Number 6

Fatawu cutting inside and hitting the woodwork only happens when we lose 1-0.

Leeds were the better side and definitely deserved to win...but there wasn't a gulf between the teams, even on what I thought was an off day for us. We'll probably only have 3 more games against that level of opponent. I do think it's a bit criminal that we lacked any goal threat though. Only 1 shot on target all game at home in the Champ. Nacho was so deep when he came on too, the ball would go wide and there's be nobody in the box, over and over again.

Yeh thought this was bizarre too. And less floaty but still lots of deep crosses first half. Either Mavididi to Fatawu or the other way around. Must have been a ploy for something but whatever it was, it didn't work.

This is what I've been most impressed by - I thought we were bringing in the 'system' and as such it would mostly be getting used to it with subs being like for like replacements. But the little tweaks and amendments either in personnel (Souttar for Stoke's crosses) or the system itself (as above vs QPR, or starting to go longer if we can't beat the press) have been good to see. Enzo seems to be adding more little by little, ensuring we continue to get better. It's nice after recently spending a year not getting any better at defending corners.

Also, I know there have been poor results in there against Brentford and Bournemouth, but Burnley have already played Man City, Villa, Spurs, Newcastle, Utd, and Chelsea.

I think people are just understandably confident. We were favourites to win the league coming into the season, since then: - We have won 13 of 14 games - We have the highest xG and joint highest goals scored - We have the lowest xGA and goals conceded (the second best defence has conceded almost twice as many goals as us) Any side that have historically had this good a start (and there hasn't been many) have gone on to win the title, none even in second let alone third. Ironically this record could be broken this season if Ipswich keep up their form as we can't both win the league. Yes we have AFCON and could get injuries, but we also have Alves, Braybrook, Cannon, Doyle, +more all to come back, and have greater squad depth to deal with injuries than other teams who will also get injury problems. We won't keep up the current PPG for sure, but it's hugely unlikely that we suddenly drop to mid-table form.

Think this should definitely be the aim for us this season, as impressive as that Reading side were. Their record that season was P46 W31 D13 L2 for comparison.

Think we'll lose more at home than away, but should be talking a small number of losses. Would like to see us keep it below 5.

They finished last season 2 points behind Ipswich.

So Sheff Weds could still win the title?

I don't see a 17 point gap being recovered. If they ran at 2ppg for the remainder, and we dropped to 1ppg then it would still take 17 of the 31 games for them to draw level. We'd only need to run at 1.5ppg with Leeds in title winning form, for them to run out of games.

Question for those much smarter than I...both us and Man City utilise an inverted full back with a natural full back moving into a CDM type position. Given we both have 60%ish of the ball, does it not make more sense for a natural midfielder to learn how to drop back into defence? With our own set up I think Ricardo is so technically good than he makes sense over Hamza, but it's a position which seems to be used with a fullback moving up the pitch rather than the other way round. As I finished typing this I just realised Man City have also been using Stones in this position, which seems even more out there as he's not a natural full back or CDM.

Was that our first goal from outside the box this season? The intricate play is beautiful but do love a long ranger too.

Whilst not simple to do, I think the path to doing it is clear: - remainder of this season is about promotion, but it is also an opportunity to continue to get better at playing this system - in the summer upgrade on players where we can, Vestergaard and Ndidi (if no new contract) are the obvious ones for me given their contract situations - good, sensible, pre-season Then hope it works out. There will still be some dross in the PL, but if promoted it will be alongside 2 others from the Champ. Aim to be better than them and one current PL team.

I reckon Derby fans are watching this PL season with interest.

Friday night against Leeds when we're flying....really hope the crowd are up for this one.

Could have seen some sense in a parting of ways in the summer when his contract was up. 99% of Nigel's strengths lie in stuff that doesn't happen at 3pm on a Saturday. No bad eggs, unity, fitness, etc. You hand that over to someone who can tweak the tactics and there is potential for seeing a team kick on from those excellent foundations. Think the Champ will be weaker next season too.

Second longest serving manager in the division prior to the sacking. Apparently they've got tons of injuries too. Poor decision on the face of it. Table position is poor but it's very congested.

Faes had a nice little rest and should come straight back in. Potentially could look to utilize him and Coady for a bit more pace. Be nice if Ndidi is back too. Big test, looking forward to it.

If they do keep it up (and we do) then Ipswich on course to get two of the highest points totals without picking up a league title. Not that they'd care if they go up.

I don't think the record is that far out of reach for this squad given the very good start we have made, and I'm a bit surprised at the odds Sky Bet were offering in that graphic above. Obviously it is a great record and that Reading side were very very good, but we were probably expecting 2 sticky periods (at the start as we bed in the new system, and in Jan with AFCON). We've got through one of those way ahead of the required pace. The base we have now also means 2ppg takes us to 102, which is pretty standard promotion form. I think this side really should break the 100 point mark now. It is whether we can bridge that gap to get to 107. With the way it has panned out so far they really should be striving to achieve that.

Surely the parachute payments argument is a bit misleading? We spent much less than we got from sales - the reason we were able to spend was due to having good players to sell. Relegated teams do well because they have something more akin to a Premier League squad than those in the Champ. I guess you could argue that the extra income allows relegated teams to hold on to some of those players more easily, but the argument falls apart a little bit when Ipswich are sat in second, and fairly comfortably so.

Leeds have already played Ipswich once too, so only the one game they can directly claw 3 back. Top 2 is looking set.

I think some of the xG data must be taking into account that the goal was from a corner as it is pretty low on the xG. Guess headers in the 6 yard box from corners are not usually so free. I think also worth bearing in mind that very good chances could be as low as 0.3xG (a penalty is c0.75). You can use FotMob to see the xG of each shot. Shows it quite well that for all their shots Sunderland never really got into very good scoring positions.