Matchweek 6

Two runs, one night. Birmingham and Swansea both arrived unbeaten in five and both left beaten. Norwich took Birmingham 2–1 at Carrow Road; Southampton put three past Swansea. Neither run had looked fragile going in, which is usually how these end — not with a collapse, just with a Tuesday.

Southampton, still climbing. That 3–1 makes it five without defeat since the opening day at Watford, and eleven points earned. They are on seven. The four-point deduction will be paid off and forgotten by October, which is roughly the opposite of what a sporting sanction is for — though that is the EFL's problem to have, not Southampton's.

Back to earth. Charlton 0–0 QPR. Three weeks ago they held the division's only perfect record; since then they have been beaten 4–0 at Stoke and failed to score at home. A goalless draw is a sensible way to stop the bleeding and a poor way to stay top.

Still nothing. Burnley drew at Wrexham, Cardiff drew with Stoke, and both are six matches into the season without a win. Two results that suited nobody who took part in them.

Three that didn't happen. The Carabao Cup third round took two of them — Middlesbrough were at Crystal Palace, Millwall hosted Newcastle and Lincoln were at Bournemouth on the same evening — so Middlesbrough–Millwall and Bristol City–Lincoln simply move to 15 September, a week late and nobody much inconvenienced. Portsmouth–Wolves is the awkward one: a fixture clash has sent it to 20 October, six weeks adrift of the round it belongs to. Matchweek six will not be a finished matchweek until late autumn, and whatever the table says about those six clubs before then is a provisional reading.

Note for the model. Not one of the twelve carried a forecast, because the coupon is a Saturday product and this was a Tuesday. Midweek rounds add fixtures to the record and nothing whatever to the calibration. The gap widens every time one comes around, and it is better named than quietly tolerated.