EPL Upsets: Swansea City, Norwich City and Queens Park Rangers All Earn Wins

The English Premier League received quite a shock as the league's three newest teams all earned convincing wins this afternoon.

Swansea City gave hometown fans from Wales quite a treat as they scored their first, second and third goals of the season to blank hapless WBA.

Norwich City, on the heels of first-half scores from Anthony Pilkington and Bradley Johnson, secured their first win in the top flight in 17 years, beating winless Bolton.

Queens Park Rangers, thanks to some quick-strike goals from Joey Barton and Alejandro Faurlin in the game's first ten minutes, defeated Wolverhampton, who had shown signs of life this season.

So, what did the three newest teams in the EPL prove with their debut wins?

In four matches this season, Swansea City had been unable to find the back of the net. But Swans dominated time of possession against WBA.

Manager Brendan Rogers' decision to keep Scott Sinclair and Nathan Dyer in the attacking midfield position paid dividends, as each led several possessions and scored one goal apiece.

I think this match says the most about goalkeeper Michael Vorm, who was forced to make five saves and continues to keep Swans in matches despite their reluctance to score goals.

Vorm now has three clean sheets in five matches.

Yes, those clean sheets are against EPL bottom feeders Wigan Athletic, Sunderland and now WBA, but it is still impressive considering Vorm was playing for FC Utrecht last season, a club that finished 9th in the Eredevisie, or top-flight Dutch league.

Swansea City will play at Chelsea next weekend in a match that might see Didier Drogba return from that sickening head injury. Swans will compete, but Chelsea's attack will be too much for Vorm and company.

Still, Swansea City should take it as a good opportunity to test just how good that defense is. 

Norwich City came out with a 4-5-1 formation that saw six new faces in the the Canaries' lineup.

This was an attacking Norwich City team, a different squad than the one humbled by WBA last week. Much of that is due to Bolton being down to 10 men for the entire second half with the sending off of Ivan Klasnic. But Manager Paul Lambert showed he's not only willing to make changes but knows exactly what changes to make.

Midfielders Anthony Pilkington and Elliott Bennett were running as support for forward Steve Morison all afternoon. And when James Vaughn came in for Pilkington and Grant Holt came in for Morison, it was more of the same.

Norwich City showed their attack will be consistent (especially considering they were flagged seven times for offside) and that they have the bench to keep the pressure on opponents.

I think Norwich City needs to finish better and play a full 90 minutes. They got incredibly conservative, which is understandable considering they wanted to get all three points on the table.

But at home against Sunderland, I think the team can easily earn some confidence and, more importantly, another three points and a move up the table.

Of all the newly promoted teams to win this weekend, none was more impressive than QPR and their absolutely dominating performance against a Wolverhampton team that has had success early in the season, with wins over Fulham and a Blackburn team that just beat Arsenal.

But QPR came into Molineux Stadium and took three points as if it were candy from a baby.

Rangers came out on all cylinders, scoring two goals within the first ten minutes. They then sat back and played very defensively, with midfielders Shaun Derry, Alejandro Faurlin and Joey Barton spending just as much time on Wolves' side of the field as their own.

Manager Neil Warnock deserves a lot of credit for the tactical changes and the composure he instilled in his Rangers team. He didn't get carried away with a 2-0 lead and look to pounce on it, giving Wolves a chance to cut the deficit to one.

Were it only a 1-0 lead, I would be criticizing the tactics, saying that Warnock needed the extra goal to really make it safe. But two goals in the first ten minutes is never really something you plan for and I applaud him for his conservative restraint.

Next week, QPR is hosting Aston Villa.

I think Rangers can win the game and make a stand that they deserve to be in the top half of the table. Aston Villa only has one win this season while QPR has two.

Will it be three for Rangers? I think with the confidence this win instilled and the fact that it's at home, the answer is yes. I'm predicting a 2-1 victory for QPR and another three points for the Rangers from Loftus Road.