Championship Team of the Season so far: The Squawka Score XI for 2024/25 | OneFootball

We’re over halfway through the 2024/25 Championship season and we’ve compiled our team of the season so far for the English second tier using the Squawka Score.

The Championship is providing it’s useless high octane excitement this season, with only three points separating the top four teams with 26 games on the board.

As the league campaign takes a break for the FA Cup Third Round, we’ve decided to delve into the stats and find our team of the season so far.

We’ve used our Squawka Score to determine the 11 picks, based on the statistical leaders for metrics relevant to their positions across the season so far as a whole. To make sure we’ve got the best of the best, we’ve limited our player search to those with at least 1400 minutes played, 55% of the total available gametime in the season so far.

GK: Viktor Johansson (Stoke City)

Perhaps a surprise inclusion between the sticks for many, Viktor Johansson has been kept very busy so far this season as Stoke City struggle towards the bottom of the table. But without the Sweden international, perhaps the Potters would be in even more trouble. His goals prevented (post-shot xG against minus goals conceded) of 0.54 is by far and away the best of any goalkeeper in the division and he ranks in the top 20% for saves, saves made inside the box and save percentage. A shot-stopping supremo, new Stoke boss Mark Robins knows he has a very reliable keeper to depend on as he tries to put some distance between his club and the relegation zone.

RB: Trai Hume (Sunderland)

With the joint-best score of any player in any position so far this season, Trai Hume has continued his development at right-back for Sunderland in an impressive manner this season. The 22 year old ranks highly for full-backs for passes into the final third with an average of 4.37 per 90 minutes, but it’s the defensive side of his game where he truly excels, sitting in the top 20% of full-backs in the league for blocks, interceptions and clearances completed. It doesn’t hurt that Sunderland have been strong in general defensively, with the fifth lowest xG against in the division.

CB: CJ Egan-Riley (Burnley)

Despite them sitting second in the table at the moment, the only Burnley player to make the Squawka Score XI is centre-back CJ Egan-Riley. The Manchester City youth graduate joined the Clarets in 2022, but has spent the majority of the last two seasons out on loan at Hibernian and Jong PSV, only establishing himself as a first-team player at Turf Moor this season. Very rarely beaten by a dribble with a ground duel success rate of 75% (the second best of any centre-back in the league after Plymouth’s Lewis Gibson), Egan-Riley also does well progressing the ball into midfield, completing 8.82 passes into the opposition half per match. Burnley’s defensive stats in general are excellent with the most clean sheets in the league, which also helps his cause.

CB: Kyle Bartley (West Bromwich Albion)

The most experienced player in this XI is West Bromwich Albion’s Kyle Bartley, who continues to be a monster in his individual duels at the age of 33. The long-serving Baggies defender is now in his sixth season with the club and so far in 2024/25 and sits in the top 5% of centre backs in the division for both aerial duel success percentage and ground duel success % with 76.92% and 71.88% respectively. Only three teams have conceded fewer than West Brom at this stage of the season and although Bartley isn’t quite as strong with the ball as Egan-Riley, he does the defensive basics as well as anyone in the league with 1.15 blocked shots and 5.33 clearances completed per 90 minutes.

LB: Dennis Cirkin (Sunderland)

Another Sunderland full-back finds their way into the team in the left-back berth in the shape of Dennis Cirkin. A former Tottenham Hotspur youth player, the 22 year old has won 1.75 tackles per game and 1.6 interceptions and completed an average of 2.99 clearances, but he offers more of an attacking outlet than his right-sided team-mate, clocking up two assists and two goals and taking an average of 2.73 touches in the opposition box per game compared to just 1.65 for Trai Hume. The Black Cats will do well to keep hold of their high-performing full-backs during this January transfer window with rumours circulating that Spurs are interested in bringing Cirkin back to North London.

CM: Alex Mowatt (West Bromwich Albion)

Another beneficiary of West Brom’s solid defence is Alex Mowatt, who produces strong numbers in several areas and is boosted by his team’s overall defensive efficiency. On the ball, he ranks in the top 20% for retention rate and passing accuracy, but he also completed 7.46 passes into the final third per game and 14.82 accurate forward passes per game. Only Joe Rothwell and Ben Whiteman have been dispossessed fewer times per 90 minutes as central midfielders in the Championship this season. The former Leeds and Barnsley man is the heartbeat of the West Brom midfield and does much of the unsung work in the centre of the park for his team.

CM: Jason Knight (Bristol City)

Bristol City are lingering on the edge of the Championship playoffs at the moment and as a result a handful of Liam Manning’s players score well on the Squawka Score, but only captain Jason Knight manages to make the XI. The 23 year old is particularly strong in winning the ball back for his side, losing just 0.46 challenges per game and winning 4.37 possessions in the middle third per 90 minutes – the highest of any player in the Championship. He’s progressive on the ball too, with 9.62 final third entries per game. He just about beats Leeds’ Ao Tanaka to a berth in the midfield.

AM: Finn Azaz (Middlesbrough)

One of only two players to hit the 80% mark on the Squawka Score is Middlesbrough’s Finn Azaz, who won the Championship Player of the Month award in November and has won the hearts of the Riverside Stadium faithful with his displays so far this term. Since joining from Aston Villa in summer, Azaz has scored eight goals and assisted a further nine. He also averaged over 1 shot on target per match, completed 1.62 crosses per match and averages 7.59 penalty area entries per game thus far. Whether with Middlesbrough or another club, it seems a matter of time before Azaz takes the Premier League by storm judging by his performances so far this season for Boro.

RW: Dan James (Leeds United)

Dan James is a player that’s often split opinion in his career, but the Welsh international is enjoying perhaps the most consistent season of his career on the right wing for Leeds United so far this term whether starting or coming off the bench. With six goals and three assists to his name, James has created an impressive 0.6 big chances, taken 1.34 shots on target and 1.08 completed open play crosses per 90 minutes. While he could complete more take-ons, on the whole his output this season has been excellent for the Whites this season as the graphic below shows.

LW: Gustavo Hamer (Sheffield United)

Gustavo Hamer was one of few shining lights for Sheffield United in their disastrous 2023/24 Premier League campaign and the Dutchman has stepped up another level in the Premier League as he looks to help the Blades return to the top tier at the first time of asking. The ex-Coventry man ranks in the top 20% of wingers for penalty area entries, possessions won in the attacking third, shots, through balls completed and open play crosses completed. The 27 year old has backed that up with an end product too, registering six goals and five assists. The league’s top scorer Borja Sainz has failed to offer enough in the way of creativity to increase his winger-based Squawka Score.  The Norwich marksman has managed to clock up just 0.12 expected assists and only 0.23 big chances created per 90 despite his excellent goalscoring record. He scores 69% as things stand.

ST: Joel Piroe (Leeds United)

Leading the line in the Squawka Score Team of the Season so far is another Dutchman in Leeds United’s Joel Piroe. Despite occasionally dropping out of the starting eleven to make way for Spanish youngster Mateo Joseph, Piroe has racked up 10 goals and five assists as the fulcrum of the Whites’ attack. Averaging 2.16 lay-offs per game and being dispossed just 1.14 times per match shows that it’s not just Piroe’s goalscoring that sees him stand out in the stats above the likes of Middlesbrough’s Emmanuel Latte Lath and West Brom’s Josh Maja. The 25 year old has also averaged 0.25 big chances created per match and has proven to be one of the most lethal finishers in the division so far this term.