William Lankshear leads Championship scoring by 3

William Lankshear sits top of the Championship scoring chart with 11 goals, and the gap behind him is not small. Andri Guðjohnsen of Blackburn has 8, which leaves 3 goals between first and second.

The leader plays for the team leading the table as well. Middlesbrough have 25 points from their games, first in the division, with a goal difference of +10. Two races, one club, and the same man at the front of one of them.

Below the top two the picture tightens. Cyle Larin has 7 for Southampton, and then comes a pair level on 6: Jack Moylan of Cardiff and Jarrod Bowen of West Ham. From second place down, the margins are a single goal here and there.

Look at the table and the chasing pack is just as crowded. Swansea are second on 23 points, West Ham third on 22, Wolverhampton fourth on 21 and West Brom fifth on 21. West Ham own the best goal difference in the top six at +17, which makes their position look stranger than the points suggest. Southampton are sixth on 20.

So what does the scoring race tell us? Less than it seems. A striker on 11 can stall for a month and still lead, because nobody behind him is scoring at a rate that frightens anyone. Andri Guðjohnsen needs three goals just to draw level.

The division returns on Friday 30 October, when Sheffield Utd meet Wrexham. Whether the gap at the top of the scoring list survives that round is a fair question. History says leads like this one usually do.