MX23RW : Monday, December 23 15:59:55| >> :120:4816:4816:

Sports Mole's Championship Team of the Week

Sports Mole chooses its Team of the Week for gameweek four in the Championship.

No-one in the Championship has an unblemished record after four gameweeks of the new season.

Nottingham Forest sit top of the pile on their own with 10 points out of a possible 12, with Watford, Norwich City and Wolverhampton Wanderers all in close pursuit.

At the other end of the table, Blackpool and Fulham are the two sides still searching for their first point, while Bolton Wanderers are the only other team still without a win.

Here, Sports Mole chooses its Team of the Week for gameweek four, as well as highlighting the weekend's biggest numpty and best goal.

Nick Pope (Charlton Athletic)
After keeping several clean sheets on the bounce on loan at York City last season, Pope is getting his chance in the Charlton first team with Stephen Henderson out injured. Pope made a bad error against Derby in midweek, but responded with a solid display between the sticks as the Addicks grabbed a late point at Huddersfield Town.

Cyrus Christie (Derby County)
Right-back Christie has had no problem making the step up to the Championship after leaving Coventry City in League One over the summer. In Derby's rout of Fulham on Saturday, he was again strong and set up one of the Rams' five goals.
Grant Hanley (Blackburn Rovers)
The only goalscorer this weekend in our back four is Blackburn's Hanley, who scored the second of a three-goal burst in just nine minutes against Bournemouth. He was also dominant in the air throughout at Ewood Park.
Michael Turner (Norwich City)
The biggest fixture of the weekend took place at Portman Road as the East Anglian, or 'Old Farm', derby resumed after three years away. Norwich came out on top thanks to Lewis Grabban's goal, but Turner stood out by keeping Ipswich strikers David McGoldrick and Daryl Murphy quiet.
Scott Golbourne (Wolverhampton Wanderers)
Wolves have had a great start to the season and although their winning goal against Cardiff City on Saturday was a fortunate own goal, they again played well. Golbourne saw plenty of the ball down the left flank and barely put a foot wrong.

Jamie Ward (Derby County)
Ward is a key part of Derby's dangerous attack and opened the scoring against Fulham with a delightful first-time volley at the near post.
Daniel Tozser (Watford)
Watford were also handsome winners on Saturday, dispatching Leeds United 4-1 at Vicarage Road. Tozser looked dangerous throughout from midfield and scored one of the goals of the weekend with a bullet free kick that found the bottom corner.
Joao Teixeira (Brighton & Hove Albion)
The Liverpool loanee has impressed since joining the Seagulls and put in an all-action display as well as netting the winning goal against Bolton Wanderers.
Michail Antonio (Nottingham Forest)
Sheffield Wednesday might have started the season better than expected, but Owls fans will still be jealous that Forest took Antonio off their hands this summer. The winger now has three goals in four games after two goals and an assist in the table-toppers' 4-0 demolition of Reading.

Atdhe Nuhiu (Sheffield Wednesday)
One reason that Wednesday are doing well are the performances of big striker Nuhiu. The Austrian scored two and crucially flicked on for the other goal as the Owls impressively won at Middlesbrough.
Fernando Forestieri (Watford)
Last, but certainly not least, is Watford's diminutive forward Forestieri. The Italian was probably the star performer this weekend with two goals and a dazzling individual display against Leeds.

Numpty of the Week

Cole Skuse: One thing you don't need in a big game is mistakes, and Skuse's error gifted Norwich the winning goal in Saturday lunchtime's derby at Portman Road. Grabban was offside and Christophe Berra was probably fouled in the build-up, but you have to play to the whistle. Skuse let a looping header sail over him and Grabban was there to punish him.

Goal of the Week

Craig Bryson (Derby County) vs. Fulham: Plenty of top strikes this weekend, but our favourite was the team goal by Derby that Bryson converted on the volley from close range. A long ball was pinged over to Johhny Russell, who volleyed back across goal for Bryson to tuck home for the Rams' second.

ID:173106: cacheID:173106:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:7022:
Written by
Pascal Lemesre
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Chris Burke celebrates scoring Nottingham Forest's second against Blackpool on August 9, 2014
Read Next:
Championship Team of the Week
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool16123137162139
2Chelsea17105237191835
3Arsenal1796234161833
4Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest179442319431
5Bournemouth178452721628
6Aston Villa178452626028
7Manchester CityMan City178362925427
8Newcastle UnitedNewcastle177552721626
9Fulham176742422225
10Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton176742726125
11Tottenham HotspurSpurs1772839251423
12Brentford177283232023
13Manchester UnitedMan Utd176472122-122
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham175572230-820
15Everton163761421-716
16Crystal Palace173771826-816
17Leicester CityLeicester173592137-1614
18Wolverhampton WanderersWolves1733112740-1312
19Ipswich TownIpswich172691632-1612
20Southampton1713131136-256


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!