The 2020-21 Championship season is well into the heart of the campaign, and it’s beginning to become clear which sides are going to be gunning for promotion, which sides will be settling for mid-table mediocrity, and which sides will be battling the dreaded drop into League One. The Championship’s top scorers so far this season.
Within all these permutations, there are several players who have proved extremely valuable to their teams through their goalscoring exploits. At Championship level, having a striker who can be relied upon to put the ball in the net on a regular basis is hugely important, and can make all the difference between relegation and avoiding the drop, or between mid-table obscurity or a bid for the play-offs. Here, we look at the Championship’s top scorers of the season so far.
Ivan Toney (Brentford) – 15 goals
When Brentford lost both Ollie Watkins and Saïd Benrahma during the summer transfer window, there were fears that the team would struggle to score goals. But Ivan Toney, who joined from Peterborough effectively as Watkins’ replacement, has taken to life in west London like a duck to water, notching 15 goals and helping Brentford stay within touching distance of the play-off positions.
Adam Armstrong (Blackburn Rovers) – 14 goals
Leading the way in the Championship scoring charts is Blackburn’s Adam Armstrong, who has proved his enduring quality with 14 goals so far for the Lancashire side. Armstrong scored 19 goals for the club last season, and has continued that form in the current campaign, and looks set to better last season’s total.
Armstrong was a player who promised much in his youth at Newcastle United, but he failed to make a serious impact at St James Park and a series of loans led to his move to Blackburn. Now, he is beginning to prove what all the fuss was about.
Lucas João (Reading) – 11 goals
Reading were the early pace-setters in the Championship’s top scorers this season, and are still very much in contention at the top end of the table. They owe a lot of this form to the goals of Lucas João, who has made himself at home at the Madejski Stadium having signed from Sheffield Wednesday in 2019. The Portuguese forward spent four seasons at Hillsborough, but this already looks set to be his best goalscoring season in the Championship, which could help spur Reading to a promotion challenge.
Teemu Pukki (Norwich City) – 9 goals
Finland striker Teemu Pukki was the driving force behind Norwich’s title-winning campaign in the 2018-19 season, and he’ll be hoping to spur the Canaries on to similar success this season, after being relegated from the Premier League in their first campaign back in the top flight. Pukki is one of the finest finishers in the division, and it’s no surprise that Norwich are among the favourites for promotion in the best Championship odds.
Kieffer Moore (Cardiff City) – 8 goals
Cardiff City have been a team in form lately, and Kieffer Moore has been banging in the goals for the Bluebirds after joining from relegated Wigan Athletic in the summer transfer window. Manager Neil Harris will be hoping that Moore can continue to find the net if his side are to seriously contend for promotion this season. Eight goals is a good return for Moore so far, but there is still a sense that he has plenty more to give in a blue shirt.
