Championship Opta Facts – August 3. - 4.

Barnsley v Wigan Athletic
This will be only the fifth time that Barnsley and Wigan Athletic have played each other in a league fixture, with the Tykes yet to defeat Wigan (D2 L2).
Barnsley ended the 2012-13 Championship season with only two defeats in their final 12 games (W4 D6 L2).
The Tykes have won their opening game of the league season on just one of their last seven attempts (W1 D2 L4), but this victory came in 2012-13 versus Middlesbrough at Oakwell.
Only one of Wigan's last 10 fixtures on the opening weekend of the league season have seen them secure victory (W1 D2 L7).
This will be the first game that Wigan have played in the second tier of English football since May 8th 2005; when they secured promotion to the Premier League with a 3-1 home win over Reading.
Only Millwall (24) scored fewer goals at home in the 2012-13 Championship than Barnsley (26).
Wigan conceded the first goal of the game on 25 occasions in the Premier League last season; more often than any other team.
Only three teams (Leeds, Birmingham, and Burnley) drew fewer games nil-nil last season than Barnsley (2).
Wigan's new signing Grant Holt scored 21 goals in 44 starts the last season he played in the Championship (2010/11)
Last season, Barnsley conceded 26 goals from set pieces. No Championship side conceded more.

Birmingham City v Watford
Watford won more points away from home than any other side in the Championship in 2012-13 (39).
The Hornets have lost five of their last six competitive trips to St Andrews to face Birmingham City, but won 4-0 there on their last visit in 2012-13.
The Blues haven't won an opening game of the season since 2008-09; losing two and drawing two of their four matches since.
Watford have not lost an opening game of the season since 2006-07. They have won three and drawn three of their six matches since.
Including playoff matches, Watford conceded more penalties (13) and were given more red cards (6) than any other team in the Championship in 2012-13.
Birmingham were one of only three clubs to win fewer points at home (30) than away from home (31) in the Championship in 2012-13.
The Blues netted just 46% of their total goal tally at home in the 2012-13 Championship; a lower proportion than any other side.
New Watford signing Lewis McGugan chipped in with eight goals and three assists last season, with 50% of his goals coming from outside the box (4).
Birmingham scored in each of their last 13 league games of the 2012/13 season.
As well as scoring the most goals (85), Watford scored the highest amount of goals from open play (61).

Bournemouth v Charlton Athletic
Bournemouth have not defeated Charlton Athletic in a competitive fixture since April 1975; losing four and drawing three of their seven meetings since.
Charlton have kept a clean sheet in five of their last six competitive games against the Cherries.
This will be the third time in the last four seasons that Charlton and Bournemouth have met one another in the opening game of the league season (2010-11, 2011-12 and 2013-14). The Addicks won the previous two of these without conceding a goal.
Bournemouth have started their league season with a victory on only one of the last 13 campaigns; this coming in 2009 versus Bury (W1 D6 L6).
The Addicks have won four and lost none (D2) of their six league games on the opening weekend since 2007-08.
Eddie Howe's side were the highest scoring team in League One last season, netting 76 goals.
Charlton won a higher proportion of their points away from home (55%) than any other side in the Championship in 2012-13.
Bournemouth won 25 points out of a possible 30 at the back end of last season, more than any other side.
If the Championship started in January 2013, the Addicks would've finished fourth in the table, accumulating 35 points from 21 games.
Since re-joining Bournemouth as manager, Eddie Howe only lost three of a 18 home league fixtures (W13 D2).

Burnley v Bolton Wanderers
The side playing at home have won the last four competitive meetings between Burnley and Bolton; with the away team winning just one of the last nine matches.
Burnley have won four and drawn two of their last six home matches on the opening weekend of a league season.
Bolton Wanderers have failed to score in three of their last four fixtures on the opening weekend of a league season.
The Trotters attempted 10.4 shots per game on average in the Championship in 2012-13; more than any other side.
Bolton lost more points from leading positions than any other side in the Championship in 2012-13 (34).
Burnley netted a higher percentage of their goals from headers (34%) than any other side in the Championship in 2012-13.
Burnley's striker Charlie Austin netted the most headed goals in the division (9) last season.
Bolton scored more goals in the opening 15 minutes of Championship games last season (14) than any other side.
Bolton's Chris Eagles attempted more shots than any other player in the Championship last season (112).
In the Championship last season, Burnley conceded the joint-fewest amount goals from set pieces (15) along with Ipswich.

Derby County v Blackburn Rovers
Blackburn Rovers have won four and lost none (D1) of their last five competitive games against Derby County.
Jordan Rhodes scored in all three of his competitive appearances for Blackburn Rovers against Derby County in 2012-13.
Rhodes scored 49% of Blackburn's goals in the Championship in 2012-13; a higher proportion than any other player for their side.
Derby have lost their opening league game of the season in just one of their last eight campaigns (W3 D4 L1).
Only relegated Bristol City (6) kept fewer clean sheets than Derby County (8) in the Championship last season.
Only relegated Peterborough (13.6) faced more shots per game on average in the Championship in 2012-13 than Blackburn Rovers (12.1).
Nigel Clough will have been in charge of Derby County for four years and 208 days on the date of this game; the current longest serving manager in the Championship.
Rovers new boy DJ Campbell has scored 44 goals in his 133 matches in his Championship career.
Last season, Blackburn had a shooting accuracy of 43.32%, the fourth lowest in the Championship.

Doncaster Rovers v Blackpool
Blackpool have won each of their last three league games against Doncaster Rovers.
Doncaster Rovers have not won any of their five league games at home against Blackpool since 2005-06; losing two and drawing three.
The Tangerines have won and kept a clean sheet in their opening league match of the last three seasons; all three of which have been away from home.
Eight of Doncaster's 12 defeats in League One last season came in home matches.
Blackpool conceded the first goal of the game on 27 occasions in the 2012-13 Championship season; only relegated Bristol City could match this.
However, no side won more points from losing positions than Blackpool in the Championship in 2012-13 (24).
Blackpool scored more goals in the final 15 minutes of Championship games last season than any other side (22).
Last season, Doncaster won 25 of the 27 matches in which they went ahead (D2); a league-high.
Doncaster scored their highest proportion of goals in the final fifteen minutes of matches last season (29%).
Without Thomas Ince's goals last season, the Tangerines would've been 13 points worse off and in 23rd position.

Leeds United v Brighton & Hove Albion
Brighton have won their last two competitive trips to Elland Road, 2-1; with the winning goal coming in the 88th minute or later in both games.
There were three red cards given in the last league meeting between these two teams in April 2013; more than in any other Championship game in 2012-13.
Leeds have lost just two of their opening games to a league season since 1990-91 (W14 D7 L2).
Brighton have won more Championship points in 2013 than any other side (41).
No side lost fewer games than Brighton in the Championship last season (9); but the Seagulls drew more games than any other team (18).
Leeds conceded a league-high 19 headed goals in the Championship in 2012-13.
Tomasz Kuszczak managed to save a higher proportion of shots faced in the Championship last season (75.6%) than any other regular goalkeeper.
Leeds summer signing Noel Hunt scored eight goals in 41 appearances the last time Reading were in the Championship (2011/12).
Brighton created 170 chances in the Championship last season; the second highest in the division behind Hull 181.
Leeds conceded 71% of their goals in the second half of matches last season; a league-high proportion.

Middlesbrough v Leicester City
Leicester City are unbeaten in their last 10 competitive matches against Middlesbrough, but six of these games have ended in a draw.
Middlesbrough have won their opening league game in just one of the last 12 seasons (W1 D5 L6).
Leicester City have won four of their five opening day league games (L1) since 2008-09.
Middlesbrough won just 12 points from their 21 Championship games from New Year's Day 2013; fewer than any other side.
Boro' won 71% of their points at home in the 2012-13 Championship season; a higher proportion than any other side.
In the 2012/13 season, the Foxes scored the 57 goals inside the penalty box; a joint-league-high alongside Cardiff City.
In the 2012/13 Boro scored just two penalties; a joint-league-low alongside Hull, Sheffield Wednesday, Charlton and Millwall.
Last season, Leicester attempted the second highest amount of shots in the Championship (470).
Middlesbrough picked up just five points out of a possible 24 in the league at the end of last season.
No side conceded fewer away goals in the Championship last season than Leicester City (25).

Millwall v Yeovil Town
Millwall won a joint-league low tally of 28 points at home in the Championship in 2012-13.
The Lions also scored only 24 goals at home last season in the Championship; fewer than any other side.
Yeovil have only ever recorded one victory in their 12 competitive meetings with Millwall; this coming in April 2009 (all competitions).
Millwall have won their opening game of the league season on just one occasion since 2004-05 (W1 D5 L3).
The Lions won just one of their final nine Championship games in 2012-13 (W1 D3 L5).
Just 19.6% of Millwall's goals in the Championship last season came from set-piece situations; a lower proportion than any other side.
The Lions' Shane Lowry was given 13 yellow cards and one red card in the Championship last season; the worst record of any player.
Only Swindon (72) and Bournemouth (76) scored more goals in League One last season than Yeovil (71).
Yeovil scored more goals inside the box than any other side in League One last season (62).

Nottingham Forest v Huddersfield Town
Both sides have scored in each of the last 12 fixtures between Nottingham Forest and Huddersfield Town.
Nottingham Forest defeated Huddersfield Town 6-1 at the City Ground last season; their biggest home win in league competition since February 2006.
Just one of Nottingham Forest's opening day league fixtures since 2003-04 have seen the Reds defeated (W4 D5 L1).
However, in the last seven seasons, Nottingham Forest's opening league fixtures have seen just three goals scored in total, with four of these games ending 0-0.
Huddersfield have lost their opening league game of the season on each of the last five seasons that they have been in the second tier of English football.
No side won more points from losing positions than Nottingham Forest in the Championship in 2012-13 (24).
Only Peterborough (75) and Bristol City (84) who were both relegated conceded more goals last season than The Terriers (73).
Forest had a league-high proportion of goals conceded inside the box last season (88%).
Last season, Huddersfield conceded 78% of their goals from open play, a league-high.
Forest's new goalkeeper Dorus de Vries has kept 57 clean sheets in 142 games in the Championship, with a save percentage of 71.69%.

Queens Park Rangers v Sheffield Wednesday
QPR are unbeaten in their last three competitive meetings with the Owls, winning two and drawing one.
This is the 14th time in the last 18 seasons that QPR have opened their league campaign with a home match. Of the previous 13, they have lost just two (W7 D4).
Sheffield Wednesday are unbeaten in their opening fixture of the last five league campaigns (W3 L2).
The Owls committed 12.5 fouls per game on average in 2012-13; more than any other side in the Championship.
QPR won just four games in the Premier League last season. Only Derby County (one in 2007-08) and Sunderland (three in 2005-06) have won fewer in a single Premier League campaign.
QPR scored only 13 goals in their 19 Premier League home games in 2012-13; fewer than any other side.
Last season in the Championship, the Owls had the highest percentage of goals scored by defenders (23%)
QPR right back Danny Simpson has kept 22 clean sheets in 61 games in his career in the Championship.
At the end of last season, Sheffield Wednesday won just one of their final five games (D2 L2).
The R's only went ahead in 12 matches last season, winning just four of those matches; a league-low.

Reading v Ipswich Town
Reading have won all four of their league meetings against Ipswich since September 2010, with both home games ended 1-0 to the Royals.
The Royals have not won their opening league game of a season since 2006-07, drawing five and losing one of their six matches since.
Ipswich have found the net in their opening game of the season in each of their last 11 campaigns (since 2002-03).
After Mick McCarthy took charge of Ipswich Town on November 1st 2012, they managed 1.60 points per game, compared to their average of 0.54 per game in the first 13 games of 2012-13.
No side won fewer points from losing positions in the Championship in 2012-13 than Ipswich Town (7).
Reading's Jobi McAnuff attempted 43 shots (inc. blocked) in the Premier League without scoring in 2012-13; more than any other player.
Reading striker Adam Le Fondre broke the Premier League record for the number of goals scored in a single season as a substitute in 2012-13 (8).
71% of Ipswich's league goals last season came at home; the joint-highest proportion alongside promoted Crystal Palace.
In fact, Ipswich netted just 14 goals away from home in the Championship last term; five fewer than any other side.
Royals new signing Royston Drenthe created 21 chances in 21 league appearances last time he played in England for Everton in 2011/12.