We are six game weeks into the 2024/25 EFL Championship season, and we have already seen some typical championship madness with Plymouth Argyle AFC securing a last-gasp winner to end Sunderland’s perfect record and Chris Rigg’s brilliant backheel goal.
Come the end of May, there will have been many more memorable moments in the always-giving EFL Championship.
We have also seen some tasty derby matches already; there is more to come.
The below visualisation highlights some of the critical derby games from last season.
To start with, let’s go to the South Wales derby: Cardiff City vs. Swansea City.
Last season, the home team won both fixtures, with a score of 2-0.
This season, in matchweek three, it ended 1-1.
Swansea’s away record in this fixture is decent, with three wins in the last five trips.
With Cardiff dead bottom and Swansea closer to playoff places, it will be interesting to see where these teams are positioned in the table when they meet in the reverse fixture.
Next up is QPR vs Millwall, which recently finished 1-1, the first draw between the sides since 2021.
This fixture has always seen goals, and the last 0-0 in the league was in 2019, so you are not wrong if you are expecting a tasty fixture come February when the two teams meet at the Den.
Sunderland are flying high in the EFL Championship, but Middlesbrough’s season is not going according to plan.
The Black Cats did meet Boro and came out on top recently.
Recent fixtures between the two in the Championship have seen many goals and a couple of draws.
Leeds vs Derby is a fixture that is famously remembered for that playoff in 2019.
The two teams have not met since 2020 because of promotions and relegations, but they are now back in the same division.
Leeds have dominated this fixture recently, and that is expected this season as well.
A few other feisty rivalries include Luton vs. Watford, with the home team quite often dominating in this fixture; Sheffield United vs. Sheffield Wednesday, with the last three fixtures between the two ending 0-0; and West Brom vs. Stoke City, with Stoke City failing to win in the last five games, including the recent one this season.
