Six games in, and the Championship's early shape is already throwing up some of the most compelling sub-plots of the second tier's season. A table-topping West Brom, a resurgent QPR and a Pride Park reunion with extra edge are among the weekend's most watchable storylines.

Albion's boing and the test that comes with it

It is worth pausing to appreciate quite how dramatic West Brom's turnaround has been. When James Morrison stepped into the dugout on an interim basis in February, the Baggies were second-bottom of the Championship. A ten-match unbeaten run saved them from the drop, and now, six games into the new campaign, they sit top of the table.

Wednesday's 1-0 win at Derby underlined everything about this incarnation of Albion. They played with ten men for over an hour and still ground out a clean sheet, their ninth in 18 league matches under Morrison. According to the BBC Sport report, that victory was only Albion's second at Pride Park in 107 years, which gives some sense of the significance.

The credentials will be tested sharply on Saturday when QPR make the trip to the West Midlands (12:30). The Hoops have lost only once this season, that defeat coming against Middlesbrough, and sit just two points behind Albion in a congested chasing pack. Julien Stephan's side took just 11 points from their final 13 matches last term and finished 15th, but a summer overhaul, carried out despite a mounting injury list, appears to have fundamentally shifted their momentum.

Whether Albion can defend a top-of-the-table position against a side showing genuine early-season form will tell supporters plenty about how far Morrison's project has genuinely travelled.

Eustace, Davies and a reunion with plenty at stake

Across the division, Pride Park hosts a fixture loaded with context. John Eustace, who managed Birmingham before being controversially dismissed to make way for Wayne Rooney in October 2023, welcomes his former club to Derby on Saturday (12:30). It is the sort of reunion English football seems to specialise in generating.

Eustace steered Derby away from trouble at the end of 2024-25 and pushed for the play-offs last season. A fourth defeat in their opening six Championship matches on Wednesday, however, has brought a familiar restlessness among the supporters, even with injuries complicating the picture and a failed takeover hanging over the club heading into the new campaign.

For Chris Davies, who has been in charge at Birmingham since that managerial reshuffle, the pressure is building from a different direction. Davies won promotion in record-breaking fashion in his first season and is now in his third campaign at St Andrew's, with expectations and budget both elevated. Seven points from six matches, including a first defeat at Norwich on Wednesday, is underwhelming by the standards now expected.

A Rams win would ease the mood at Pride Park considerably. A Blues victory would do the same on the other side of the Midlands. Draws, in this fixture at least, are likely to satisfy nobody.

Middlesbrough's role in the wider picture

Boro have operated as something of a benchmark already this season. Their victory over QPR represents the Hoops' solitary defeat in what has otherwise been a strong start for Stephan's side, and Middlesbrough's own position in the chasing pack makes them one of the sides capable of disrupting the early rhythm that both Albion and QPR have established.

The Championship has a habit of shuffling its order emphatically once the first international break clears. The coming weekend's results, with leaders Albion hosting second-placed QPR, will offer the table its first genuinely defining moment of the season.

Early-season context

Six rounds of fixtures is a small sample, but patterns do emerge. West Brom's nine clean sheets in 18 league games under Morrison is not a fluke of scheduling; it reflects an organisational discipline that was conspicuously absent earlier in the calendar year. QPR's summer rebuild looks, at this early stage, to be a considered one rather than a panicked one.

Derby and Birmingham, meanwhile, find themselves in the more uncomfortable position of clubs who know the expectation but are searching for the consistency to match it. Saturday's encounter at Pride Park could shift the mood in both camps significantly.

Frequently asked

Are West Brom top of the Championship?
Yes, as of six games into the season West Brom lead the Championship table after a ten-match unbeaten run that began under James Morrison's interim charge earlier this year.
When is QPR vs West Brom this weekend?
QPR travel to The Hawthorns to face West Brom on Saturday, with kick-off at 12:30.
What is John Eustace's record at Derby County?
Eustace joined Derby after a spell at Blackburn and kept the Rams out of trouble at the end of 2024-25, before making a push for the play-offs last season. He now welcomes his former club Birmingham to Pride Park this weekend.