This is the week we've been waiting for.
When we watched the new Champions League format play out during the League Stage draw, much of the attention was drawn to Matchday 8.
All 36 teams involved in the competition playing on the same day and at the same time - the £2 on a 30,000/1 results based acca undoubtedly going to be a popular betting format on Wednesday.
Unfortunately, there aren't many, if any, points in this edition in the Notebook which may help you with that.
Not yet anyway. It's an edition which discusses a couple of interesting points ahead of the weekend fixtures, but we could see some extras added depending on the outcome of the European and other midweek football.
A change in approach?
Fulham were narrowly beaten by Manchester United in Sunday's late, late (7pm on a Sunday is NOT football time) kick-off, in a game that can be best broken down by describing it as 'having happened'.
Toooooo boring, although that's not necessarily the worst thing considering nobody can truly be bothered to pay attention by that point in the weekend.
The game finished with three corners, all of which went to the hosts. The first didn't arrive until the 71st minute though and it continues an interesting trend for Marco Silva's side.
Across their first 13 games of the season, they were averaging 6.38 corners taken per outing. Over the last ten, it's dropped to 3.40.
That's an average affected by the nine they took in the recent draw with Ipswich too and their attacking approach may be a reason behind this.
Fulham were averaging 23.92 crosses per game over that 13-game period mentioned above but over the past ten it's down to 20.8.
There's also an imbalance in the sides they are creating their attacks down. The first part of their season so far had near equal amounts of efforts down their left and their right.
And while they've not used the middle much over the last ten, they've looked heavily to their left. Nearly half of their attacks are now coming from that side.
So they are crossing less and utilising one flank far more than the other. The likelihood is that Newcastle will be a shorter price to take the most corners when they meet in Fulham's next game but it's something to consider in future outings depending on the odds.
Elanga's creativity
The result of the weekend was undoubtedly Bournemouth's 5-0 thrashing of Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
The meeting of the Premier League's biggest overperformers to pre-season expectations went heavily in the favour of the Cherries who are now just one point off the top four.
While it was an afternoon which delivered plenty of negatives for Forest, the creativity of Anthony Elanga should have seen him have some form of goal involvement.
The winger created a season-high five chances for teammates, extending his run of at least one chance to five games.
The volume over those five games have been significant too. A total of 15 has given him three assists, although none have appeared across his last two outings.
What's particularly impressive about showings in recent games is that he returned 14 chances created across his 12 league starts previous to this run of form.
With tricky contests coming up against both Brighton and Fulham, there may be some value available in taking Elanga in the assists markets.
Marathon not a sprint
It was yet another defeat for Southampton on Saturday - Newcastle the latest to secure maximum points against this pitiful Saints side - meaning they go into February with six points on their tally.
Their presence in this division has been a complete waste of everyone's time - most notably their own.
One interesting point though is that they have, somehow, been taking the lead in games recently. Three of their six league contests under Ivan Juric have seen them score first.
That was only the case in five of the 17 under previous management. They managed just one win in those games as well.
They travel to fellow strugglers Ipswich in a massive game for both sides, with Bournemouth the next league visitors. Given their big odds in both, there should be some good value on taking their opponents to win from behind.
Derby in deep trouble
It appeared as if Derby may well hold their own in the Sky Bet Championship. They sat 11th in the table following a 1-1 draw away at Preston back in November.
Fast forward 13 games and they've dropped into the relegation zone, two points adrift of Portsmouth in the spot above.
Paul Warne's side have lost each of their last six games and among the many problems they have, one of those is conceding first. When that happens, it's basically game over.
In fact, that game against Preston was just one of three occasions where they've picked up points after conceding first this season.
None of those have ended in victory. Only Luton and Plymouth have found themselves behind in more games but they've still managed to secure victory at least once.
For the Rams, it's 19 games where they've fallen behind, three draws and 16 defeats.
A visit from Sheffield United next up is hardly ideal anyway, but the Blades have take the lead on 22 occasions and held on to win 18 times - four ended in draws.
I'm really surprised at the odds-against early prices available on an away win on Saturday. If the first goal goes the way of the visitors, recent history has shown us that not a great deal should change.
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