During the first weekend of the Sky Bet Championship in March, Birmingham City and West Bromwich Albion felt different things. The Baggies defeated Coventry City 2-1 on Friday night to clinch a crucial three points, while the Blues lost 4-3 to Southampton on Saturday after a thrilling seven-goal thriller.
Birmingham is currently just one goal above the Championship relegation zone, and the gap between Blackburn Rovers in 17th place and Stoke City in 22nd place is only one point. Ahead of the last 11 games of the season, there is a tough competition to stay out of the bottom three. As they continue to gain ground on Norwich City in seventh place, West Brom is now four points ahead of them in the play-off race.
The majority of matches in the English second division were incredibly close, with just two teams—Ipswich Town against Plymouth Argyle and Stoke City against Middlesbrough—managing to win by a margin of two goals. Premier League leaders Leicester City suffered their third straight loss, falling to Queens Park Rangers 2-1, while Leeds United settled for a 1-1 draw away at ten-man Huddersfield Town.
Additional outcomes comprised Bristol City 0-1 Cardiff City, Rotherham United 0-1 Sheffield Wednesday, Norwich City 1-0 Sunderland, Millwall 1-0 Watford, and Swansea City 2-1 Blackburn Rovers are the results. Preston North End 0-0 Hull City.
Week 35’s championship squad (GW35)
These are the top 11 performers from the weekend, arranged in a 4-4-2 formation and based on WhoScored ratings.
Freddie Woodman (North End of Preston) – 7.90 WhoScored
Preston’s Woodman recorded his second straight perfect game as the North End and Hull City drew 0-0 at home. Four saves were made by the goalie.
Perry Ng, Cardiff City – 8.11 WhoScored points
Cardiff defeated Bristol City away from home thanks to a single goal from Ng. He won two aerial duels and made four clearances, demonstrating his strong defensive play.
Hull City’s Jacob Greaves has an 8.79 WhoScored rating.
The Tigers’ 0-0 draw at Preston was made possible by the central defender, who won an amazing 15 aerial duels. In addition, he recorded four tackles, three interceptions, and eight clearances.
Ben Gibson (City of Norwich) – rating on WhoScored: 7.95
Gibson helped lead Sunderland 1-0 with Josh Sargent’s winning goal. In addition, the defender made four interceptions and four clearances to aid the Canaries in earning a clean sheet.
Marvin Johnson (Wednesday, Sheffield): 7.10 WhoScored
Johnson produced a respectable performance as Sheffield Wednesday defeated Rotherham United 1-0 in a crucial encounter in the relegation zone. Johnson makes the starting lineup as the top left-back of the week.
Birmingham City’s Juninho Bacuna has an 8.14 WhoScored rating.
Bacuna, who scored a goal, assisted on the first, and struck the woodwork, was the Blues’ finest player in the 4-3 loss to Southampton. In addition, he finished three dribbles. Despite the loss, Bacuna was outstanding for Birmingham.
Lewis Baker from Stoke City has a 7.73 WhoScored rating.
The second goal by Baker ensured that Stoke defeated Middlesbrough 2-0 at home, a crucial victory. Steven Schumacher’s team now has hope in the relegation battle thanks to the three points.
Stoke City’s Bae Jun Ho has an 8.06 WhoScored rating.
In the Potters’ match against Middlesbrough, the South Korean scored the first goal for the team and went on to complete an incredible 100% of his passes. He also made one significant opportunity.
WhoScored rating for Southampton’s David Brooks: 9.27
With a helper and an incredible strike from outside the area, the Welshman stole the show at St Andrew’s @ Knighthead Park. He also gave his teammates an amazing six opportunities.
WhoScored Adam Armstrong (Southampton) at 8.77
Southampton defeated Birmingham 4-3 thanks to an Armstrong goal that sealed an opportunity set up by Brooks. He struck the woodwork as well, saving two more shots.
WhoScored rating for Kieffer Moore (Ipswich Town): 8.46
The Bournemouth loanee scored the second goal as Ipswich defeated Plymouth 2-0 away from home to end the match as a certainty. He also triumphed in a whopping nine air battles.
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