Newport County need fewer shots for a goal than any club in League Two: nine from 39, and 20th in the division

Newport County have taken 39 shots in five League Two matches and scored nine goals. That is a goal every 4.33 attempts, the most economical rate of the 24 clubs in the fourth tier, with Swindon Town and Cheltenham Town next on 5.00. Narrow it to the shots that actually reached the goalkeeper and the gap widens: nine of the 17 shots Newport County have put on target have gone in, 52.94 per cent, again the highest share in League Two, with Barnet a fraction behind on 52.17 per cent. The figures are API-Football's, from the 60 fixtures the provider has published team statistics for this season, rounds one to five, every club having played the same five matches.

Almost nobody shoots less

The arithmetic behind a division-leading conversion rate that has produced four points and 20th place is simple enough: there is very little of it. Newport County take 7.80 shots a game, 23rd of the 24 clubs and ahead of Rochdale alone on 7.40, and hold 36.6 per cent of the ball, the smallest share in League Two. At the other end the traffic is relentless. Newport County face 17.20 shots a game, more than any club in the division, with Walsall next on 17.00, and have conceded ten goals from the 25 shots on target that reached Jordan Wright, who has made 15 saves in five starts. Salford City had 32 shots against Newport County on 1 September, the most any club has managed against the side this season.

Gwengwe has scored with every shot on target he has had

Four of the nine goals belong to Shaquille Gwengwe, the centre forward. Gwengwe has had five league shots this season. Four were on target. All four went in: against Rochdale on the opening day, at Bristol Rovers on 22 August, and twice against Tranmere Rovers on 29 August. No other player in League Two with three goals or more has taken fewer than eight shots to get there, and the division's leading scorer, Aaron Drinan of Swindon Town, has five goals from 12 attempts. Gwengwe is one of four players nominated for the League Two Player of the Month award for August, alongside Harry Boyes of York City, Charlie Lakin of Barnet and Josh March of Crewe Alexandra, with the winner announced on Friday. The scoring is not all one man: Harrison Biggins has two, and Kyle Cameron, Yahya Bamba and Cole Jarvis one each.

Brennan is doing the work at the other end

Somebody has to meet 17.20 shots a game, and the player doing most of the meeting leads the division at it twice over. Ciaran Brennan has made 22 tackles, more than any player in League Two, and 12 interceptions, level at the top with Ryan Fallowfield of York City, in a pool of 224 players who have played 270 league minutes or more. Brennan has started all five matches, 438 minutes, and won 35 of the 47 duels he has contested. The club lists Brennan as a midfielder and he has started every match there.

Fleetwood Town at Rodney Parade

Fleetwood Town come to Rodney Parade at 15:00 on Saturday 12 September, sixth in League Two and unbeaten: five played, two won, three drawn, none lost, six scored and three conceded. Newport County have lost three of the last four. Manager Hayden Mullins after the 1-0 defeat at Northampton Town on 5 September, where the only goal came on 87 minutes in front of 5,546: "One mistake we got punished for, and it's happened to us a bit at the moment. I just said to the lads, for everything you put into the game, we didn't deserve to come away with nothing."

The limits. Every league rank here comes from the 60 League Two fixtures for which API-Football has published team statistics, rounds one to five, and every club in that pool has played the same five matches. No club source and no EFL source carries shot data, so the shot figures have one provider and only one. The League Cup tie at AFC Wimbledon on 8 August sits outside every figure above. The position and Fleetwood Town's record come from the EFL's own league table, because the club's table page returns nothing this season. The goal-by-goal account follows the club's five match reports, which differ from its own article announcing the Gwengwe nomination.