Let’s face it – the Premier League title race is basically over already.
So aside from the more entertaining off-field antics currently taking centre stage in England’s top tier, maybe it’s about time we paid more attention to the genuinely competitive football happening around the country right now.
With the Christmas period approaching and Football League action continuing apace, here’s your quick guide to festive football knowledge to impress your families and mates with.
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1 Wolves
Odds on to go up from the Championship after heavy investment, Wolves are the team to watch outside of the top flight.
And for good reason – the Black Country side have scored 41 goals in 20 games, conceded just 17, and play a particularly pleasing brand of attacking football.
Nuno Santos’ side have been helped greatly by super-agent Jorge Mendes’ dealings, but the likes of Diojo Jota and Barry Douglas have made Wolves a very attractive side to watch.
2 Notts County
You wouldn’t have believed us if we told you three years ago that if you went down to Meadow Lane in 2017 you’d see Kevin Nolan, Alan Smith, Shola Ameobi and Jon Stead all together.
Well, it’s happened, and it’s actually going very well indeed.
Under Nolan’s management, the Magpies are exceeding all expectations and sit second in League Two, level on points with Luton Town. Speaking of which…
3 Luton Town
We’ve discussed Luton’s remarkable season at greater length elsewhere, but if you wanted a TL;DR on their season, it goes something like this:
- Tons of goals
- Scored seven or more three times
- They’ve even scored from a different postcode
- … and more goals.
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4 Blackburn Rovers
Needless to say, things have not been good in recent years for Blackburn Rovers.
However, results on the field are really starting to pick up, and they are in with a great shout of getting promoted from League One to the Championship.
Also, if it’s entertainment you want, there’s been 26 goals in their last five matches in all comps.
5 Derby County
Derby are perennial candidates for promotion from the Championship, but could this be their year?
The problem is, people have been saying that this could be their year for, well, years now.
They are fourth in the Championship under the stewardship of the always impressive Gary Rowett, and Scott Carson is doing things like this on the regular…
6 Aston Villa
It seems ludicrous that Villa struggled hugely at the start of the season, mainly because they could put out an XI that you wouldn’t think are now Championship players.
Come on, just look at this list of players: Neil Taylor, Chris Samba, John Terry, James Chester, Micah Richards, Robert Snodgrass, Jack Grealish, Ahmed Elmohamady, Mile Jedinak.
That squad had a terrible start to the season, but they’ve only lost one of their previous nine matches and have even sneaked into the play-off spots too.
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