This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…
Sheffield Wednesday will be looking to put the ongoing uncertainty off the pitch behind them this weekend as they still are just three points from playoff contention.
The Owls have been charged with financial misconduct by the EFL over their £60m sale of their Hillsborough stadium to owner Dejphon Chansiri.
A points deduction seems most likely, but no penalty has yet been confirmed, so it is business as usual this weekend.
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On the Chalkboard
Goalscoring has been a major weak point under the stewardship of Garry Monk since he took charge at the start of September.
Wednesday have netted just 14 goals in ten matches with four of those alone coming in a quickfire first-half against Middlesbrough.
Steven Fletcher has scored more than any other Owls player this campaign but he currently faces a barren run of six games without a goal.
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However, according to data from Infogol per Peter A. Lohmann, the striking department has actually been overachieving as they are being ruthless with the limited amount of chances handed to them.
It is actually the midfield that needs to be pulling their weight more – via the same source, they should have scored 1.6 more goals between them and they have also missed four of seven big chances.
This would suggest that their lack of scoring goals comes down to the creation of opportunities, which the midfield are just not doing.
Barry Bannan is by far the most creative outlet that the Owls possess as he ranks joint-top for assists and top for key passes with 2.2 per game.
The next best is Kadeem Harris with 1.3 key passes per match, which is quite the difference and would further prove that the majority of the midfield is some way behind the standard they should be at.
Maybe this is where Monk should apply his focus over the next couple of weeks so that he can ensure they can be fully competitive in the quest to achieve promotion.