Norwich sack Manning, Saddlers get back on the horse, and Armando Cozier-Double-Double-Duberry lights up the Toughsheet
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To kick us off: three pieces of evidence from each league, presented without comment.
In the Championship, just six points separate 4th and 15th. In League One, three points separate top and 7th — then another five from 8th down to 20th. And in League Two, only four points separate 3rd and 13th. That. Is. Tight.
OK, let’s go!
Championship
Huw Davies
In a weekend where managers took centre stage, Liam Manning felt the glare of the spotlight as Norwich succumbed to their seventh consecutive home league defeat, against an apathetic Leicester team. Straws-and-camel’s-back-stuff: Manning was sacked as result.
The manner of that loss? Well, Norwich led through an excellent Mathias Kvistgaarden strike and forced Asmir Begovic into his second smart save of the match, but it was just a prelude to the inevitable. Bobby DeCordova-Reid exploited defensive hesitancy to score, Abdul Fatawu evaded emergency left-back Kenny McLean but ballooned his shot, then Jordan James showed why he shouldn’t be left unmarked on the penalty spot. Leicester’s 2-1 win wasn’t convincing, again, but for Martí Cifuentes it keeps the the wolves at bay for a little longer.
Middlesbrough have not kept Wolves at bay, but the feeling on Saturday was ‘who needs Rob Edwards anyway?’ This 2-1 victory over Birmingham was exactly what Boro needed after a tumultuous, tempestuous few days: three points against a top-six rival with Adi Viveash taking charge and the goals scored by Dael Fry and Hayden Hackney, two local academy lads, before another – defender George McCormick – came on for his second league appearance. Hackney’s neatly-taken goal takes Boro neatly up to 2nd. Meanwhile, Wolves have made the joint-second-worst start to a Premier League season, with two points from 11 games. Good luck, Rob.
Boro are 2nd because Coventry beat Stoke 1-0 in the Potteries, extending their lead at the top. This was 1st v 2nd, Mark Robins Past v Mark Robins Present, and it was a tight game seemingly destined for a draw. But, with five minutes remaining, Ephron Mason-Clark struck his improvised finish too well for Ben Pearson or Viktor Johansson to react in time – just another sign of the quality throughout Frank Lampard’s squad. It’ll be interesting to see if he sticks with this very attacking 4-4-2.
South Wales saw a revival of the spy thriller, Tinker Tailor Soldier Swan. Agent Cameron Burgess joined Swansea from Ipswich in June, endeared himself with solid performances and a couple of goals, then tore them down from the inside when his old paymasters came to town. Jack Clarke and Gonçalo Franco had exchanged goals when Operation Tractor got underway. First, Burgess diverted Leif Davis’ wayward shot into Swansea’s net; then, after Christian Walton had saved brilliantly from Ben Cabango and Ivan Azon had made it 3-1 to Ipswich, Burgess overplayed his hand with a second own goal. 4-1, roll credits. Just bad luck, of course, but it doesn’t help Alan Sheehan any, going into the international break.
Finally (well, at lunchtime), there was the fun story you get at the end of a high-stakes news bulletin. Hull went behind to visiting Portsmouth, equalised, took the lead and were pegged back, all before half-time. Lewie Coyle was a thorn in Pompey’s left side. In the second half, Hull deservedly won it through the irrepressible Joe Gelhardt, who has scored in five of their last six matches. Portsmouth look all at sea: Gelhardt’s goal was far from the first time they were opened up by a straight long pass from defence, and Terry Devlin’s two goals – one, heavily deflected – matched their tally across the previous five fixtures. Hull are up to 5th; only Coventry (40) have scored more goals than their 26, and only the two Sheffield clubs have conceded more than their 24. Fun!
League One
Matt Watts
It was a weekend of missed opportunities at the top of League One, as seven of the top eight heading into the gameweek fell to defeat.
Leaders Stockport lost 3-0 at home to Luton in the Hatter derby. Goals from Jake Richards, Cohen Bramall and Isaiah Jones made it four wins in a row in all competitions for the southern Hatters. As for the northern Hatters, a freak injury suffered by Ollie Norwood in the build up to the game, a missed penalty by Nathan Lowe and a red card for Owen Dodgson rounded off a difficult couple of days. Maybe everything really does happen in threes?
Bradford suffered just their second home league defeat of 2025, falling to a 2-1 reversal against Gary Bowyer’s resurgent Burton. Cardiff became Ian Evatt’s Blackpool’s latest victims in their 3-1 defeat at Bloomfield Road – or were they victim to their own ridiculously high line? A bit of both, perhaps. Stevenage lost 1-0 to Leam Richardson’s Reading, Lincoln were beaten 3-0 by an upwardly-mobile Rotherham and AFC Wimbledon lost 5-0 to Luke Williams’ Peterborough. Posh had scored only 10 goals in their first 14 league games, while Johnnie Jackson’s Dons had conceded 15. Make it make sense.
And then we come to Bolton, the big winners of the weekend. Schuey’s Trotters beat Port Vale 4-0 to climb from 7th to 3rd. There were four more goal involvements for Amario Cozier-Duberry (2G + 2A), who is proving far too good for League One defences. The Brighton loanee leads the way in the third tier for direct goal involvements. In fact, only Brandon Thomas-Asante has more goals + assists than Cozier-Duberry in the EFL this season — they really are giving it both barrels.
Elsewhere, Huddersfield put a run of three consecutive league defeats behind them with a 3-1 victory over Plymouth. A number of the players who impressed in the Terriers’ EFL Trophy triumph on Tuesday night started this one and they repaid the faith shown in them by Lee Grant. As for Argyle, it’s now five defeats on the bounce in all competitions and they’ve slipped to the foot of the table following Peterborough’s five-star display. But hey, at least they’re top of their EFL Trophy group.
League Two
Sam Parry
The early-season colour hasn’t fully returned to Crewe’s cheeks, but it’s certainly booked an appointment. The Railwaymen attempted their most shots in a home league game (21) since April 2024 and Owen Lunt starred as they beat Shrewsbury 3-1. His well-taken opener capped a lovely passage of quick, cute passes. Michael Appleton’s side equalised from range but then succumbed fairly meekly to Crewe’s advances, and the margin could easily have been greater.
In the other early kick-off, Colchester had their moments against Bromley. They should have gone ahead when Kyreece Lisbie controlled in the six-yard box and inexplicably missed with the onion bag anticipating its own rippling. The difference maker? Not for the first time, Omar Sowunmi was a huge presence in both boxes. After Bromley soaked up pressure, it was his header from a set-piece that put them in front. Minutes later, Michael Cheek doubled the lead and the game was done. Per our season-long xG tables, these two sides ranked 3rd and 4th for xG ratio. Bromley get there by squeezing the oxygen out of games and leaving just enough in the tank to find a lead. That’s what they did here with perfect execution.
Now, here’s something we don’t do very often. Let’s talk about three draws.
All of them were 2-1 at half-time…
First, Barnet v MK Dons. By the time MK pulled one back from a corner, Barnet had scored from a clever routine, converted a penalty and missed two huge opportunities. It was a curious game of few chances – but high-quality ones. Stranger still, Barnet seemed to score from an indirect free-kick smashed straight at the MK wall… which somehow didn’t touch the ball, so no goal. Indirect, remember? This is why the guy standing next to the ball usually taps it first.
MK equalised on 65 minutes with their second shot of the half and fifth overall. After that, two good defences helped the game to fizzle out – a decent point for both, but Barnet will feel they let two more slip. Paul Warne’s side are 3rd; Dean Brennan’s, 11th.
Second: Barrow v Grimsby. Not a day for the keepers. An ecstasy of fumbling from Barrow stopper Wyll Stanway gifted the opener – the kind of goal you find on a “Never change League Two” tweet. For the second, Stanway was caught in no-man’s-land and lobbed easily. At 2-0 it looked over, but a long-range strike through bodies found Christy Pym wanting. Another 2-1 at half-time, and though Andy Whing’s side were second-best, they found another long-range equaliser, another Pym howler, and it finished 2-2.
Third: Chesterfield v Accrington. Accy got their desserts, just. In a dreadful first half-hour, Chesterfield didn’t take a shot until the 30th minute, by which point they were 2–0 down to a Tyler Walton double – one, a lovely volley; the other, an easy header in the fallout from a corner that was provided by Liam Mandeville smashing the ball from this position [⤵️] towards his own goal. Bonkers!
Chesterfield pulled one back on the stroke of half-time, then came out firing. Lee Bonis equalised on 49 minutes and James Berry nodded in to make it 3-2 to the Spireites. From there, it should have been plain sailing against a side who had lost five of their previous seven away, but Accy kept going and grabbed the equaliser that their effort merited and Chesterfield’s unserious defending deserved. 3-3.
Finally, the top two both won. Swindon needed a superb late strike from Aston Villa loanee Finley Munroe to see off Tranmere. They’ll hope suitors higher up the leagues aren’t eyeing him ahead of January. And Walsall, briefly rocked when bottom-placed Newport scored a cracking goal against the run of play in the 16th minute, responded instantly from kick-off and ran away with a deserved 4–2 win to stay top of the pile.
🎦 Our Top 5 clips from the EFL weekend
Crewe’s Lunt finishes off a lovely passing move
Munroe’s late winner winner for Swindon and on his weaker foot too
Hughes breaking lines; Gelhardt breaking hearts
Alternative angle as Luton’s Cohen Bramall smashes a sweet free-kick
Tyler Walton wangs in a volley for Accrington
📊 Your Monday morning cheat sheet — L1 was madness!
🔥 L1 Losers* — The top six teams going into this weekend’s League One slate all lost by a combined score of 17–2 to teams averaging 18th place in the table. And so…
📊 L1 floor-to-ceiling* — The current 15-point gap between 1st and 24th in the third tier is the lowest since 2007/08 (also 15). The average gap at this stage since the League One rebrand? A huge 23.8 points. And so…
🔵 County your chickens* — Stockport’s 28 points is the lowest total for a League One leader at this stage since 2007/08 (Carlisle), excluding the shortened 2020-21 season.
🐂 Breaking Brad — Burton’s 2-1 win at Bradford made them just the second away team to win at Valley Parade since December 2024.
😬 Wimbledon uncommon — AFC Wimbledon’s 5-0 loss to Peterborough was only their second ever EFL defeat by a 5+ goal margin (after Oxford in 2020).
🏠 Trotters Territory — Bolton have won five straight home league games for the first time since Feb 2023; only Bradford (24) have scored more League One goals (23).
🐏 Ram Roll — Derby have won five straight Championship games for the first time since July 2020.
⚽ Double Trouble — Swansea’s Cameron Burgess became just the fourth Championship player since 2004/05 to score two own goals in one match.
🐯 Gelhardt Graft — Hull’s Joe Gelhardt has 7 goal involvements in 6 games (5G, 2A) – only Coventry’s Brandon Thomas-Asante (8) has more since October began.
🔴 Boro Back on Track — Middlesbrough’s 29 points from 15 is their best start since 2015/16, when they finished second and went up.
🟥 Medley Redly — Fleetwood’s Zech Medley was sent off after just 9 minutes and 40 seconds, for the joint-earliest second yellow on Opta records for the EFL.
*Cap doff to Tim and Matt on the NTT20 Squad for the League One stats spots
SkyBet Championship
Blackburn 1-2 Derby
Hull 3-2 Portsmouth
Middlesbrough 2-1 Birmingham
Millwall 1-1 Preston
Norwich 1-2 Leicester
Sheffield Utd 0-0 QPR
Southampton 3-1 Sheffield Wed
Stoke 0-1 Coventry
Swansea 1-4 Ipswich
Watford 1-1 Bristol City
West Brom 2-1 Oxford
Wrexham 1-0 Charlton
Sky Bet League One
Blackpool 3-1 Cardiff
Bolton 4-0 Port Vale
Bradford 1-2 Burton Albion
Doncaster 1-2 Barnsley
Exeter 1-1 Wigan
Huddersfield 3-1 Plymouth
Northampton 2-1 Mansfield
Peterborough 5-0 AFC Wimbledon
Reading 1-0 Stevenage
Rotherham 3-0 Lincoln City
Stockport 0-3 Luton
Wycombe 4-1 Leyton Orient
Sky Bet League Two
Barnet 2-2 MK Dons
Barrow 2-2 Grimsby
Bristol Rovers 0-1 Gillingham
Chesterfield 3-3 Accrington
Colchester 0-2 Bromley
Crawley 2-1 Fleetwood Town
Crewe 3-1 Shrewsbury
Harrogate 0-1 Oldham
Newport County 2-4 Walsall
Salford 0-0 Cambridge
Swindon 2-1 Tranmere
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Unmentioned on the pod and here is that to compound the terrible defensive performance from Chesterfield, they also got their first league penalty for 15 months, which was obviously missed, in injury time