Here are the eleven standout players across the Championship, League One and League Two from the weekend, after a weekend full of EFL action as we reveal our team of the week.
GK – Daniel Iversen – Preston North End
Preston’s number one Daniel Iversen pulled off a masterclass between the sticks on Saturday, holding high-flying Bristol City to a 0-0 draw. Iversen struggled to break into the starting line-up at Leicester City but has made the number one spot his own at PNE this season, keeping his third clean sheet of the season on Saturday. In total, Daniel Iversen made eight saves throughout the game, earning him an 8.6 match rating on Fotmob, as well as sixth place in the Championship table.
Some of his standout saves during the game included a fingertip save to deny Anis Mehmeti’s shot from range early in the first half, and possibly the save of the weekend in the second half, yet again denying Mehmeti after his fancy footwork lead him into a one-on-one situation, which Iversen somehow tipped wide! This showing has earnt him his place in our team of the week.
LB – Jayden Sweeney – Grimsby Town
Grimsby’s SEVEN-one battering of nine-man Cheltenham Town will live in Mariner’s supporters for a long time, and especially for Grimsby’s left-back Jayden Sweeney, who bagged two goals to double his career goal total and open his account for the season. This brace heightened his Fotmob match rating to an 8.9 match rating and earned him a spot in our team of the week.
Goal one of the day for Sweeney came in the 59th minute, swiftly off the back of Lee Angol’s red card to take Cheltenham down to nine men, when Kieran Green’s shot took an almighty deflection, but helpfully found Jayden Sweeney unmarked in the box to fire past Joe Day. Number two topped the day off, making it six, when a cross took a slight deflection off a defender, but Sweeney wasn’t fazed, doubling his total for the afternoon in style.
CB – Mickey Demetriou – Crewe Alexandra
Crewe’s skipper Mickey Demetriou put in a shift at both ends of the pitch in their game against, bagging the opening goal for Alex against Notts County during their two-one victory on Saturday, in which Demetriou received the highest rating of any player on the pitch with an 8.6 match rating on Fotmob.
Defensive wise, Demetriou performed well as usual, making two tackles, seven clearances and one goal line clearance, but his magic came at the other end, when in the 8th minute of the game, Max Sanders’ corner evaded everyone in the box, except for Demetriou, who rose like a salmon at the far post to head past Kelle Roos in the Notts County net. Demetriou has more than earnt his place in our team of the week.
CB – Dominic Iorfa – Sheffield Wednesday
Despite the turmoil happening off the pitch, The Owls are pushing for their survival in the Championship, and hard-fought points against sides like QPR are what they need. Iorfa is the man to thank for this point, as his 30th minute goal broke the deadlock for Wednesday for their fifth point of the campaign.
Iorfa’s goal was a classic centre-back goal, after Barry Bannan’s pinged his freekick from just over the halfway line into the box, for Iorfa to jump the highest to beat QPR keeper Paul Nardi and slam the ball into an empty net.
RB – Perry Ng – Cardiff City
Cardiff City’s hot streak continued with a comfortable 2-0 win over Wigan Athletic (who’s form has severely dipped in recent weeks), and Cardiff’s right-back Perry Ng was their Starman, retaining a clean sheet as well as going one better, and scoring the opener for The Bluebirds in the 17th minute, accelerating his Fotmob match rating to a solid 8.4.
His goal came thanks to some prime Barcelona like tiki-taka football (well..at least the Cardiff equivalent of this), when Rubin Colwill exchanged quick passes with Ng, setting him up into an incredibly tight angle, but a wicked deflection off a Wigan defender helped nudge the ball past Sam Tickle in the Wigan goal. A goal and a clean sheet is enough to be included in our team of the week.
CM – Harvey White – Stevenage
Stevenage continue to stun League One with their unbelievable start to the season, and continued their run of form with a narrow 3-2 victory over Leyton Orient, which saw Harvey White was involved with all three of their goals, chipping in two assists and bagging Stevenage’s first goal of the game in the 26th minute, and this masterclass in midfield saw White pick up a 9.1 match rating on Fotmob earning him a place in our team of the week.
White’s goal was an absolute rocket, picking up the loose ball, before striking it on the half volley past Tommy Simkin, who couldn’t quite reach this rocket of a strike. Following on from this stroke of footballing genius, he contributed two assists in seven minutes, firstly teeing up centre-back Lewis Freestone, and then fellow centre-back Carl Piergianni.
CM – Imran Louza – Watford FC
Watford have struggled to kick on since appointing Paulo Pezzolano, but avoided being Mauled by the Tigers on Saturday, mostly thanks to Imran Louza’s goal and assist which edged Watford to their second win of the campaign. Not only were his goal contributions a key to their success, he also created six chances throughout the ninety minutes, the most of any player on the pitch!
Louza’s equalising goal came in the 60th minute, following Vivaldo Semedo’s hard work to pick up a long ball forwards, he squared it straight to Imran Louza’s path in the box who took it past the defender Charlie Hughes to slot past Ivor Pandur. 18 minutes later, the roles were reversed, this time Louza turning provider, as his corner found Semedo in the thick of the scrum in the box, who rose highest to take the lead after spending most of the game trailing the visitors.
RM – James Bree – Charlton Athletic
Since leaving Southampton late in the summer transfer window, Bree’s been in flying form for The Addicks, picking up an assist in his first start the Saturday prior, and added another assist as well as a goal against Blackburn Rovers in their route one three-nil victory. Bree racked up an immaculate 9.0 match rating on Fotmob, for his two goal contributions and four chances created.
Bree teed up Macauley Gillesphey in the 31st minute, with his freekick finding the rushing Gillesphey at the far past to break the deadlock thanks to a fine header into the left hand corner, but Bree went a step further in additional time, after Tanto Olaofe’s mazey run into the box found Greg Docherty, who squared it to the edge of the penalty area for Bree to open his account for the season.
LM – Adam Reach – Lincoln City
Lincoln’s rise to the summit of the League One table has been impressive, and Adam Reach’s star performance against Peterborough on Saturday guided the way for Lincoln to sit in third position. He opened the scoring in the 14th minute for The Imps, as well as providing the assist for Tendayi Darikwa’s strike at the hour mark, resulting in an 8.7 match rating on Fotmob.
Reach’s freekick in the 14th minute got the better of Alex Bass in goal from around 30 yards out, who just about managed to get a hand on it, but couldn’t prevent his rocket reaching the top left corner, and he became the provider forty-five later, after his cross couldn’t quite find James Collins in the box, but Darikwa was there to pick up the cross, and double the advantage.
CF – Charles Vernam – Grimsby Town
Vernam had an absolute field day in front of goal against Cheltenham and is Grimsby’s second feature in this week’s Lower Tiers team of the week. He created six chances during his 61-minute cameo, as well as hitting the woodwork with one of his shots, but most importantly scored the fifth goal for the Mariners and setting up the second goal for Jamie Walker. Overall, this gave Vernam a 9.1 Fotmob match rating, the highest in League Two this weekend.
The assist wasn’t too much of a contribution, it was mostly thanks to Jamie Walker’s thunderbolt into the top right corner of the goal, Vernam simply providing the pass for this touch of magic from the winger. Vernam’s strike was a thing of beauty, taking it on the half-volley, completely beyond Joe Day in goal.
ST – Lorent Tolaj – Plymouth Argyle
Rounding off this week’s team of the week is Plymouth’s new star striker Lorent Tolaj, bagging his third and fourth goal for Argyle after his big money move from Port Vale against Burton Albion, in what turned out to be a great day for the Plymouth faithful. Overall, these goals gave Tolaj a 9.0 Fotmob match rating, almost being the highest rated in League One, missing out by 0.1!
Goal one of the game for Tolaj was a classic poacher’s goal, tapping in Malachai Boateng’s pass into the box from a couple of yards out, and twenty-five minutes later, he doubled his tally, picking up Bradley Ibrahim’s through ball, before battling with Burton defender Udoka Godwin-Malife to slot home whilst off-balance.
