As the EFL kicks off another thrilling weekend packed with managerial returns, surging teams, and nail-biting sack races, one thing's for sure: football drama is about to explode—and you won't want to miss a minute of it!
Five key highlights from the English Football League: Familiar faces in new roles and the season's unpredictable twists.
Image source, Rex Features/Getty Images
By Alex Hoad
BBC Sport England
With Halloween pumpkins wilting in the garden and fireworks fading into memory, yet another international break is upon us, capping off one of those intense 'nine-point weeks' in the Championship. By Saturday afternoon, nearly all EFL teams will have played about a third of their fixtures for the 2025-26 season, and this campaign is shaping up to be the most wide-open in recent memory across League One, League Two, and the Championship. We've got old rivals reuniting in the second tier, managerial sack races intensifying, and plenty of intriguing subplots brewing. With the FA Cup first round wrapped up last weekend, it's back to the grind for the lower leagues.
Here are five must-watch elements unfolding across the EFL matches this weekend.
Image source, Getty Images
Derby County's rise and Eustace's emotional Rovers reunion
Get ready for plastic snakes and graffiti-covered banners—Ewood Park is the place to be at 12:30 GMT on Saturday!
John Eustace left Blackburn Rovers in February to take charge at Derby County, which meant dropping 16 spots in the Championship standings, exchanging a push for the play-offs with a desperate fight to avoid relegation.
Blackburn ended up finishing seventh under Valerien Ismael, just missing the play-offs by two points, while Eustace guided Derby to 19th place, narrowly escaping the drop zone by a single point.
This early afternoon clash marks Eustace's inaugural return to Ewood Park, but it's not their first face-off. The struggling Rams hosted some fiercely hostile Rovers supporters at Pride Park in March, just Eustace's fourth game in charge, and raced to a 2-0 lead within seven minutes en route to a 2-1 victory—his first win after three consecutive losses.
To heighten the tension, ex-Rovers players like Andi Weimann, Danny Baath, and captain Lewis Travis have joined Eustace at Pride Park, adding extra flavor to the showdown.
Beyond the personal stories, this match features two teams riding hot streaks: Derby's 2-1 triumph over Hull City on Tuesday extended their winning run to four games, while Rovers' 1-0 win at Bristol City that same night was their third in a row.
One of these unbeaten streaks will surely end here—don't look away!
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Stoke's ascent with Coventry looming above
It's exactly one year since Mark Robins was dismissed by Coventry City (https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/c8el50wprr5o), concluding a seven-and-a-half-year tenure where he led them agonizingly close to Premier League promotion via a penalty shootout the season before.
Frank Lampard stepped in as City's manager three weeks later (https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/c0en2890039o), and Robins moved to Stoke City in January (https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/cx2ndg3944xo#:~:text=Stoke%20City%20have%20appointed%20former,months%20after%20he%20was%20appointed.), sparking what has become a legendary turnaround.
On Saturday, these two sides collide, with Coventry holding a four-point lead at the top after a scorching start, though their unbeaten streak snapped at Wrexham last week before they staged a comeback to defeat Sheffield United on Tuesday.
Stoke, meanwhile, has secured three consecutive victories, netting nine goals while conceding just one, propelling them into second place. They boast the division's toughest defense, with only nine goals allowed in 14 matches, while Coventry leads the scoring charts with a remarkable 39 goals.
Robins faced heartbreak on his first CBS Arena return last March when Sam Gallagher's brace seemed to secure a late 2-2 draw for Stoke, only for Bobby Thomas to snatch victory for Coventry in the 97th minute.
Imagine the excitement if we get more of that edge-of-your-seat action this weekend!
And this is the part most people miss—there's another promotion battle brewing under the radar on Saturday. Despite an injury crisis at Deepdale, Preston North End's 2-1 win over Swansea on Wednesday marked their third straight triumph, lifting them to fourth place before their 12:30 GMT visit to Millwall, who sit just one point behind in fifth after a crushing 4-0 loss at Birmingham on Tuesday. If Paul Heckingbottom's squad can extend their streak to four wins, they'd briefly overtake Stoke for second spot.
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Climbing higher than expected
Quick quiz for football fans: Among the 62 teams that stayed in the EFL from last season to this one, which has racked up the most points so far in 2025?
Surely Coventry, right? Wrong, not even remotely. Maybe Bradford City? Nope. Wrexham? Hardly.
Birmingham City's successive 4-0 home victories this week have boosted them to a whopping 83 points already this year.
League One frontrunners Stockport County trail in second with 78, followed by Charlton Athletic, just three points further back, after their dramatic late win over West Bromwich Albion at The Valley on Tuesday.
In an era where Sunderland rocketed from Championship play-off heartbreak straight into the Premier League's top four, is it so crazy to envision newly-promoted League One outfits dominating the second tier?
But here's where it gets controversial—does this level of success for promoted teams undermine the traditional promotion structure, or is it just a testament to smart squad building? What do you think: Should the EFL rethink how teams are rewarded for winning their leagues?
Birmingham faced some criticism less than two weeks ago after a disappointing 1-0 loss at Bristol City, marking their fourth defeat in five away games and a scoring drought. Yet, they're heading to Middlesbrough on Saturday full of optimism, perched just two points shy of the play-off spots, having matched their goal tally from the prior 11 matches across all competitions in just the last two.
The team they're pursuing in sixth? That's Charlton, who edged through the tense League One play-offs last season and have adapted to the Championship seamlessly, suffering only three losses in 14 matches with the league's second-best defense, conceding just 11 goals.
That defensive prowess will be put to the test on Saturday at 15:00 GMT when Nathan Jones returns to his native Wales for a match against Wrexham, a club he once called 'a circus' (https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/cj3x2lelzzko) before softening his stance—though Phil Parkinson wasn't convinced (https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/c14x5m04z08o).
Wrexham, fresh from promotion, have steadied themselves too, losing just one of their last eight games and remaining unbeaten in four home fixtures, including a victory that handed leaders Coventry their first defeat at the Racecourse.
Grab your popcorn—keeping pace with the Championship's competitive Joneses is no easy feat!
Image source, Rex Features
League One's top contenders: Surprises and disappointments
You could toss a hat and cover six teams at the League One summit, with just three points separating the top six heading into the weekend—but these aren't the usual suspects battling for promotion.
Cardiff City stands as the sole Championship relegatee making waves, while Luton Town struggles in 10th place. Luton, now under Jack Wilshere's leadership, travels to top-of-the-table rivals Stockport County this weekend.
Few predicted Peterborough United and Blackpool to be languishing in the bottom half, let alone anchoring the relegation zone at this point. Reading, too, hovered just above the drop before sacking Noel Hunt for Leam Richardson to revive their fortunes— a move that paid off initially with a 1-0 victory over Stevenage on Thursday.
Other anticipated contenders like Huddersfield Town and freshly-relegated Plymouth Argyle, who clash on Saturday at 15:00 GMT, have each endured three straight losses. Lee Grant's Huddersfield lags six points behind the play-off positions, and Tom Cleverley's Plymouth sits third from bottom with nine defeats in 14 games.
It feels like corner-flag photos for manager sackings might already be queued up in editors' inboxes for this ruthless division.
But here's the controversy: Are sackings the right solution for struggling teams, or do they just add to the pressure without addressing deeper issues like squad depth? Do you agree that managers should get more patience, or is accountability key in professional football? Let's discuss in the comments!
Image source, Getty Images
Prepare for more League Two chaos
Certain as death and taxes... League Two delivering pure madness.
A mere five points gap the top 13 sides in the fourth tier, and Walsall supporters might experience a sense of déjà vu.
After accumulating 19 points from seven matches to claim the top spot—where they spent much of last season before faltering—Mat Sadler's team has mustered just one point from recent encounters with Crawley Town, Barrow, and Cheltenham, all battling relegation or hovering nearby.
Walsall visits bottom-placed Newport County on Saturday at 15:00 GMT, and if they suffer a third consecutive defeat, they could plummet to seventh by the time Cheltenham faces Notts County on Monday evening.
You can track the full EFL schedule live on the BBC Sport website and app, kicking off with text coverage of Watford versus Bristol City on Friday at 20:00 GMT.
We'll provide live text updates for the Championship, League One, and League Two throughout the season on BBC Sport.
Related topics
- Blackburn Rovers (https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/teams/blackburn-rovers)
- League Two (https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/league-two)
- Middlesbrough (https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/teams/middlesbrough)
- Birmingham City (https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/teams/birmingham-city)
- Charlton Athletic (https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/teams/charlton-athletic)
- Millwall (https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/teams/millwall)
- Luton Town (https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/teams/luton-town)
- Walsall (https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/teams/walsall)
- League One (https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/league-one)
- Plymouth Argyle (https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/teams/plymouth-argyle)
- Wrexham (https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/teams/wrexham)
- Stockport County (https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/teams/stockport-county)
- Coventry City (https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/teams/coventry-city)
- Huddersfield Town (https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/teams/huddersfield-town)
- Championship (https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/championship)
- Preston North End (https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/teams/preston-north-end)
- Football (https://www.bbc.com/sport/football)
- Stoke City (https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/teams/stoke-city)
- Derby County (https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/teams/derby-county)
What do you reckon—will Eustace handle the pressure of returning to Ewood Park, or is Coventry's dominance here to stay? Is it fair that promoted teams are thriving so much, or should we expect more shake-ups? Drop your opinions and predictions in the comments below; I'd love to hear your take on this weekend's EFL action!
