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Sports Mole's Championship Team of the Week

Sports Mole chooses its best XI for gameweek nine in the Championship, with the biggest numpty and best goal also highlighted.

We have a new leader at the top of the Championship after the ninth round of fixtures over the weekend.

Norwich City have gone one point clear at the summit by coming from behind to defeat now-bottom Blackpool, with previous leaders Nottingham Forest held to their second straight goalless draw at home to Brighton & Hove Albion.

Winless Blackpool are now bottom as Fulham finally registered their first maximum of the campaign by overcoming fellow strugglers Birmingham City at St Andrew's.

Here, Sports Mole chooses its best XI for gameweek nine, as well as highlighting the biggest numpty and best goal from the second tier.

Marcus Bettinelli (Fulham)
At last a win for Fulham and they had Bettinelli to thank for a superb save that denied Birmingham's Brek Shea a goal that would have put the Blues two up.

Simon Francis (Bournemouth)
Often a threat going forward, Francis scored just his third goal in three years with a tidy finish that sealed the Cherries' 2-0 win over Wigan Athletic.
Gordon Greer (Brighton & Hove Albion)
An impressive clean sheet for the Seagulls on the road at the then-league leaders. Greer made several key contributions at the back.
Christophe Berra (Ipswich Town)
It's now four wins on the spin for in-form Ipswich and Berra put in a mighty display to keep Rotherham United out after two early goals at the other end.
Craig Forsyth (Derby County)
The Rams are back in the top six and although Forsyth didn't do as much as he often does going forward against Bolton Wanderers, he was rock-solid at the back in the 2-0 triumph.

Anthony Pilkington (Cardiff City)
A first goal for his new club for Pilkington, who scored the winner against Sheffield Wednesday with an accurate volleyed finish after some head-tennis in the Owls' box.
Jonathan Douglas (Brentford)
Douglas set up both of the Bees' goals as they ensured that Darko Milanic had an unhappy first game in charge of Leeds United.
Daniel Tozser (Watford)
Although Watford threw away a two-goal lead at Blackburn, Toszer's free kick that put them 2-0 up was a peach that went in off the post.
Bakary Sako (Wolverhampton Wanderers)
The game of the weekend came at the Madejski Stadium on Sunday as Reading and Wolves played out a 3-3 draw. Sako was a constant threat down the left for the visitors.

Chris Martin (Derby County)
Martin had his early penalty saved against Wanderers but made up for the miss with two excellent finishes that earned Derby all three points at the Macron Stadium.
Nahki Wells (Huddersfield Town)
Another striker to find the net twice was Wells, who delightfully swept the Terriers ahead against Millwall before earning Chris Powell his first win as manager with a precise penalty.

Numpty of the Week

Jonathan Spector: Birmingham will be gutted to be the club that gave Fulham their first win of the season and the winning goal was a real gift. Spector should have easily dealt with a ball his way but, for some reason, played it into the path of Hugo Rodallega, who eventually slammed home after his initial effort was saved.

Goal of the Week

Jota (Brentford) vs. Watford: There were plenty of belters this weekend, but our favourite Championship goal was a team effort from Brentford that was expertly finished off by summer signing Jota for his first Bees goal (skip to 2:35 in the video below).

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Britt Assombalonga of Nottingham Forest celebrates after scoring the first goal during the Sky Bet Championship match between Nottingham Forest and Fulham at the City Ground on September 17, 2014
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Championship Team of the Week
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Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Manchester CityMan City37277393336088
2Arsenal37275589286186
3Liverpool372310484414379
4Aston Villa37208976562068
5Tottenham HotspurSpurs371961271611063
6Chelsea371791175621360
7Newcastle UnitedNewcastle371761481602157
8Manchester UnitedMan Utd37176145558-357
9West Ham UnitedWest Ham371410135971-1252
10Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton371212135560-548
11Bournemouth37139155365-1248
12Crystal Palace371210155258-646
13Wolverhampton WanderersWolves37137175063-1346
14Fulham37128175159-844
15Everton37139153949-1040
16Brentford37109185461-739
17Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest3789204766-1929
18Luton TownLuton3768235081-3126
RBurnley3759234076-3624
RSheffield UnitedSheff Utd37372735101-6616


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