Gab Sutton's EFL Winners & Losers - February 17
Even with the FA Cup taking centre stage, the game of the weekend arguably came on Monday night as the top two in the Championship met for a huge clash in the race for the Premier League.
Our EFL pundit here at Free Bets, Gab Sutton, takes a look at another busy weekend of EFL action across the three leagues.
Winners
Frank Lampard
Coventry’s 3-1 victory over Middlesbrough could be looked back upon as one of the defining nights of the Championship season.
The Sky Blues went into the promotion clash with 16 points from their last 13 games, which has eroded their lead at the summit, while their visitors were steaming in on red-hot form, and had overtaken Frank Lampard’s side the previous weekend.
Coventry, though, made a much-needed tweak to their midfield by bringing in Frank Onyeka for Victor Torp, and the Brentford loanee offered much better defensive protection to support Matt Grimes, giving the hosts a stronger foothold on proceedings.
Haji Wright scored a hat-trick to send the Midlanders back to the top, and now they have an opportunity to grab the initiative once again.
Jenson Metcalfe
Jenson Metcalfe produced a sumptuous, man-of-the-match display in Bradford’s 2-0 victory over Peterborough, which resecured the Bantams’ comfort in the top six, after four defeats in five.
Metcalfe proved the perfect foil for Max Power in a roaming playmaker role, gracefully caressing the ball with some stunning passing – it was as if the ball was glued to his boot until the very last nanosecond of the action, ensuring pinpoint precision.
Zech Obiero
Leyton Orient boss Richie Wellens didn’t feel Zech Obiero was quite ready for the demands of League One, so the attacking midfielder has to prove himself in a loan spell at Tranmere to make it to E10.
The 21-year-old is off to a fabulous start, though, bagging a goal on his home debut, a 2-0 victory over Crawley, in a sparkling performance.
Agile and elusive, Obiero is a terrific ball-carrier and should soon show the Orient boss what he’s capable of.
Losers
Middlesbrough
After six consecutive league wins, and some sensational performances sent them top of the league, Middlesbrough smelt blood as they headed to Coventry, but they didn’t perform as hoped.
All the players who have received so much praise this season weren’t at their usual levels, with Adilson Malanda and Aidan Morris giving the ball away in defence and midfield respectively, errors at the back, and a lack of ruthlessness in the second half, when they did dominate.
Boro earned praise from their opposing manager, but this was an off-night.
Blackpool's home form
Just three points separate 23rd-placed Rotherham from 17th-placed Northampton in the League One relegation dogfight, and with the margins so tight, we could be looking at a high bar for survival – over 50 points.
With that in mind, Blackpool’s form of one point from their last four league games is cause for concern, especially with home no-shows against Stockport (that game finished 2-1 but could just as easily been 5-1), and Plymouth Argyle at the weekend, in a 4-0 loss for Ian Evatt’s side.
The Tangerines are missing key defender Fraser Horsfall, and influential midfielder Albie Morgan, which isn’t ideal, but the Seasiders need to sharpen up.
The good news? Six of their remaining seven home games come against bottom half opposition. Performances in those will decide their fate.
Mbickless Colchester
Charlton loanee Micah Mbick got injured for Colchester, after scoring in January’s 2-1 victory over Fleetwood, and since then it’s gone downhill.
The U’s have lost three of the subsequent four league games, badly missing Mbick’s pace and power in getting behind, qualities which have attracted the likes of Brighton to his services.
Replacement Will Goodwin is more of a target man, and doesn’t stretch the line in the same way, so Danny Cowley’s side have had to adapt to a completely different way of playing, and it threatens to destabilize their season.
After a 1-0 loss at Barrow on Saturday, the Essex outfit are five points off the Play-Offs; they do have two games in hand, but momentum is elsewhere.
EFL Betting at Free Bets
Gab Sutton provides weekly football tips for Free Bets, featuring a thoroughly researched longshot acca alongside sharp analysis of the key talking points and standout moments from the weekend's action at the start of each new week.
