Sheffield United have now set themselves apart from the rest of the Championship with one scoring statistic.
The Blades’ 4-0 win over Reading means no other team in the division has won as many league games by three or more goals.
That thrashing of the Royals was the fifth time in 2018/19 United have won by that margin. No other side in England’s second tier can match that.
The first time Chris Wilder’s side achieved the feat was in August with a 3-0 victory at Bolton Wanderers. The very next week they beat Aston Villa 4-1 at Bramall Lane.
There was then a significant gap with the next three goal win not coming until beating Blackburn Rovers 3-0 on December 29. Once again, in the next fixture it occurred when they beat Wigan Athletic by the same scoreline.
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Best of the rest
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It should perhaps come as little surprise that the Blades’ biggest rivals for this achievement are among their fellow promotion contenders.
Both leaders Norwich City and West Bromwich Albion in fourth have won by three or more goals on four occasions this term.
Third-placed Leeds United have done it in three games. Then there is a slight anomaly as Preston North End, who are currently 11th, are tied with Leeds with three.
There are then eight sides with two matches – Villa, Birmingham City, Brentford, Bristol City, Hull City, QPR, Swansea City and Wigan.
Finally five teams have achieved the feat just once. It is somewhat surprising that fifth-placed Middlesbrough are among them. As are Derby County in seventh. Blackburn, Millwall and Reading make up the quintet.
It also means that for six Championship outfits they have failed to win a single fixture by three goals or more this campaign. The highest placed are Nottingham Forest in eighth. The other five are Sheffield Wednesday, Stoke City and bottom three Rotherham United, Bolton and Ipswich Town.
