Enough of the season has passed to justify taking a look at how each side in the Football League has been performing so far, starting here with the Championship. I’ll use my scatter plot template to break out the attacking and defensive performances of each club, then canter through a few notable stats on each side. Clicking on the graphics will bring up larger versions.

Attacking

First let’s look at attacking in detail, with the horizontal axis showing average shots taken per match (i.e. further right is better) and the vertical showing the average number of shots it takes to score each goal (i.e. lower is more clinical, thus better). Bottom right is the place to be, as clubs here are taking lots of shots and not needing many attempts to find the net, although top right and bottom left aren’t necessarily bad if the balance is right.

Defending

Now let’s look at defensive effectiveness by replacing “shots taken” on both axes with “shots faced”. Here clubs should aspire to be in the top left: facing a low number of shots and being able to withstand a high number of shots for each goal conceded.

Club-by-club

Birmingham – Fixing the defence should be the first priority for Lee Clark’s replacement, with Birmingham allowing more attempts at their goal than anyone except Leeds and having just one clean sheet so far. They’ve tended to start matches better than they’ve finished them, with 57% of the shots they’ve taken so far coming before half time, a Football League high.

Blackburn – Only two Football League sides have created more chances than Blackburn so far, but they’ve so far struggled to convert enough of these to consistently outscore their opponents. Long range shots have yielded dividends at both ends so far: only Charlton have converted efforts from outside the box more reliably, but only Millwall and Wigan have conceded from them more easily.

Blackpool – You don’t need data to see how bad a season it’s been so far. Blackpool have the Football League’s most wasteful attack and have spent the smallest proportion of time in winning positions: less than 5%. No Championship side has failed to score more times than their 6, which is largely down to them creating fewer chances than all but two of their divisional rivals.

Bolton – Dougie Freedman left a side which had both the division’s third most wasteful attack and the defence which allowed the third most attempts at goal. Bolton have also been the Championship’s most dependent side on headers, which account for 40% of their goals so far, and join Blackpool in having failed to find the net the most times (6).

Bournemouth – The Cherries are undoubtedly an exciting proposition going forward, only failing to find the net in one outing so far. They need to keep things tighter at the back late on though, with no Football League team conceding a greater share of goals in last 15 minutes of matches than their 43%.

Brentford – The Bees know how to protect a lead, being one of only two Championship clubs yet to have dropped any points from winning positions. They’re also one of only two sides in the division yet to have scored a goal from outside the penalty area and are also the division’s cleanest team, having racked up an average of just 8.3 fouls per match.

Brighton – The execution – and perhaps a bit of luck – is all that appears to be lacking for Brighton so far. Up front, they’ve created more chances than any Football League side except Norwich, but also have the second most wasteful attack. At the back, they have allowed the fewest attempts at their goal of any Championship side but only three defences have required fewer shots on average to breach.

Cardiff – Rather than dominating the division upon their return, Cardiff have found themselves on the back foot, facing an average of almost four more shots than they’ve taken per match. Fortunately most of these have come from distance – no Football League side has restricted opponents to shots from outside the penalty area more than the 58% they’ve faced – but they’ve still only mustered a solitary clean sheet this term.

Charlton – The Addicks have created fewer chances than any other Championship side so far, but fortunately have the division’s most clinical attack, requiring over four fewer shots to score each goal than the average side. They also boast the third most resilient defence in the Football League, soaking up an average of almost 17 shots for each goal conceded.

Derby – Like Charlton, Derby have quality rather than quantity to thank for their high league placing. They boast the Championship’s fourth sharpest attack and its most resilient defence, resulting in a divisional high of 7 clean sheets so far. They’ve tended to strike late, with the 43% of goals scored in the final 15 minutes of matches a divisional high.

Fulham – It’s been an unhappy return to the Football League for Fulham, who have spent a greater percentage of their playing time in losing positions than the other 71 clubs (45%). They’ve got the Championship’s leakiest defence to blame for that, which has conceded a goal for every 6.6 shots faced, and an unsettled team which has featured a Football League high of 30 different players so far.

Huddersfield – While there are plenty of reasons for optimism, Chris Powell still has plenty of work to do. The defence is probably the first priority: Huddersfield’s back line is the third least resilient in the division. Bouncebackability is also an issue, with the Terriers one of just two teams in the division yet to recover single point from losing positions this season.

Ipswich – While their defence has performed well overall, Ipswich need to block the path to their goal more effectively. No Championship side has allowed more shots inside their 6 yard box, which is where a whopping 57% of the goals they’ve conceded have come from: comfortably the highest in the Football League.

Leeds – It’s been a case of backs to the wall for Leeds so far, taking fewer shots than anyone except Charlton and allowing the most in return of any side in the division. They appear to lack an aerial threat, having headed just 9 attempts at goal all season and being one of only three Football League sides yet to score from the air.

Middlesbrough – Boro have been in dominant form this season, taking more shots than all but 3 other sides and allowing fewer attempts at their goal than everyone except Brighton. This has been achieved with the Football League’s most heavily-rotated squad: they’re the only side to have averaged more than three changes to their starting eleven between each match this season.

Millwall – Millwall are one of just two sides in the division yet to drop any points after taking the lead, although this has only happened in three of their matches so far. Coping better when the ball is outside the penalty area is one way to improve their fortunes: they’re one of only two Championship clubs yet to score from outside the box and only Wigan have conceded more from this distance.

Norwich – The Canaries have fared the best of the three relegated sides so far, creating the most chances of any Football League side and allowing the division’s third fewest in return. Only Bristol City can better the five matches in which they’ve netted three or more goals, although they tend to leave it late: no Football League side has done more of their scoring in the second half than the 82% of Norwich goals that have arrived after the interval.

Nottingham Forest – There’s grit and directness in Nottingham Forest’s performances this season: no Championship team has recovered more points from losing positions than their 50% and they boast the division’s third sharpest attack. They’ve preferred to get the ball in close, with no Football League side able to better their 11 goals scored from inside the 6 yard box – fully half their goal tally. They’ve also headed more home (8) than any other Championship side.

Reading – The Royals’ home is most certainly not a fortress, with the joint-most home goals conceded and the division’s second least resilient defence overall. No Championship side has shipped three or more goals more often than the 5 matches in which they’ve done so. High balls have tended to result in goals during their matches so far, with only Nottingham Forest scoring more headers than their 5 and no side conceding more than their 7.

Rotherham – The Millers seem to have adapted reasonably well to Championship football, with only four sides creating more chances than them so far. Their attacking approach needs some refinement however: despite attempting more headers (50) than any side except Blackburn, they’ve only scored twice from the air, giving them a worse conversion rate from headers than everyone except Leeds.

Sheff Wed – Despite possessing one of the division’s more solid defences (only top side Derby have conceded fewer goals), Wednesday don’t currently have the attacking edge to take advantage. Only the bottom two clubs have scored fewer goals, due at least in part to due to the Owls attempting a greater share of shots from outside the box than any side except Leeds. They’ve also failed to recover any points in matches where they’ve fallen behind.

Watford – Despite the multiple managerial changes, Watford have been sharp at both ends this season, boasting the division’s second most efficient attack and its third most resilient defence. It will be interesting to see if they can maintain these performances, particularly at the back where only three Championship sides have allowed their opponents more shots at goal.

Wigan – The Latics have struggled to get shots away this season, with only four teams in the division mustering fewer and no team failing to find the net in more matches as a result. At the back they’ve been frustratingly vulnerable to long shots, with the Football League’s highest share of goals conceded from outside the box (43%). They’re also the most fouled side in the Football League, with 14 fouls made on their players per match.

Wolves – Wolves’ return to the Championship is going better than expected, although the division is so tight that without the two own goals they’ve benefitted from they’d be sitting tenth. That’s not to detract from a solid season so far though, in which only Bournemouth have scored in more matches and only Derby have kept more clean sheets.