Another angle for this season - positions of teams we've faced at the time of fixture

[OurManFlint II]

After 42 games we've played teams in the bottom half on 22 occasions and teams in the top half on 19 occasions. Leeds on the opening day didn't have a league placing. Some might say that early games don't give much of a reflection on how the league table will pan out, though we played QPR in our first home game and they've struggled all season, then Leicester away who have been in the top two just about all season. Next came Sheffield Wednesday who, again have been in the bottom 3 just about the entire season.

So, here we go.

We've played sides in the bottom 3 on 6 occasions this season, winning each time. Of sides positioned 18th to 21st, we've won 4 and drawn 1 out of 7. 10 of our 18 wins have come against sides positioned 18th or lower. That shows a good level of consistency at beating teams towards the bottom.

Our record against other sides in the bottom half that we have faced (13th-17th) is not so impressive - 8 points from 8 games with 4 defeats.

Against sides in the top half our record gets worse - 6 wins out of 20 games (if you include Leeds and Leicester early in the season) and 12 defeats.

Points per game against sides positioned 18th and lower - 2.2 (including the QPR home defeat early in the season)
Points per game against sides positioned 17th and above - 1

Our record against teams lower than us when we faced them - W 11 D 4 L 8 F 28 A 23 Pts 37 Ave 1.61
Our record against teams higher than us when we faced them - W 7 D 1 L 11 F 19 A 34 Pts 22 Ave 1.16

Splitting these into home and away categories makes for interesting reading.

Ppg against sides 18th and lower: Home - 2.38, Away - 2
Ppg against sides 17th and higher: Home - 0.85, Away - 1.13

PPG record against teams lower than us: Home - 1.71, Away - 1.44
PPG record against teams higher than us: Home - 0.29 , Away - 1.33

Our record against the worst sides in the Championship is excellent. I would be surprised if any other clubs have a much better record. I've seen many a City side over the years do well against good sides in this division and struggle against the relegation fodder. Our home form is particularly good against the sides down the bottom at the time.

However, our form against mid table and top half sides doesn't read particularly well, especially at home. Ipswich remains the only top half side we have got points from at home this season. Yet, away from home, we've got 5 wins and 2 draws against sides in the top half at the time and that could easily have been better had we not conceded late goals at Leeds and Leicester.

It's difficult to interpret all of this. It could be argued that if our form against mid table and top half sides had been better, the playoffs would have been within reach. It could be argued that had our home form been better, the playoffs would have been within reach. It could also be argued that, without the good form against the worst sides, we'd be in a relegation battle.

Ultimately we've done very well against sides at the bottom and have got enough wins away from home at some good sides to have made us comfortably mid table. The rest has been not that good and certainly not enjoyable at all to watch.

Isn't that why we have a league table?

"Team at top beats team at bottom, team at bottom lose to teams above, mid table teams generally beat those below but lose to those above, shocker!".
Ive no idea what it is or why you keep posting these.

[Eric the Half a Bee]

Isn't that why we have a league table?

"Team at top beats team at bottom, team at bottom lose to teams above, mid table teams generally beat those below but lose to those above, shocker!".
Ive no idea what it is or why you keep posting these.

My own curiosity and there are one or two who enjoy reading them.

You're not quite right with your "team at top" etc bit in any case. It's a massive generalisation. Like I've said previously, I remember a season under Jones where our record against the worst teams in the division was pretty awful but we did well against the top teams.

You might be happy with the league table. I'm more interested in a little more depth than that. What has been good and not so good throughout the season. I think my summary is pretty accurate - we've been excellent against the worst teams, generally less than average against the rest bar some very good away wins at some clubs who were doing well in the table at the time. That, to me, is more interesting that just saying we're 11th. There's a reason we're 11th and it isn't just we've got a better record than the teams below us.

If it doesn't interest you, fine, but you won't stop me continuing with my love of stats, so get over it!

[Citizen's Nephew]

My own curiosity and there are one or two who enjoy reading them.

You're not quite right with your "team at top" etc bit in any case. It's a massive generalisation. Like I've said previously, I remember a season under Jones where our record against the worst teams in the division was pretty awful but we did well against the top teams.

You might be happy with the league table. I'm more interested in a little more depth than that. What has been good and not so good throughout the season. I think my summary is pretty accurate - we've been excellent against the worst teams, generally less than average against the rest bar some very good away wins at some clubs who were doing well in the table at the time. That, to me, is more interesting that just saying we're 11th. There's a reason we're 11th and it isn't just we've got a better record than the teams below us.

If it doesn't interest you, fine, but you won't stop me continuing with my love of stats, so get over it!

Keep 'em coming Eric. Always keep doing what you love. Blank out the noise. I've come to realise that maybe I love moaning about Cardiff City (that'll be a surprise I know). It'd be boring on here if we were all the same. I love the geeky stuff.