Leeds United, West Bromwich Albion, and Derby County all made the championship playoffs last season but fell by the roadside to eventual winner Aston Villa. All 3 aiming to put the heartbreak aside began the new season on a high, with Leeds and West Brom recording away wins. Some might say it's too early to read too much meaning into the wins, as the league is some long way from concluding, there is no better way to show their intent than a good win on the road.
Nottingham Forest 1-3 West Brom:
Having gone so close to gaining immediate promotion back into the EPL last season(missed out by a semi-final playoff loss to Aston Villa), The Baggies as West Brom are popularly called are aiming to go one better this term, and they started with some statement. They set the ball rolling at The City Ground, home of Nottingham Forest with a win. The home team isn't a pushover though, they also narrowly missed out on a playoff spot, having finished last season, just 3 places out of the playoff spots(9th).
Nottingham Forest didn't take too long before they made home support count, Right back Matty Cash finished off his marauding run into the opposition box with a right-footed shot after a fine team play and delightful flick from Albert Adomah. However, as they did in more than half of their matches(27 matches) last season, West Brom came back from a losing position to win. West Brom got their equalizer in the 15th minute when Forest's goalkeeper Arijanet Muric couldn't keep out Kyle Edwards left-footed shot, The Baggies completed the comeback just 6 minutes later, again Muric failed to deal with Matthew Phillips cross-like shot and the ball dropped into the net(an afternoon to forget for the Manchester City loanee). 2-1 it finished in favor of the visitors.
A good start for West Brom new manager Slaven Bilic who gave a debut to 5 players( 4 newly acquired players; Semi Ajayi, Romaine Sawyer, Flip Krovinovic, Kenneth Zohore, and 18-year-old Nathan Ferguson), and they all gave remarkable displays.
Bristol City 1-3 Leeds United:
Leeds United was coasting under new Boss Marcelo Bielsa towards winning the EFL Championship last season but then got caught up in a certain 'Spygate' controversy, and then everything went south as results were hard to come by. Leeds slipped out of the automatic promotion spot into the playoffs which they also lost to Derby County in the semifinals.
They put all behind them now as they began the new season with a swift 3-1 win at Ashton Road, home of Bristol City. The head-to-head stats didn't favor City, as they have only won 1 out of 14 meetings, drawn just 2, and certainly, they weren't ready to change the poor results against their visitor on Sunday afternoon.
Leeds got off with a 26th-minute opener, their Spanish import Pablo Hernandez found space at the edge of the opposition box and fired a left-footed curler into the upper right corner. The Spaniard then turned provider in the 57th minute, as Patrick Bamford nodded home at the near post for Leeds 2nd goal. It was game over in the 72nd minute when Jack Harrison made it 3 nil for Leeds, Andreas Weimann's goal in the 79th minute was a mere consultation for the host, as Leeds ran out with a 3-1 win.
Good start for Bielsa and his lads as they aim to live up to the preseason favorite tag given them by pundits.
Huddersfield - Derby County(Monday Night):
Derby County will begin her life without former handler Frank Lampard(whose managerial feat last season at Derby had earned him a call-up with his former club Chelsea FC) with a trip to newly relegated side Huddersfield in a Monday night football.
The last 5 league meetings between these 2 dated back to 2015 saw Derby won 2 in contrast to Huddersfield's 1, with 2 draws including 2017 1 all draw at Derby before Huddersfield gained promotion into the EPL.
If new manager Phillip Cocu can match/replicate Lampard's feat at Derby last season, then a good start and another wonderful season await Derby County.
Thank you all for your time and support.
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