New stoppage time rules saw playing time increase by around seven minutes on average compared to last season across the EFL’s opening weekend and Sunday’s Community Shield. Arsenal and Manchester City’s clash at Wembley lasted longer than all but seven of last season’s Premier League games
In arguably the most competitive League One season in recent memory, Blackpool and Lincoln are left standing with 90 minutes keeping them from the Championship. The Seasiders, once a breath of fresh air in the top flight under Ian Holloway, have won five of their last six games.
While the Premier League grabs the lion’s share of the football headlines in England, there are more than three times as many professional clubs below the top flight with stories of their own to tell. To celebrate those working away from the limelight, we’ve ranked the top 20 managers based on their achievements with EFL clubs.
With COVID-19 causing havoc among the sporting world, we are taking a look at the latest football coronavirus news in terms of fixtures being postponed. Major leagues and competitions have been shut down around the globe, with a number of high-profile players and managers already affected by the disease.
As the international break ends and crowds flock back to Premier League and EFL stadiums, we’ve quantified exactly which sets of fans have the most entertainment to look forward to. Every venue has been ranked, both overall and within their current division, to inform the discerning spectator.
Sunderland had a shaky end to the League One season but now look well prepared to face Charlton in the play-off final after edging out Portsmouth. The Black Cats showed they can hold firm under intense pressure during two hard-fought battles with Pompey and that should stand them in good stead.
We’ve looked back over the recent history of the game to track what happens to those who miss out on a trophy to see how often they repeat the trick or succeed at the second attempt.
We were curious to find out which managers are the best at changing games using their substitutes and which players are best – and worst – when introduced from the bench, so we’ve analysed the data from the last five seasons for every Premier League and EFL club.
We’ve studied the different game states by adding up how much time each club has spent winning, drawing and losing in league matches this season. We’ve also identified which player is their club’s lucky charm and looked at how much goals scored in the last minute of each match affect the final outcome.
With the turn of the year coinciding almost perfectly with the halfway point of the domestic season, we wanted to hand out some half term awards to the clubs and players who have put in the most encouraging performances so far. We’ve crunched the numbers across the Premier League and EFL – up to 31st December 2018 – to reward those who have caught our eye.
As the Golden Boot race is starting to take shape, we take a look back at the last 10 seasons to see what the key ingredients are for picking up this prize. Previous winners Mo Salah, Harry Kane and Sergio Aguero are all prominent again in the Premier League, but will a new hero emerge this term?
Black Friday has quickly become a landmark on the consumer calendar and it would be fascinating to see it introduced for football transfers. We’ve taken a look at the best value signings made by football clubs in the last five seasons, to see who has been getting the top deals.
We’re continuing our series of analytical summaries for the EFL, covering three teams from each of the Championship, League One and League Two. Rather than starting alphabetically we’ve selected clubs at random and identified their top three strengths, weaknesses, goalscorers and creators.
Romelu Lukaku’s first-half miss against Tottenham on Monday night continued the Manchester United striker’s frustrating scoring record against the north London side. The Belgium international has netted just one goal in 863 minutes against Spurs in his Premier League career. But what other hoodoos persist in English football? We’ve looked back … Read more