Source: FOOTYMAD
Tight at the top of the Championship
QPR pulled five points clear at the top of the league yesterday with their 2-1 home win against Coventry, but there is a right battle just below them between the next six - Cardiff, Norwich, Swansea, Leeds, Nottingham Forest and Watford. QPR's win yesterday owed much the talents of Wayne Routledge and Adel Taarabt. Not many clubs in this division have that sort of quality at their disposal and both scored, with Routledge's goal coming on his second QPR debut.Five points clear of Cardiff, Norwich and Swansea whilst Leeds have two points less and Nottingham Forest, in the last play off position, are a further two behind, just a point ahead of Watford. Forest and Watford are probably the two to keep an eye on with their games in hand.Forest, in particular, have been beaten just four times this season and have two and three games in hand on all the clubs above them. They could be real challengers for that second place.Travelling through the mid-table, where we sit just above half way, and down to the bottom we find Sheffield United having had the worst day. Their home defeat against Sheffield United saw them go closer to the bottom three who all drew. Next week's clash between the bottom two is an interesting one and Preston should be fully aware of just how bad a surface they are likely to have to play on.It's cup week this week so there is no full set of fixtures. There are some re-arranged games in midweek and again at weekend. They are all shown below along with the weekend results and stats, the league's leading goalscorers and each club's disciplinary record.The Weekend ResultsSaturday 22nd JanuaryBarnsley 1 Swansea 1Middlesbrough 1 Preston 1Cardiff 4 Watford 2Portsmouth 2 Leeds 2Crystal Palace 0 Bristol City 0Reading 1 Hull City 1Derby 0 Nottingham Forest 1Scunthorpe 0 Burnley 0Ipswich 3 Doncaster 2Sheffield United 1 Norwich 2Leicester 4 Millwall 2.Sunday 23rd JanuaryQPR 2 Coventry 1.The Weekend StatsBiggest winCardiff 4-2 v Watford (home)Leicester 4-2 v Milwall (home)Total goals scored34 (19 home - 15 away)Player scoring most goals2Souleymane Bamba (Leicester)Andrew Crofts (Norwich)Billy Sharp (Doncaster)Highest Attendance33,010 - Derby v Nottingham ForestLowest Attendance4,334 - Scunthorpe v BurnleyTotal Yellow Cards32Total Red Cards2Most cards in a gameDerby v Nottm Forest (7Y 1R) - Graham SalisburyThe leading scorers (league only)15Danny Graham (Watford) - includes 1 penalty14Jay Bothroyd (Cardiff)13Luciano Becchio (Leeds)Kriss Commons (Derby) - includes 2 penaltiesAdel Taarabt (QPR) - includes 5 penalties12Billy Sharp (Doncaster) - includes 4 penalties11Shane Long (Reading) - includes 4 penaltiesScott Sinclair (Swansea) - includes 3 penalties10Grant Holt (Norwich)Chris Iwelumo (Burnley)Lewis McGugan (Nottingham Forest) - includes 2 penaltiesSteve Morison (Millwall) - includes 1 penaltyMarvin Sordell (Watford)9Max Gradel (Leeds) - includes 1 penaltyAndy King (Leicester)Jamie Mackie (QPR) 8Ched Evans (Sheffield United) - includes 1 penaltyAdam Hammill (Barnsley)James Hayter (Doncaster)Wes Hoolahan (Norwich) - includes 4 penaltiesJon Parkin (Cardiff) - includes 7 goals for PrestonBrett Pitman (Bristol City) - includes 3 penaltiesDavide Somma (Leeds)Hat Tricks (league only)11th Sep3 - Chris Iwelumo - BURNLEY v Preston14th Sep3 - James Coppinger - DONCASTER v Norwich14th Sep3 - James Vaughan - CRYSTAL PALACE v Portsmouth28th Sep3 - Jon Parkin - Leeds v PRESTON30th Oct3 - Jonny Howson - Scunthorpe v LEEDS13th Nov3 - Luciano Becchio - LEEDS v Bristol City27th Nov3 - Grant Holt - NORWICH v Leeds28th Dec3 - Wes Hoolahan - NORWICH v Sheffield United1st Jan3 - Jason Puncheon - MILLWALL v Crystal PalaceDisciplinary Record (all domestic games)ClubYRClubYRBarnsley392Middlesbrough381Bristol City412Millwall414Burnley494Norwich463Cardiff351Nottingham Forest380Coventry463Portsmouth515Crystal Palace445Preston595Derby502QPR454Doncaster323Reading423Hull532Scunthorpe271Ipswich444Sheffield United425Leeds582Swansea482Leicester342Watford260The Next FixturesTuesday 25th JanuaryDoncaster v BarnsleyPortsmouth v BurnleyNottingham Forest v Bristol City.Friday 28th JanuaryMillwall v Barnsley.Saturday 29th JanuaryCrystal Palace v NorwichScunthorpe v PrestonHull v QPR.
