Leeds went into their home game against Blackpool knowing that a win would take them to fourth place in the table and they could not have ever expected to go down to a 5-0 defeat in front of their own fans.
Ian Holloway made three changes from the side that had lost to the Clarets on Saturday. Out went Tom Ince, Kevin Phillips and Brett Ormerod but we all know they should have been without further players and would have been but for the incompetence of referee Michael Oliver who could quite easily have sent off three of their players at Turf Moor.
One of those players, Jonjo Shelvey, scored a hat trick last night. I suppose, given it was Leeds then it was almost acceptable but the truth remains that he really should have been serving the first game of a three match suspension.
This time it was Leeds who went down to ten men when Tom Lees was sent off with the score at 1-0 for a hand ball (how ironic is that?) and Shelvey got his first goal from the spot. Apparently former Blackpool goalkeeper, and once a loan player at Turf Moor, Paul Rachubka had something of a nightmare against his old club.
Derby had lost just once at home all season; that was our 2-1 win there in August. Last night the defeat column doubled as Cardiff surprisingly won 3-0. That result certainly had an effect on the league table with Cardiff now replacing Derby in the top six.
I've been waiting for Derby to drop down the league for weeks, but they are still right up there. That can't be said for Brighton, another club I predicted would drop after their outstanding start. They lost to a Troy Deeney goal at Watford and that's nine games without a win now with only four points picked up. They led the table when they last won. Now they are 12th.
Whilst Brighton couldn't end a bad run we saw Hull bring their unbeaten run to an end when they lost 1-0 at Nottingham Forest. It was their first defeat in ten games but they remain in the top six, along with Middlesbrough, Crystal Palace and Cardiff whilst Southampton and West Ham retain the automatic promotion positions.
Southampton won again, beating Peterborough 2-1, but West Ham were held to a goalless draw at home to lowly Bristol City. It was a good result for Bristol City but more worrying is that they haven't won a home game this season, and we know who are travelling to Ashton Gate this Saturday.
No matter what happens on Saturday, the bottom three will remain the bottom three. Doncaster are bottom, then Bristol City and Coventry. The highest placed of them, Coventry, are now four points behind next club Watford.
Whilst referring to Doncaster, it would be remiss of me not to mention Billy Sharp who played and scored against Middlesbrough on Tuesday just days after the sad death of his two day old son Luey Jacob. I'm sure everyone's thoughts are with him, his partner Jade and family at this sad time.
It's also worth giving some praise to referee Darren Deadman. When Sharp scored he lifted his shirt to show the message 'That's for you son'. Whatever the rules, well done referee on making the sensible decision to take no action.
The results and stats from midweek are below along with the leading goalscorers, each club's disciplinary record, the highest and lowest attendances and the next fixtures, the last before the third international break of the season.
The Midweek Results Tuesday 1st November Barnsley 2 Hull City 1 Nottingham Forest 1 Reading 0 Burnley 1 Leicester City 3 Southampton 2 Peterborough United 1 Crystal Palace 0 Portsmouth 0 Watford 1 Brighton & Hove Albion 0 Doncaster Rovers 1 Middlesbrough 3 West Ham United 0 Bristol City 0 Millwall 3 Coventry City 0 Wednesday 2nd November Derby County 0 Cardiff City 3 Leeds United 0 Blackpool 5The Midweek Stats Biggest Win
Blackpool 5-0 v Leeds United (away)
Total Goals Scored 27 (11 home - 16 away)Player Scoring Most Goals
3 - Jonjo Shelvey (Blackpool) Highest Attendance 27,980 - West Ham United v Bristol City Lowest Attendance 9,517 - Millwall v Coventry City Total Yellow Cards 21 Total Red Cards 2 Most Cards in a Game Doncaster Rovers v Middlesbrough (5Y) Ref: Darren DeadmanLeading Goalscorers (League Only) 9 Rickie Lambert (Southampton) - includes 3 penaltiesRoss McCormack (Leeds United) 8 Charlie Austin (Burnley)Darius Henderson (Millwall)Chris Wood (Birmingham City) 7 Marvin Emnes (Middlesbrough) 6 Grant McCann (Peterborough United) - includes 2 penaltiesKevin Phillips (Blackpool) 5
Keith Andrews (Ipswich Town)Ashley Barnes (Brighton & Hove Albion) - includes 2 penaltiesMichael Chopra (Ipswich Town)David Connolly (Southampton)Steve Davies (Derby County)- includes 1 penaltyGuly Do Prado (Southampton)Matt Fryatt (Hull City)Lukas Jutkiewicz (Coventry City)Craig Mackail-Smith (Brighton & Hove Albion)David Nugent (Leicester City)Barry Robson (Middlesbrough) - includes 1 penaltyJonjo Shelvey (Blackpool) - includes 1 penaltyLuke Varney (Portsmouth)
Hat Tricks Date Player & Game 20/08/11 3: Lee Tomlin - PETERBOROUGH UNITED v Ipswich Town 10/09/11 3: Rickie Lambert - SOUTHAMPTON v Nottingham Forest 11/09/11 3: Chris Wood - BIRMINGHAM CITY v Millwall 12/10/11 3: Darius Henderson - Leicester City v MILLWALL 02/11/11 3: Jonjo Shelvey - Leeds United v BLACKPOOL
Disciplinary Record (League and Cup) Club Y R Y R Club Y R Y R League Total League Total Barnsley 22 0 23 0 Ipswich Town 16 3 16 3 Birmingham City 20 0 20 0 Leeds United 25 5 29 5 Blackpool 25 0 26 1 Leicester City 24 3 28 3 Brighton and Hove Albion 38 1 44 1 Middlesbrough 23 2 24 2 Bristol City 23 0 24 0 Millwall 25 0 28 0 Burnley 18 1 26 1 Nottingham Forest 20 1 23 1 Cardiff City 17 0 25 0 Peterborough United 20 2 22 2 Coventry City 14 2 15 2 Portsmouth 28 2 31 2 Crystal Palace 19 0 21 0 Reading 22 0 24 0 Derby County 21 1 21 1 Southampton 18 2 19 2 Doncaster Rovers 22 0 22 0 Watford 22 0 23 0 Hull City 25 0 25 0 West Ham United 21 1 21 2
Highest and Lowest Attendances Highest Lowest Att Fixture Att Fixture 33,465 West Ham United v Portsmouth (10/09) 6,351 Peterborough United v Cardiff City (18/10) 33,010 Derby County v Southampton (15/10) 7,778 Doncaster Rovers v Bristol City (27/08) 32,150 Southampton v West Ham United (18/10) 7,901 Peterborough United v Burnley (17/09) 31,448 West Ham United v Blackpool (15/10) 7,928 Peterborough United v Ipswich Town (20/08) 30,410 West Ham United v Leicester City (29/10) 8,426 Doncaster Rovers v Coventry City (29/10) 29,895 West Ham Utd v Peterborough Utd (24/09) 8,500 Peterborough Utd v Doncaster Rovers (01/10) 28,252 West Ham United v Leeds United (21/08) 8,685 Peterborough United v Hull City (10/09) 27,980 West Ham United v Bristol City (01/11) 8,900 Barnsley v Bristol City (29/10) 27,709 West Ham United v Ipswich Town (27/09) 9,362 Doncaster Rovers v Crystal Palace (24/09) 27,356 Nottingham Forest v Derby County (17/09) 9,464 Doncaster Rovers v Nottingham Forest (16/08)
The Next Fixtures Saturday 5th November Blackpool v Millwall Ipswich Town v Doncaster Rovers Bristol City v Burnley Middlesbrough v Watford (17:20) Cardiff City v Crystal Palace Peterborough United v Derby County Coventry City v Southampton Portsmouth v Nottingham Forest Hull City v West Ham United Sunday 6th November Brighton & Hove Albion v Barnsley Reading v Birmingham City Leicester City v Leeds United
Source: FOOTYMAD
