Find defensive form and Burton Albion can have a strong season

They’ve scored more than any other team in the Championship so far, but also boast one of the worst defensive records in the division. So, after their first four games in the second tier of English football, we’re assessing Burton Albion’s chances for the rest of the season.

Albion were comfortably brushed aside last night by a Liverpool team who are looking to go one better than their final appearance last season, but perhaps the Brewers’ early dismissal from the domestic cup means they can focus solely on the Championship for the next few months before they enter this year’s FA Cup.

So how have Nigel Clough’s men fared so far?

On the whole, Brewers fans will be pretty satisfied with the way their side have played, having picked up four points from their opening four games.

What will please supporters more than anything is their side’s ability to consistently find the net without relying on one out-and-out goalscorer.

Their nine goals this season have been shared between five players, and five of those strikes have come from summer signings.

Albion boast the ability to break quickly down the wings through the use of Lloyd Dyer, who has already scored two goals from midfield this campaign – a tally it previously took him 35 games to reach at Watford, Birmingham City and Burnley over the last two years.

And the arrival of Jackson Irvine from Ross County means Burton also possess a real aerial threat going forward, with the Australian midfielder scoring two headers in his last two league games.

Four goals from set-pieces suggest dead-ball situations may also prove vital to Albion’s campaign too.

But where are things going wrong?

Though you don’t concede nine times in four games through bad luck alone, it’s safe to say that misfortune has played a role in at least five goals the Brewers have let in so far.

And Clough’s men could have quite easily left Ewood Park with three points last weekend but for a fantastic save from Jason Steele and a lick of paint on the Blackburn Rovers woodwork.

But if the Burton Albion back-four can rediscover their confidence which saw them concede just 37 times in League One last season (the best record in that division for two years), then this already historical campaign can be a success.

One thing’s for sure though, Burton Albion will continue to provide the Championship with some of its most exciting games, and they play host to Derby County this Friday, where they’re 5/2 to pick up three points for the second time this season at the Pirelli Stadoum.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.