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The Football League weekend ahead: Episode 3

Roar Guru
21st August, 2015
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Another bumper weekend of Football League action awaits, and for the teams it’s five games in 15 or 16 days to start the season.

There’s more to come too with League Cup Round 2 midweek and another full book of games next weekend. Always plenty of value for money early in the season for the Football League fan.

Although entire seasons aren’t won or lost yet, much like Christmas, a good or bad run in this packed start to the season can define a large chunk of the year ahead.

Championship: Midweek highlights
Ipswich Town are top of the Football League pyramid on goals scored and they share a two win, one draw record with Hull City and Brighton. Two of the promoted teams Milton Keynes and Preston have started off well and sit in the top seven as do surprise packets Charlton and the expected Middlesbrough.

Eleven teams have yet to win a game from the first three rounds – the best of them are still unbeaten with Cardiff, Leeds and Derby all recording three straight draws. The worst are Bolton, who have only a draw to their name and not even a goal scored yet in three attempts. 18 draws from the first 35 fixtures shows what everyone already knows – the Championship is one of the toughest and most equal divisions in European football.

Ipswich 2-0 Burnley
Burnley beat Ipswich home and away in their surprise promotion year in 2013-14, as Ipswich move top with this win. Is this is a sign of 2015-16 being the Tractor Boys’ year?

Wolves 2-3 QPR
Wolves went top with Ipswich at 2-0, but QPR hit back with three goals to record their first win of the year. Good timing as well, bad timing for goals from Charlie Austin and Matt Phillips with the transfer window still open.

Derby 1-1 Middlesbrough
The big game between the big promotion hopes ends how the big games usually do, in a draw. 68 per cent possession was not enough for a win for Derby, an 88th minute goal was enough for an equaliser though.

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Championship: Upcoming highlights

Bolton versus Nottingham Forest
Can Bolton win? Can Bolton score? Only early days of course but a loss here and an early exit in the League Cup is a bad start to the year. Forest have only scored two themselves in three. A tense battle or blowout awaits.

Charlton versus Hull City
Both undefeated so far, one surprising, one sort of expected. The loftiest clash of the weekend in the Championship.

Leeds United versus Sheffield Wednesday
Both clubs have semi-recent memories of both EPL and League One, and this clash gets the lunchtime UK time special treatment. With Leeds on just three draws, how long until their owner wields the axe on another manager? 41 managers sacked in 23 years as an owner for Massimo Cellino. Leeds already onto their fifth.

League One: Midweek highlights
Coventry lead the way in the third tier with three wins from three games, and an already healthy plus seven goal difference. The top six has some surprising names among it with the likes of Gillingham, Walsall, Rochdale and Burton all overachieving if pre-season odds are to be believed.

Nine teams are yet to win in League One, and at the bottom of the pile are four teams with just a point – Shrewsbury, Blackpool, Crewe and Bradford.

Peterborough 1-3 Sheffield United
The promotion favourites flexed their muscles against Peterborough with an away win. Better than their first away fixture which ended in a 4-0 defeat.

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Bury 3-4 Fleetwood
The high scoring match from midweek, and Bury will lament losing the lead twice and conceding four goals to Fleetwood.

Blackpool 1-2 Burton
Blackpool finally looked like getting some good news as they led 1-0 at half-time. However two second half goals handed them another loss, and Burton have taken to League One well with two wins and a loss.

League One: Upcoming highlights

Barnsley versus Bradford
High hopes for Bradford for promotion this year, but they sit last on one point in three games. Barnsley have now won two in a row.

Port Vale versus Doncaster
Both team have started the season with three draws from three games. What price a fourth? $3.10 actually.

Walsall versus Coventry
Two Midlands teams and as close to a geographic derby as we get in League One this week. Both undefeated, and a clash of first versus third. Sells itself really.

League Two: Midweek highlights
Three teams remain with perfect records for 2015-16, and while Leyton Orient and Wycombe are no surprise, the team that appeared doomed for relegation for most of last season – Hartlepool – certainly are. With only 12 draws from the first 36 games League Two has the lowest total of drawn games of the three leagues.

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Two big name managers for League Two, Terry Butcher and Teddy Sherringham, are finding the start to the season tough, as they have just a draw each to show for their efforts and sit 21st and 22nd.

Propping up the table are Dagenham and Redbridge and Yeovil Town. Two teams that have spent plenty of time in non-league football look like they may just sample more of that next season if the wins don’t come soon.

Leyton Orient 3-0 Stevenage
No relegation hangover for the Os as they start the season off in style with three straight wins.

Plymouth 4-1 Carlisle
A midweek trip of 400 miles for the loyal fans of Carlisle who were rewarded with a midweek thrashing. A Guardian football writer did the trip with the fans which should make for a nice window in the world of Football League fans.

Barnet 2-0 Northampton
Conference winners Barnet got off the mark beating previously undefeated Northampton to get their return season in League Two back on track.

League Two: Upcoming highlights

Wycombe versus Dagenham and Redbridge
Wycombe are three from three and have yet to concede a goal. The Daggers are one of two teams in the Football League with zero points. A mismatch on paper, or a continued bad start to the season for Dagenham and Redbridge?

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Plymouth versus Northampton
Two teams with two wins and a loss, both looking for bigger and better things. An early win over a team they are most likely to be fighting with for promotion will be a good start to the campaign.

Full Fixtures (3pm UK time unless stated)

Championship
Birmingham City vs Derby (Friday, 7:45pm UK)
Leeds vs Sheffield Wednesday (Saturday, 12:30pm UK)
Reading vs Milton Keynes Dons
QPR vs Rotherham
Preston vs Ipswich
Middlesbrough vs Bristol City
Fulham vs Huddersfield
Charlton vs Hull
Burnley vs Brentford
Brighton vs Blackburn
Bolton vs Nottingham Forest
Cardiff vs Wolverhampton Wanderers (Saturday, 5:15pm UK)

League One
Barnsley vs Bradford
Walsall vs Coventry
Southend vs Swindon
Sheffield United vs Blackpool
Scunthorpe vs Millwall
Port Vale vs Doncaster
Oldham vs Shrewsbury
Gillingham vs Wigan
Fleetwood vs Colchester
Crewe vs Bury
Chesterfield vs Rochdale
Burton vs Peterborough

League Two
Cambridge vs Crawley
Bristol Rovers vs Barnet
Yeovil vs Luton
Wycombe vs Dag and Red
Stevenage vs Hartlepool
Portsmth vs Morecambe
Notts County vs Accrington
Northampton vs Plymouth
Newport vs Leyton Orient
Mansfield vs Oxford
Exeter vs York
Carlisle vs AFC Wimbledon

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