There is one big problem that every Millwall fan wants an answer to. Why can’t we win away? It certainly is an interesting question and has had many fans wondering what the answer is to why Neil Harris’s charges have such a poor record away from their own patch. Saturday’s 2-0 defeat at Brentford was their sixth defeat in their last seven away games.
Millwall had to wait until mid January last season to win their first away game and even that wasn’t easy, a last minute 4-3 win at Elland Road against the 10 men of Leeds United. That win then led to a six game winning run away from home which saw the Lions charge into play-off contention. It appears that once again there will be a struggle away from The Den this season.
Let’s take a look at the comparison between home and away home last season.
|
Home |
Away |
|
|
12 |
Won |
7 |
|
7 |
Drawn |
8 |
|
4 |
Lost | 8 |
|
33 |
Goals Scored |
23 |
|
21 |
Goals Conceded |
24 |
|
12 |
Goal Difference |
-1 |
| 43 | Points |
29 |
Above is the final stats from home and away games last season. Once again it shows how much Millwall like their home comforts taking 43 points at The Den last season while taking 29 from fixtures on the road. The amount of goals scored is less than at home and the number conceded greater. Millwall are very much a team that like playing at home.
Below is the stats for this season so far.
|
Home |
Away |
|
|
4 |
Won |
0 |
|
4 |
Drawn |
2 |
|
2 |
Lost |
6 |
|
15 |
Goals Scored |
4 |
|
11 |
Goals Conceded |
14 |
|
4 |
Goal Difference |
-10 |
|
14 |
Points |
2 |
Those are the figures for this campaign at home and away from home. Once again you can see a clear difference between home and away and where Millwall are stronger. It could be argued that the fixtures the Lions have had away from home have been tough. Blackburn, QPR, West Brom, Nottingham Forest and Brentford are all very hard places to. Blackburn in particular have only lost once at home since last September.
Neil Harris said after the defeat at Brentford last Saturday that still not having an away win will not get his players down but it is something that they need to work on. As mentioned earlier it was a similar story last season until that crazy afternoon at Elland Road that saw the Lions 2-0 up at the break only to find themselves 3-2 down after 70 minutes against 10 men showing how fragile confidence was away from The Den. The turnaround which lead to the 4-3 victory then sent the team on a club record equalling run of six straight away wins fans will be hoping that the same can happen this season to ignite was has been a slow start to the 2018/19 season. Remarkably the state of play is almost identical to last season. Millwall had two more points at this stage twelve months ago.
At home the record is also almost identical. four wins, one draw and three defeats from their opening eight games last season compared to four wins, four draws and two defeats this term. In fact the Lions have lost just 16 of their last 79 home league games that also includes two play-off semi-finals. From all of that you can understand why fans are struggling to understand why the team can’t replicate this form and take it on the road, if they did they would be knocking on the door of the Premier League and not trying to stave off a relegation battle in the Championship. Neil Harris’s side will look once again to break their away duck this weekend when they head to Carrow Road to face in form Norwich City, a place they haven’t tased success at in 50 years. Now certainly would be a good time to end that record.
