Cardiff City have had more of the ball than any club in the Championship over the first three rounds, and are 19th with three points from four
Live boardCardiff City hubForm, the table slice, goals against expected goals and the squad minutes panelCardiff City's possession and shots, match by match
- R1, 17 Aug: Cardiff City 1-1 Wrexham (H)
- 67%
- R2, 22 Aug: Derby County 2-2 Cardiff City (A)
- 64%
- R3, 29 Aug: Cardiff City 2-2 Sheffield United (H)
- 67%
- R4, 2 Sep: QPR 2-1 Cardiff City (A)
- no statistics
- Rounds 1 to 3, average and totals
- 66%
Where this sits
Cardiff City are 19th after four games: three points from three draws and a defeat, six goals for, seven against, form L D D D.
Cardiff City are one of three Championship clubs without a win after four games, with Burnley and Preston North End (pool of 24).
Of those three winless clubs, only Cardiff City have three draws; Burnley have two and Preston North End none.
Cardiff City's 66% average possession is the highest in the Championship across the first three rounds (pool of 24).
Cardiff City have won the most corners in the Championship after three rounds, 29, ahead of Millwall's 25 (pool of 24).
Across the first three rounds of the Championship, three matches, Cardiff City had 66 per cent of the ball, the highest average share of any of the 24 clubs in the division, with West Ham United and Middlesbrough next on 64.67 per cent. Cardiff won 29 corners, more than any club in the division and four more than Millwall's 25, and had 20 shots on target from 55 attempts, second of the 24 behind QPR's 22. All of those figures are API-Football's, and all cover rounds one to three only.
What the control has bought
Cardiff City are 19th. Three points from four matches, six goals scored and seven conceded, a run of one defeat and three draws. Cardiff are one of three clubs in the division still without a win after four rounds, alongside Burnley and Preston North End, and the only one of the three with three draws: Burnley have two, Preston none. The table line is current to all four matches.
The match that carries it
At home to Sheffield United on 29 August, Cardiff City had 28 shots to six, and drew 2-2. The chances were worth 2.24 expected goals against Sheffield United's 1.28, expected goals being API-Football's estimate of what a side's chances should have yielded. No finishing story either way: five goals from 5.12 expected across the three rounds. The counterweight is at the other end. Cardiff City faced 19 shots on target in those three rounds, 22nd of 24 in the division. Holding the ball has not kept it away from Cardiff's own goal.
The round that is not in those figures
Cardiff City lost 2-1 at QPR on 2 September, a first league defeat, Rumarn Burrell scoring twice before Perry Ng pulled one back on 74 minutes. API-Football has not published team statistics for that fixture, so it sits outside every three-round rank above. Head coach Brian Barry-Murphy's only public words since are on that defeat rather than on the chances or the draws: "I'm very disappointed, naturally. I don't think we were at our best in the first half, and we didn't have the technical level that we normally have, but I'm disappointed to concede the goal that we did." Portsmouth away at Fratton Park, 15:00 on Saturday, is next.
Three limits. Every league rank here covers the first three rounds only, three matches per club, because API-Football has not published team statistics for four round-four fixtures, one of which is QPR against Cardiff; points, goals, form and the table position are current to all four. Cardiff City's match report on the QPR game names neither an attendance nor a referee, so neither is printed. And Barry-Murphy has said nothing publicly about the chances Cardiff City are creating or about the run of draws.
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