5 insane stats behind Mitrovic's record-breaking Championship season
Fulham continued their promotion push back to the Premier League with a 2-1 win at home to Peterborough on Wednesday night but there was further reason to celebrate for the Cottagers. Aleksandar Mitrovic netted both goals to take his tally for the season to 33, shattering the record for most goals in a Championship campaign.
Only Glenn Murray in 2012/13 (30 goals) and Ivan Toney last term (31 goals) had ever reached the 30-goal mark in a Championship season prior to this season, so for Mitrovic to do so with 14 games left for Fulham to play is nothing short of remarkable. Including assists, Mitrovic has actually played a direct hand in 40 goals in 30 league appearances for the west London outfit. In this piece we breakdown Mitrovic's record-breaking season and reveal five crazy stats behind it all.
1) Lightning starts. Mitrovic loves first half goals
While most teams come on stronger in the second half of matches, Aleksandar Mitrovic has actually started games in devastating fashion more often than not this season. Incredibly, Mitrovic would still be the joint-top scorer in the Championship this season even if he was subbed off at half-time every game. Mitrovic has scored 20 of his 33 league goals in the first half of matches in 2021/22, with only Blackburn's Ben Brereton Diaz netting as many in total.
2) Open play goal machine
You'd be forgiven for thinking Aleksandar Mitrovic would be at his most dangerous from set-pieces given his physical attributes, but the Serbia international has actually been ruthless from open play for Fulham this season. In fact, 24 of his 33 goals have come from open play situations, which is more goals than Barnsley (21) have netted as a team all campaign. Mitrovic's goals have helped Fulham scored 81 as a team this season, which is already more than any team managed in the Championship last term.
3) Air Mitro
The fact Mitrovic has scored an incredible number of goals from open play isn't to suggest the 27-year-old hasn't thrown himself about this season. The Fulham No.9 has incredibly scored nine headed goals already this season, which is more than 69 of the other 91 sides in England's top-four tiers have managed. In fact, his tally of headed goals alone would be enough to be the outright scorer for nine other teams in the Championship this season, including third-place Queens Park Rangers.
4) Mitrovic in a league of his own
Having shattered the record so early, it comes as no surprise Mitrovic stakes up favourably compared to some other recent high scoring individual Championship campaigns. A return of 33 goals in 30 appearances means Mitrovic is averaging more than a goal per game (1.1), which is by far and away better than anyone else in recent history. Even Ivan Toney, who only broke the Championship goalscoring record last season, had a goal-per-game average of 0.69. Not since the 2016/17 campaign with Newcastle's Dwight Gayle (0.72) has a top scorer come close to Mitrovic's current pace.
5) How many goals Mitrovic will score
Now Mitrovic has broken the record, the question is how many he will finish on. With 14 matches to go, the Serbian will likely finish with a tally that will never be broken again. At his current pace, Mitrovic is on course to score another 15 goals that would take his tally to 48 for the campaign. 48 goals would be more than nine teams scored collectively in the Championship last season.
