Norwich City’s season began with a tricky away fixture at newly promoted Oxford United. Freshly promoted opponents are tough to play away from home early in the season because there is usually a raucous home crowd and a very motivated opposition, and unfortunately for Norwich, that very much turned out to be the case for them as they fell to a 2-0 defeat, a very fair result on the day.
Norwich then faced League One team Stevenage in the EFL Cup in midweek and played out a very entertaining encounter in a 4-3 win. To concede three goals to lower-league opponents certainly wasn't on Norwich's agenda, but goals from Abu Kamara, Onel Hernández (X2) and Borja Sainz eventually gave them the three points.
Norwich then welcomed Blackburn Rovers to Carrow Road as they looked to make up for the opening weekend defeat to Oxford, but the they were held to a frustrating draw. Norwich fell behind in the first half to a Ryan Hedges goal but were the better side for much of the game, with Josh Sargent missing a host of good chances.
Sargent did, though, eventually get on the scoresheet as he drew his side level in the 65th minute before setting up his teammate Sainz to put the team ahead just 8 minutes later. However, the lead lasted only 14 minutes, as substitute Yuki Ohashi scored a fine header to draw Blackburn level in the 87th minute.
Sheffield United’s campaign kicked off with a cruising 2-0 win over Preston North End, where goals from Ollie Arblaster and Gustavo Hamer sealed a very comfortable victory. Preston offered very little in what was a one-sided game deprived of much action.
Just a few days later, the Blades took on Wrexham in the EFL Cup and produced an impressive performance with a very young and inexperienced team, running out 4–2 winners amidst some impressive performances from a number of youngsters. Auston Trusty, Louie Marsh and Anis Ben Slimane got the goals for the Blades, with a Wrexham own goal adding to the tally.
Over the weekend, Chris Wilder’s side took on Queens Park Rangers and started the game excellently, taking a 2-0 lead through Hamer and Kieffer Moore in what was a good first half performance. The Blades’ level dropped in the second half, though, and Jimmy Dunne pulled a goal back in the 55th minute.
QPR pushed for an equalizer, but Jack Colback was sent off in the 83rd minute, an event that very much eased the nerves in Bramall Lane. However, that relief was misplaced, as Lyndon Dykes produced a shock equalizer just five minutes later to knock the wind out of Sheffield United’s sails.
Championship 
