While two months have already passed in this season's Championship, it is still difficult to separate a wide range of teams at the top of the standings. All but four clubs have suffered more than one defeat, while there are only three sides who have failed to get more than one win on the board. Such is the congestion - especially in the top half of the table - that 11th-placed outfit Queens Park Rangers sit just five points behind leaders Swansea City. Those gaps will almost certainly increase as the campaign progresses but for now at least, more than half of the clubs at the second tier of English football will be relatively satisfied with their start to the season. However, that may not be the case when it comes to their respective results over the past six matches.
As you can see from the Championship Form Table, there is just as little separating plenty of clubs as there is in the main standings. Just four clubs have remained unbeaten during that period, with Nottingham Forest doing enough to sit at the summit despite the fact that they dropped four points. The form table also shows that the duo were just two of four clubs to score in each of their most recent half-a-dozing outings, with the same number of clubs failing to score in half of their matches.
Despite recording three points less than Forest, Swansea have still done enough to remain in first position, courtesy of Wednesday's 2-1 win at Charlton Athletic. The Welsh side are having few issues at the back, where they have conceded just three goals in six fixtures, but they are finding it tough at the other end of the pitch where just seven goals have been scored. The form table shows that just nine of the 24 teams fared worse than Steve Cooper's outfit, suggesting that there is plenty of work to be done before they can be considered favourites for promotion to the Premier League.
Perhaps the most telling statistic which the form table shows is how often teams are involved in matches where each side score at least one goal. That occurred with as many as five clubs on five occasions out of a possible six since the weekend of August 24 and 25, while a further eight teams scored and failed to shutout the opposition four times. That effectively shows the difficulty of keeping a clean sheet in the Championship, whether you are a side competing for the title or battling to remain in the division.
The form table also indicates how hard it is to put together a strong record at their home stadiums. Somewhat remarkably, just three clubs have avoided defeat in their opening five fixtures on their own territory, although just two teams are still awaiting their first success in front of their supporters. It backs up the theory that the Championship is a minefield for those who regularly place bets on matches played in the division but on the other hand, the unpredictability of the league means that there is always value to be had if you take a look at the statistics on hand!
