Burnley breeze back, Hull City a surprise package? Five things we learned from Championship opening weekend as Sheffield United lose to Watford

The Championship season is underway and the first weekend sprung up some interesting results.

Sheffield United have begun the 2022/23 campaign with a 1-0 defeat away at Watford last night, with Joao Pedro’s second-half strike enough for the Hornets to pick up their first win under Rob Edwards.

Here are five things we learned the opening set of fixtures from the second tier....

Blades lacking cutting edge

Sheffield United struggled to really pressure Watford yesterday and lacked that cutting edge in attacking areas.

Bar the Hornets’ goal, the Blades were fairly organised at the back and kept themselves well in the game, despite having to deal with a late injury to Jack Robinson and the discovery of a suspension hanging over new central defender Anel Ahmedhodžić.

However, they weren’t able to trouble Daniel Bachmann too much and could do with some more reinforcements at the top end of the pitch to freshen things up or at least sharpening up. A few competitive minutes on the legs of Reda Khadra, Rhian Brewster and Billy Sharp may go some way to helping that.

Hull City dark horses?

Hull City beat Bristol City 2-1 thanks to a last-gasp goal from Jean Michael Seri.

The Tigers have made some eye-catching additions this summer including ex-Fulham ace Seri, Turkey internationals Ozan Tufan and Dogukan Sinik, as well as the likes of Tobias Figueiredo, Allahyar Sayyadmanesh, Benjamin Tetteh and Oscar Estupinan.

Shota Arveladze’s side are one to watch in this campaign and their fans are certainly back on side after years of trouble under their previous owners.

Won’t be as easy as Norwich City think

Norwich City are being tipped for an immediate return to the Premier League but were beaten 1-0 away at Cardiff City.

The Canaries’ squad is littered with quality and they have managed to keep Teemu Pukki and Max Aarons for now.

Their boss, Dean Smith, knows what it takes to get out of the Championship having guided Aston Villa up a couple of years ago. However, his quest to get Norwich back up has started with a defeat and the Canaries looked a little stale in their first match.

This looks like a Daniel Farke team and Smith will want to bring in some of his own players before the transfer window closes.

Kompany catches eye

The spotlight was on Vincent Kompany on his return to English football and he began his tenure as Burnley boss with an impressive win over last season’s play-off runners-up Huddersfield.

The Clarets looked sharp and their new additions like Josh Cullen, Scott Twine and Taylor Harwood-Bellis all looked strong. Still early days of course but that win may have swept away any concerns of a hangover from last season’s relegation.

Goal machine Cresswell

Leeds United youngster Charlie Cresswell scored twice on his debut for Millwall and that looks like a very astute signing for the Lions already.

The Lions won 2-0 at home to Stoke City with a brace from the young defender.

Cresswell, 19, is on a season-long loan with Gary Rowett’s side and looks to be a real threat from set pieces.