EFL Championship: the winners and losers of match day one

Football is back and fans rejoice as they return to stands and terraces up and down the country – after a very strange 18-or-so month. The 2021-22 EFL Championship season got underway at the weekend, with plenty of highs and lows, goals and drama. So, as we take stock of the results, let’s pick out our winners and losers from the opening day.

👍 Winners

Luton Town

Some stellar summer signings, notably Henri Lansbury and Cameron Jerome, make the Hatters dark horses when it comes to the English Football League Championship odds. And Luton Town duly delivered on the opening day of the campaign, dispatching of newly-promoted Peterborough United at Kenilworth Road, 3-0.

Luton looked dead and buried before Nathan Jones took to the helm for a second time, back in June 2020. And he not only kept them up during that extended campaign but also guided them to a 12th place finish last season. There’s no doubt he’s the right man for the job, and the Bedfordshire outfit will look to build on their successes the last term.

Coventry City

It had been a long time coming for the Sky Blues – not only forced to play their matches behind closed doors amidst the pandemic but also ground sharing with Birmingham City for the past two years. There was a jubilant atmosphere inside the Coventry Building Society Arena as football returned to the city.

Opponents Nottingham Forest tried their best to spoil the party –  Lyle Taylor opening the scoring for the visitors – but a Viktor Gyokeres leveller, and a 96th minute winner from  Kyle McFadzean turned the tide of the match and also gave the Sky Blues the fairytale return they could have hoped for.

Hull City

The Tigers may have bossed League One last term, but few could forget their abysmal tenure in the Championship back in 2019-20. An embarrassing 8-0 defeat to Wigan Athletic in one of their final fixtures, as well as a run of six defeats to end the campaign. Few are expecting much from Hull City – especially when it comes to the EFL Championship relegation odds.

However, they’ve made a bright start. After going a goal down to Preston North End at Deepdale, goals from Keane Lewis-Potter, Richie Smallwood, Josh Magennis and Andy Cannon have the black-and-amber faithful believing, and the Tigers roar again – sitting pretty at the top of the table after one match played.

👎 Losers

Sheffield United

The Blades have started this campaign in much the same vein as the last – without a win, or a single point. Their torrid form last year was well-documented: 15 defeats from their first 17 matches, a real low, with 17 of their 29 defeats being by a single goal. And that was exactly the scoreline at Bramall Lane, as Birmingham City were the visitors. A 19th minute header from Blues’ defender Maxime Colin is the difference between the sides.

Slaviša Jokanović has not been able to add many new players during the summer, and while the majority of the squad is much the same as the one that got a promotion to the top-flight three years ago, you can clearly see they’re bereft of confidence, even with a manager recruited for his promotional expertise. All clubs were hit by the lack of fans in stadiums, and you have to hope that the Blades will turn it around before it’s too late.

Bristol City

They may have avoided relegation by eight points last campaign, but Bristol City averaged a goal a game in that time – that’s right, they scored just 46 goals. Worse still, they notched seven in their final 10 matches of the season, as they slid rapidly down the table, from a respectable 12th position, to 19th.

And with the old adage that goals win games, the Robins have failed to bring in any goalscoring quality over the summer – and were consequently punished in their opening match at home to Blackpool. They may have gone ahead before the Tangerines equalized in the third minute of stoppage time, but they will need to take their chances in the final third if they stand any chance of survival this campaign.

Preston North End

We mentioned that Preston was on the end of a 4-1 drubbing despite going ahead against Hull. However, in manager Frankie McAvoy, they have one of the least experienced managers in the Championship, and it could prove to be a long and arduous season for all those associated with the Deepdale outfit. The 54-year-old was put in interim charge last campaign, after the sacking of Alex Neil, and after winning five of his eight matches – when seemingly, the pressure was off – the Scot was handed the reins full-time. Whether that was the best decision from the PNE board is yet to be seen, but it certainly hasn’t been the best of starts to this campaign.

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