Championship round-up: Table takes shape ahead of international break
Clubs are starting to settle into their own runs of form and - with transfer business now complete until January - squads are taking shape and it's becoming clearer who the key players will be for each team for the rest of the campaign.
Here, in Flashscore's weekly Championship round-up, we'll take a look at all the key talking points from the weekend's action.
Points shared in East Lancashire derby
Burnley were promotion favourites before the season began but after a turbulent end to the transfer window have been left with some doubts over their top-two credentials, which were put to the test in the East Lancashire derby against fierce rivals Blackburn.
The Clarets won the league the last time the two sides met around 18 months ago but failed to capitalise this time around; drawing 1-1 despite taking an early lead and dominating the match, with Blackburn being reduced to 10 men after 57 minutes.
Lyle Foster opened the scoring with his first of the season - assisted brilliantly by new signing Jaidon Anthony - before Andreas Weimann equalised with an outrageous volley from outside the area (more on that later!).
Rovers then had a goal wrongly disallowed for offside despite replays suggesting otherwise, before striker Makhtar Gueye was shown a second yellow card for gesturing at the referee to book a Burnley player.
Fiery tackles were flying in throughout the game, giving it a proper 'derby feel' but Burnley ultimately couldn't find a decisive winner.
The result means Blackburn stay above their rivals in the table, although Burnley now have a two-week break to bed in their new signings and mount a proper push for promotion.
Mixed bag for newly promoted clubs
Oxford, Derby and Portsmouth have largely taken to life in the Championship quite well with all three clubs picking up some good results since the season began.
Over the weekend, both Oxford and Derby picked up two huge victories but Portsmouth's unbeaten run came undone at the hands of top-of-the-league Sunderland.
A 3-1 triumph over Preston saw Oxford climb to ninth in the table with Mark Harris particularly catching the eye after netting his fourth goal in as many games.
In the Midlands, Derby brushed past established second-tier side Bristol City with an emphatic 3-0 win to continue their 100% record at home this season - the Rams will be keen to turn Pride Park into a fortress to give themselves the best chance of avoiding relegation.
Elsewhere, Portsmouth's solid start unravelled with a 3-1 defeat at home to Sunderland.
The south coast side struggled throughout and had to resort to long balls before eventually succumbing to the Black Cats' all-action high-pressing style; with a late Luke O'Nien own goal their only consolation of the afternoon.
We've probably neglected to mention the three newly promoted clubs so far in this year's round-up feature, so it feels only right to give them the shoutout they deserve for what has been, on the whole, a solid start for all three clubs.
Promotion contenders emerge
With a month passing since the beginning of the 2024/25 Championship season, some serious promotion contenders are starting to emerge.
Initial favourites Sheffield United, Burnley and Leeds have shown signs of pushing for the top two while surprise packages like Sunderland and Watford have also had promising starts.
Both Middlesbrough and West Brom have also shown that they can be more than just play-off hopefuls and are capable of mounting serious challenges for automatic promotion.
Under the tutelage of exceptional manager Carlos Corberan, the Baggies have breezed through the opening four matches with three wins and one draw all while conceding just three goals.
Michael Carrick's Middlesbrough have been largely similar and dominated all of their games despite only winning two of them - showing promising signs for the months ahead.
If they can get star man Emmanuel Latte Lath back onside after his deadline day transfer to Ipswich collapsed, the Teesiders will be right up there come the end of the season.
Weimann steals the show
As mentioned earlier, Andreas Weimann's superb volley in the East Lancashire derby sealed a point for Blackburn who were under pressure for the majority of the match.
A long kick from Rovers goalkeeper Aynsley Pears was knocked down to Weimann, who wasted no time in sneaking in front of the Burnley defender and slicing across the ball to fire a dipping effort into the far corner.
For the majority of the time the ball was in the air, it looked to be sailing harmlessly over before dipping under the crossbar right at the final moment to the shock of everyone in the stadium.
Clarke stars for Middlesbrough
Our Player of the Week is Middlesbrough defender Matt Clarke, who excelled in their 2-0 win against bottom-of-the-table Cardiff.
Clarke opened the scoring with his second goal of the season and went on to help his team keep a clean sheet with 11 clearances, four interceptions and two tackles.
His performance earned him a Flashscore player rating of 9.0 - the highest of anyone across the weekend's Championship fixtures.
Full results:
Millwall 3-0 Sheffield Wednesday
