The opening weekend of EFL action is in the books and there was plenty to digest from across the Championship, League One and League Two.
The title favourites from all three divisions failed to win as West Ham relinquished a two-goal lead away at Burnley, Leicester City were held by Notts County at Meadow Lane and Salford City were comprehensively beaten 3-1 by Barnet.
There were excellent victories for Luton Town, who staged an astonishing comeback in Berkshire as they trailed Reading 3-1 at half-time to win 4-3, and Newport County, with the Exiles ensuring Rochdale's return to the Football League was an unpleasant experience as Hayden Mullins' side ran out 3-0 winners.
Dissecting every match is our EFL expert Gab Sutton, and he's picked out 10 EFL players who could excel this season off the back of an impressive opening weekend performance.
Ilias Chair (Queens Park Rangers)
It had felt like Ilias Chair’s best seasons at QPR were behind him, with an outstanding loan spell at Stevenage in 2018-19, followed by a promising 2019-20, and then more prolific 2020-21 and 2021-22 campaigns in which he scored eight and nine goals respectively.
A combination of injuries and off-field challenges, however, have compromised progress, so it almost came as a surprise when the skilful Moroccan came up with such a productive opening day performance in Saturday’s 3-1 victory at Portsmouth, grabbing two goals and an assist.
Tyreece Campbell (Charlton Athletic)
In order for Charlton to become a stronger open play proposition, they needed the likes of Tyreece Campbell to find new levels this season, and the signs are positive in the opening day’s 2-1 victory over Derby.
After the signing of forward Karlan Grant to play on the left, Campbell moved to the right of the front-three and ran the channels superbly, smashing in a delightful second half winner.
The Addicks could be something of a counter-attacking side this season, so Campbell could be one to watch.
Iker Bravo (Watford)
With Giorgi Chakvetadze off to Udinese, there was a gap in Watford’s attacking midfield area, and Bravo looks possibly an upgrade after signing from the sister club.
Chakvetadze was an unbelievable ball-carrier, but Bravo is quicker and seems to bring a touch more verticality to his running, which is great for linking up with winger Othmane Maamma on the right, or getting beyond Mamadou Doumbia.
Bravo demonstrated exquisite close control to beat four defenders and round the goalkeeper for the first, in the 2-1 opening day win over Southampton, and could bring the fun factor to Vicarage Road.
Jake Richards (Luton Town)
After a promising first season at Luton, following his big move from Exeter last summer, Jake Richards is hoping to kick his productivity onto another level.
Not only is the 19-year-old extremely gifted technically, whether coolly slotting into the bottom corner like he did for the opener, in the Hatters’ dramatic 4-3 victory at Reading, or playing others in with precision, he’s also a wonderful decision-maker.
Richards is a quick-thinker who makes decisions in a fraction of the time that others around him might need, which makes him so well suited to drifting in from the right hand side, becoming the hub of the attack at a late stage and unlocking everything.
Because Kasey Palmer is the hub for large portions of play, and is so good at that with his sensational passing range, it allows Richards to drift in unchartered and completely open the whole game up for his side.
Derensili Sanches Fernandes (Huddersfield Town)
Sanches Fernandes bagged himself a league debut brace in Huddersfield’s 3-0 opening day victory over Wimbledon.
The Dutchman was on the move all game, constantly looking to get in behind the defence with clever runs, and although he got a bit of luck with his first, that Nathan Bishop should have done better with, there was nothing fortuitous about his second, which was a terrific strike from just inside the area.
Poached from Excelsior along with wing-back Ilias Bronkhorst, the duo have already rekindled that great relationship from the Netherlands, and should bring some Dutch courage to the right hand side.
Jake Beesley (Bradford City)
Bradford made the play-offs in League One last season, spending parts of it pumping long balls up to strikers who weren’t best equipped to make them stick, like Kayden Jackson.
In many ways, that’s a compliment to how good Graham Alexander’s side were as an out-of-possession entity, with their high-energy approach, but there’s definite room for improvement.
That improvement may come in the shape of Jake Beesley, who enjoyed an excellent debut in the Bantams’ 2-0 victory over Peterborough, offering a valuable outlet and looking a constant threat from crosses into the box.
Jili Buyabu (Rotherham United)
Buyabu might have been on the losing side at Cheltenham, but the Rotherham wing-back was one Red Hot Jili Pepper.
The Sheffield United loanee brought some explosivity to the Millers down their left hand side, and was key to most they managed to create that afternoon, to the point that the team suffered when the 23-year-old was withdrawn.
After an impressive season in the National League with Forest Green, Buyabu looks set to do damage once again in the division above with his quick, slightly rangy running style.
Keenan Appiah-Forson (Oldham Athletic)
Oldham have looked to renovate their midfield this season with fresh legs, athleticism and tenacity.
Oli Norburn brings bite and experience to the Latics, but alongside him is Keenan Appiah-Forson, who steps up after an impressive year in the National League with Southend.
Bringing boundless energy and a thirst to disrupt opponents to Micky Mellon’s side, as well as the ability to contribute further forward, the 24-year-old could be a tough customer.
Isaac Moore (Walsall)
It was the perfect start for Moore at Walsall, with the box-to-box midfielder coming off the bench to score the winner in the opening day victory at Gillingham, with James Connolly and Aaron Pressley subsequently rounding off a 3-0 win.
Highly-rated in the academy setup at Coventry for his strong presence and boundless energy, Moore enjoyed positive National League loans with Forest Green and Solihull Moors, and looks more than ready for that next step. Or should that be Moore than ready?
Harry Boyes (York City)
Harry Boyes showed his class in his loan in the National League at Solihull Moors in 2021-22, where he demonstrated a fantastic engine, and the sense that he could put a delivery exactly where he wanted.
Boyes arguably jumped too fast from there, however, with Sheffield United perhaps overly keen to accelerate his progress, because League One loans at Lincoln and Wycombe didn’t quite go to plan which, among other things, left him back in non-league.
There’s no question Boyes still has the potential to enjoy a good Football League career, however, and he’ll be hoping to kick-start that at York, where he had a fantastic league debut.
He could have won a penalty early on, he produced inch-perfect crosses and made some adventurous runs into dangerous areas, and came up with two well-taken goals: the first an outside of the boot effort from the edge of the box, the second an unexpected back-post header from his opposite side.
It was men against Boyes!
