This weekend’s EFL action provided plenty of drama and action across The Championship, League One and League Two, but here are the 11 players that made our team of the week for gameweek five!
Our Team Of The Week
GK – Nathan Trott – Cardiff City
Trott’s goalkeeping heroics paved the way for Cardiff to narrowly defeat fellow relegated side last campaign Luton by a goal to nil, propelling The Bluebirds to the top of the League One table, one point ahead of Huddersfield.
He made one of the saves of the weekend in the first half, preventing a missile of a shot from George Saville with an acrobatic stop, and followed it up with a close range stop a few minutes later from a Lasse Nordas header. His second half contributions were equally as impressive, with a low save denying a Mark McGuiness bullet header from entering the net.
Trott rated a 9.1 on Fotmob, the highest of any goalkeeper this weekend.
RB – Ethan Laird – Birmingham City
Birmingham City have enjoyed an immense start to the season, as they remain unbeaten so far this campaign since their promotion from League One. They got the better of Oxford United, with their only goal of the game coming from an Ethan Laird assist, cutting it back for Paik Seung-Ho to slot home.
Laird not only performed well on the attacking front but also won the most duels of any player on the pitch, winning 11 throughout the 90 minutes, contributing to The Blues’ clean sheet.
Laird racked up an 8.5 rating on Fotmob, winning the man of the match award according to them.
CB – Sam Gale – Gillingham FC
Gillingham continued their unbeaten run under Gareth Ainsworth, seeing the back of Crewe Alexandra who held a flawless record so far this season, before Gillingham edged a 1-0 win over them.
Gale netted the winning goal in the 89th minute, volleying the ball past Tom Booth after carnage in the box, following on from a corner that ended up being a scrappy battle in the box. His defensive statistics were decent too, with 12 defensive contributions throughout the 90 minutes, winning 100% of his tackles.
Gale was awarded with an 8.4 rating for his efforts on Fotmob, a decent rating for the matchwinner!
CB – Harrison Burke – Walsall FC
Burke has enjoyed a respectable start for The Saddlers so far this campaign, following on from his jump to League Two from National League North side Chester, and found himselves scoring the winning goal against Salford, bagging his first EFL goal, heading home unmarked from an accurate corner in the 31st minute.
For a centre-back, Burke’s attacking stats came as quite the shock, registering three shots throughout the game, including one goal and one strike that hit the woodwork, although his defensive stats were underwhelming, purely due to the lack of action he was called upon.
Fotmob provided Burke with an 8.5 rating, the highest on the pitch earning him a place in our team of the week.
LB – Nesta Guinness-Walker- Northampton Town
In Northampton’s first league win of the campaign over Exeter City, Guinness Walker provided serious impact on both the attacking and defensive aspect of the game, providing an assist and winning the most tackles of any player in the game, with four tackles won at a 100% success rate.
His assist was impressive, with an incredibly accurate long ball finding the feet of Ethan Wheatley, who dribbled further down the pitch (almost too far, as it nearly went out for a goal kick) before slotting the ball into the net, albeit from a small headed deflection.
Fotmob gave an 8.2 rating for Guinness-Walker’s efforts.
CM – Regan Hendry – Mansfield Town
Mansfield Town ran riot over Leyton Orient, comfortably beating The O’s 4-1, to make it The Stags third League One victory so far this campaign. Hendry was the man of the match by a country mile, bagging the opening two goals of the fixture.
Hendry’s first was an absolute stunner, recovering the ball off Charlie O’Neill, before spotting Tommy Simkin off his line, lobbing the ball over his head into the back of the net from his own half! Unfortunately for Hendry, his second was a lot less impressive, simply tapping in a deflected cross from close range Blake-Tracy cross. He also had another shot on target, although this one didn’t find the net like the others.
For his brace, Hendry racked up an 8.8 Fotmob match rating. Therefore, he deserves to be in our team of the week.
CM – Lewis Wing – Reading FC
Reading captain Lewis Wing picked up a goal and assist against Wycombe Wanderers in what turned out to be Reading’s second consecutive draw as they look to accelerate up the table and escape the relegation zone.
Wing’s assist was immense, finding Camara at the edge of the box with a long-range ariel pass, who powerfully headed past goalkeeper Mikki Van Sas, with his goal coming just two minutes later, which was just as impressive as his assist, after a deflected shot ended up at Wing’s feet at the edge of the box, who slammed it into the top left corner, with the keeper left absolutely motionless.
Additionally, Wing won the most tackles of any player with 3, not a bas day at the office for him!
He picked up an 8.9 rating on Fotmob, one of the highest this weekend making his spot in the team of the week well deserved.
CM – Jack Rudoni – Coventry City
To be honest, I could have included most of the Coventry squad on this list, but I’ve stuck to just two to give opportunities for other teams! Rudoni enters just ahead of Victor Torp, purely down to his assist alongside his two goals during Cov’s 7-1 battering of QPR.
His assist came first, picking up an abysmal pass back to the goalkeeper from Kieran Morgan, before squaring it to Brandon Thomas-Asante to slot it past the goalkeeper, with his first goal coming 12 minutes later, with his deflected shot finding its way past Joe Walsh off the back of some questionable playing out from the back from QPR.
His second goal was a great strike into the bottom right corner, propelling his match rating on Fotmob to 9.3 earning the midfielder a deserved spot in our team of the week.
CF – Matthew Dennis – Notts County
The first of this week’s three forwards, Notts County’s Matthew Dennis continued his remarkable form with a brace against Andy Woodman’s Bromley side in their 2-2 draw, taking his tally up to four goals for the campaign since his move from Carlisle United.
Dennis’ first goal came thanks to an immaculate dribble from the wing, to take it past centre-back Deji Elewere into the edge of the box, before shooting into the top left corner leaving the goalkeeper motionless.
His second was much simpler, getting on the end of a Matthew Palmer freekick, powerfully heading into the bottom left corner, once again leaving Grant Smith motionless in goal. These goals contributed to Dennis’ 8.9 Fotmob rating, marking him as player of the match.
CF – Brandon Thomas-Asante – Coventry City
The second Coventry entry on this list is their Starman up top Brandon Thomas-Asante who created two chances for goals and even notched one in himself in Frank Lampard’s new look Coventry side that have the highest xG overall in the whole EFL!
Thomas Asante’s first goal contribution was his goal, which Rudoni set him up from with a simple pass into open space thanks to Kieran Morgan’s shambolic back pass, but he had to wait a whopping 14 minutes for his next contribution, when he pushed forward on the break from a Rudoni pass, and smootly placed the ball into Haji Wright’s path for him to slot home. 6 minutes later, he became creator again, setting up Jack Rudoni to bag his second of the game.
This stellar performance earned him a 9.0 rating, the highest performing striker this weekend! Therefore, his spot in the team of the week is arguably well deserved.
ST – Kieffer Moore – Wrexham
Wrexham’s new addition up front Kieffer Moore opened his account for the club against former rival club Sheffield Wednesday with a quick first half brace. Wrexham haven’t performed like a team that have spent as much as they have yet this window, but with Moore’s performance, encouraging signs are ahead.
Moore’s first came in the 15th minute as a result of some scrappy defending in the box following a freekick into the mixer, which Moore managed to direct into the net whilst on the floor!
The second was a classic poacher’s goal, reacting quickest following Hovarth’s save (which looked like a spill of the ball) from George Dobson’s powerful strike, catching the defenders napping to double his tally for the game.
Moore picked up an 8.9 rating on Fotmob for his efforts, as well as the final spot on The Lower Tiers’ team of the week for Gameweek 5!
