Five EFL talking points ahead of the weekend as pressure mounts on Leicester City boss Russell Martin

By Rob Beezley

The Football League is slowly starting to take shape as we enter the third week of the league season.

The tables are all coming together and teams are starting to see where they will be in or around for much of the season.

In the Championship, Millwall, West Bromwich Albion and Charlton Athletic are the early pace setters.

At the other end of the table, Norwich City, Stoke City, Preston North End and Lincoln City are awaiting their first points of the campaign.

In League One, Bradford City are the only team with a 100% record, Wigan Athletic are the only team not to register a point. Several teams follow the Bantams on four points.

In League Two, Barnet and Crewe Alexandra sit top of the summit on six points each.

Rochdale, Shrewsbury Town and Salford City sit at the foot and are awaiting points in their own campaigns.

Here are five talking points as we head into this weekend’s clashes.

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Another Midlands derby in League One

Burton Albion travel to Notts County for the second Midlands derby in as many weekends following the Brewers’ 2-1 victory against Leicester City.

The result left the Foxes on one point, down in 18th place. Russell Martin is one of the early favourites for the chop.

Gary Bowyer’s men will be hoping for a repeat, results-wise, as they travel to Meadow Lane. County have two draws and will be looking to finally break their winning duck.

Is the Championship harder than people think?

The likes of West Ham and Burnley are struggling to pick up wins as they adapt to life in the second tier.

Both teams have draws to their names this campaign and will be hoping to gain their first wins against Watford and Norwich City respectively.

The exception to this is Wolves who have one win and one draw and will be hoping to add to that tally against Stoke City at Molyneux.

Alongside this, Middlesbrough sit in 11th position with just one win on the opening day against Lincoln City, whilst Wrexham sit 13th and Southampton sit bottom of the second tier with a single victory.

Teams with unbeaten blemishes and those struggling to get going

Six teams have a 100% record within the Football League.

Millwall, Charlton, West Brom, Bradford City, Barnet and Crewe Alexandra are all on six points from the opening two weekends of league action.

As previously mentioned, the likes of Lincoln, Norwich, Preston and Stoke are faltering early in their own campaigns.

The Canaries finished ninth last season and are struggling to get going.

In League One, Plymouth Argyle sit in the drop zone but the Pilgrims finished eighth last season in the third tier.

Stevenage are another example of this, Boro finished in the playoffs but sit in 19th now and are struggling to get going.

In the fourth tier, Chesterfield finished in the playoffs but sit in 16th, having won one and lost one. Salford were fourth at the close of last season and sit in 22nd without any points.

Could Martin be the first manager for the chop?

Leicester travel to MK Dons for one of the early kick-offs with Martin already under pressure as the former Premier League champions adapt to life in the third tier.

Following a poor opening to the season where the Foxes have amassed just a single point with their draw against Notts County on the opening day, the former Rangers, Southampton and Swansea City manager will be hoping his players can finally break their duck and get a win to relieve some early season pressure.

Whilst Martin is one of the favourites for the chop, Norwich’s Philippe Clement could find himself under pressure with defeat to Burnley.

However, the Canaries did get a win in the Carabao Cup midweek action after beating Cardiff City 2-1 to advance to the third round of the competition.

A second meeting between Salford and Shrewsbury

Struggling Salford and Shrewsbury have already done battle once this campaign in the Carabao Cup first round and the Shrews were victorious on penalties.

This will be the first league meeting between the pair this season with both of them hoping for a first win as Salford sit in 22nd whilst Shrewsbury are 24th.

Salford sit on minus three goals and the Shrews are on minus four.

This fixture also pits two managers against each other with little knowledge of the EFL with Gavin Cowan, the Shrews manager having been with non-league clubs.

Peter Cklamovski, meanwhile, an Australian is manager of the Ammies and has experience in both Malaysia and Japan but has not managed in the EFL.

Teams are also looking to add the final touches to their squads across the next few days, as we head towards the 11pm deadline on Tuesday for clubs to sign players before the window slams shut.

READ MORE: Carabao Cup third round draw: Millwall to face Newcastle United as EFL sides eye upsets