are very much the in form team right now and have not dropped a point since November. With postponements that means they've won five out of five (and that's four wins more than Burnley's longest run of victories this season).
The wins have not come against the bottom teams either with both QPR and Cardiff having been beaten and they've scored fifteen goals in the five games.
Down at the bottom of the league, Preston had a second successive six-pointer. Having lost to Middlesbrough on Saturday they travelled to Crystal Palace, the team closest to them in the table. It was Palace who came out on top leaving Preston seven points away from safety.
Both those clubs are currently, like us, without manager. Phil Brown appears to be the favourite right now for the North End job and could be in place by the time they play in the FA Cup this weekend. It is not thought they will raid Manchester United for further loan players, or Stoke for that matter.
We all get a break this week after the hectic four games in nine days with no league fixtures this weekend because of the FA Cup. Our next league opponents are league leaders QPR who we play at home a week on Saturday.
The average attendances per club are including this week and are shown below along with the recent results and stats, the leading goal scorers, each club's disciplinary record and those 15th January fixtures.
The New Year Bank Holiday Results | |
Monday 3rd January | |
Barnsley 2 Coventry 1 | Portsmouth 2 Hull 3 |
Crystal Palace 1 Preston 0 | QPR 2 Bristol City 2 |
Derby 0 Millwall 0 | Reading 2 Burnley 1 |
Ipswich 0 Nottingham Forest 1 | Scunthorpe 1 Watford 2 |
Leicester 2 Swansea 1 | Sheffield United 2 Doncaster 2 |
Middlesbrough 1 Norwich 1 | . |
Tuesday 4th January | |
Cardiff 2 Leeds 1 | . |
The New Year Bank Holiday Stats | |
Biggest win | no team won by more than one goal |
Total goals scored | 32 (17 home - 15 away) |
Player scoring most goals | Shane Long (Reading) |
Highest Attendance | 25,010 - Cardiff v Leeds |
Lowest Attendance | 4,498 - Scunthorpe v Watford |
Total Yellow Cards | 30 |
Total Red Cards | 2 |
Most cards in a game | Middlesbrough v Norwich (5Y) - Graham Salisbury |
The leading scorers (league only) | |
14 | Danny Graham (Watford) - includes 1 penalty |
13 | Jay Bothroyd (Cardiff) Kris Commons (Derby) - includes 2 penalties |
12 | Luciano Becchio (Leeds) Adel Taarabt (QPR) - includes 5 penalties |
10 | Grant Holt (Norwich) Chris Iwelumo (Burnley) Shane Long (Reading) - includes 4 penalties Lewis McGugan (Nottingham Forest) - includes 2 penalties Billy Sharp (Doncaster) - includes 4 penalties |
9 | Andy King (Leicester) Jamie Mackie (QPR) Steve Morison (Millwall) - includes 1 penalty |
8 | Max Gradel (Leeds) - includes 1 penalty Adam Hammill (Barnsley) James Hayter (Doncaster) Wes Hoolahan (Norwich) - includes 4 penalties Brett Pitman (Bristol City) - includes 3 penalties Scott Sinclair (Swansea) Marvin Sordell (Watford) |
Hat Tricks (league only) | |
11th Sep | 3 - Chris Iwelumo - BURNLEY v Preston |
14th Sep | 3 - James Coppinger - DONCASTER v Norwich |
14th Sep | 3 - James Vaughan - CRYSTAL PALACE v Portsmouth |
28th Sep | 3 - Jon Parkin - Leeds v PRESTON |
30th Oct | 3 - Jonny Howson - Scunthorpe v LEEDS |
13th Nov | 3 - Luciano Becchio - LEEDS v Bristol City |
27th Nov | 3 - Grant Holt - NORWICH v Leeds |
28th Dec | 3 - Wes Hoolahan - NORWICH v Sheffield United |
1st Jan | 3 - Jason Puncheon - MILLWALL v Crystal Palace |
Disciplinary Record (all domestic games) | |||||
| Club | Y | R | Club | Y | R |
| Barnsley | 38 | 0 | Middlesbrough | 37 | 1 |
| Bristol City | 40 | 1 | Millwall | 40 | 3 |
| Burnley | 43 | 4 | Norwich | 40 | 3 |
| Cardiff | 30 | 1 | Nottingham Forest | 32 | 0 |
| Coventry | 43 | 3 | Portsmouth | 40 | 4 |
| Crystal Palace | 41 | 5 | Preston | 53 | 5 |
| Derby | 42 | 1 | QPR | 40 | 4 |
| Doncaster | 29 | 3 | Reading | 42 | 3 |
| Hull | 47 | 2 | Scunthorpe | 27 | 1 |
| Ipswich | 37 | 4 | Sheffield United | 36 | 5 |
| Leeds | 52 | 2 | Swansea | 47 | 2 |
| Leicester | 31 | 2 | Watford | 26 | 0 |
Average Attendances (league only) | |||
Avge | Club | High | Low |
26,733 | Leeds | 33,622 | 20,747 |
26,010 | Derby | 29,086 | 24,239 |
25,223 | Norwich | 26,532 | 23,852 |
23,425 | Cardiff | 26,049 | 20,573 |
23,189 | Leicester | 30,919 | 19,611 |
22,617 | Nottingham Forest | 29,490 | 19,501 |
20,930 | Hull | 22,410 | 19,714 |
20,717 | Sheffield United | 22,936 | 17,496 |
19,236 | Ipswich | 23,105 | 16,728 |
17,135 | Reading | 23,677 | 14,029 |
16,693 | Middlesbrough | 23,550 | 13,749 |
16,473 | Coventry | 28,184 | 12,292 |
16,097 | Portsmouth | 19,719 | 13,751 |
15,295 | Burnley | 20,453 | 13,655 |
15,034 | QPR | 18,059 | 12,046 |
14,793 | Crystal Palace | 17,486 | 12,353 |
14,778 | Swansea | 17,584 | 12,411 |
14,562 | Bristol City | 18,308 | 13,376 |
13,192 | Watford | 15,101 | 11,485 |
12,490 | Barnsley | 20,309 | 10,566 |
11,989 | Millwall | 16,170 | 8,937 |
10,910 | Preston | 18,417 | 8,994 |
10,431 | Doncaster | 13,614 | 8,985 |
5,700 | Scunthorpe | 8,122 | 4,397 |
The Next Fixtures | |
Saturday 15th January | |
Bristol City v Middlesbrough | Millwall v Ipswich |
Burnley v QPR | Norwich v Cardiff |
Coventry v Sheffield United | Nottingham Forest v Portsmouth |
Doncaster v Reading | Preston v Leicester |
Hull v Barnsley | Swansea v Crystal Palace (12:45) |
Leeds v Scunthorpe | Watford v Derby |
