2026-27 EFL CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON PREVIEW (EARLY THOUGHTS)
Birmingham City
Last Seasons Review:
The first season back in the Championship since relegation to league 1 saw the team finish 10th and ended the season 5 games unbeaten. They will see this as progress with key players such as Jay Stansfield been influential.
What the bookies are saying?
The bookies have the blues finishing in 6th place. Winner- 14/1 Promotion- 9/2
My prediction and overview:
Birmingham had a very good squad for been back in the 2nd tier. With smart signings and a skillful squad the club have been able to get the most out of their squad and have been very effective. They will however need to improve the squad depth this summer to make sure they can compete for a play off or even an automatic promotion spot. Considering they don't have parachute payments like some teams in the Championship they will do well to compete
My Prediction- 7th
Blackburn Rovers
LAST SEASONS REVIEW
Last season Blackburn finished 20th in the Championship under the management of interim manager Michael O’Neill. the club under performed with the squad they put together and the experience of some of the players the club have got at their disposal. Top Scorer- Ohashi (10 Goals)
WHAT THE BOOKIES ARE SAYING
The bookies have Blackburn finishing In 16th place. Winner- 66/1 Promotion- 14/1
Winner- 66/1 Promotion- 14/1
MY PREDICTION AND OVERVIEW
Blackburn have only recorded 5 top half finishes out of the last 13 championship seasons since been relegated from the Premier League and promotion and promoted from League 1. Blackburn will be hoping to once again go well under returning manager Tony Mowbray and recruit the right players to finish higher the previous seasons. They’ve shown glimpses of what they can do but just cannot see them improving anytime soon under the current ownership.
My Prediction- 20th
Bolton Wanderers
LAST SEASONS REVIEW
Last season was a positive one for Bolton. They were in and around the promotion places all season and have been in the top 6 since Matchday 15. They’re recruitment has been very smart and effective. They have scored lots of goals during the season and has been a very good team effort not just one player scoring or creating all the chances. The club have a very good manager in Steven Schumacher. Top Scorers- Dalby (14), Burstow (12), Duberry (10)
WHAT THE BOOKIES ARE SAYING
The bookies have Bolton finishing in 21st Place. Winner- 100/1 Promotion- 20/1
MY PREDICTION AND OVERVIEW
Despite having a good experienced manager, good ownership in charge of the club, The Whites will need a huge rebuild this summer considering the players who have left and the amount of loan players the club have had during the 2025/26 season. If the club are smart with recruitment they might have a chance but I see them going straight back down as it'll be hard to adjust to such a competitive league. In my opinion they’ll need to sign: 1 Goalkeeper, 1 Left Back, 1 Centre Back, 1 Right Back, 2 Left Wingers, 2 Right Wingers and 4 Strikers.
Prediction- 24th
Bristol City
LAST SEASONS REVIEW
Last season Bristol City finished the season In 12th Place on 62 points. They had a change Of manager towards the end of the season with Roy Hodgson taking interim charge. Top Scorers- Riis (12 Goals), Twine (11 Goals). It was another season of stability for the Robins who will be very used of finishing in a mid table position.
WHAT THE BOOKIES ARE SAYING
The bookies have Bristol City finishing in 13th place. Winner- 40/1 Promotion- 10/1
MY PREDICTION AND OVERVIEW
Bristol City have only finished in the top 10, five times out of the last 17 seasons have they spent in the Championship. They have brought in promotion winning manager Michael Skubala from Lincoln City. With fresh ideas and a team that needs a rebuild I can only see the Robins finishing in the lower part of the table.
Prediction- 14th
Burnley
LAST SEASONS REVIEW
Burnley have never settled in the same league for more then 1 season for quite a while now. They’ll be used of the Championship and yet again another new manager coming in and more New players. They should have a strong squad to cope with the demands of a 46 game season. They have some good players in some positions especially in the attacking positions for the Championship. Last season Burnley finished in 19th Place after a draw away at Wolves on the final day.
WHAT THE BOOKIES ARE SAYING
The bookies have Burnley finishing in 3rd Place. Winner- 8/1 Promotion- 11/4
MY PREDICTION AND OVERVIEW
Burnley always go well in the Championship regardless Of what manager or squad of players the club has. This Year the championship will be the strongest its ever been But I see other clubs have stronger teams then Burnley this time out.
Prediction- 4th
Cardiff City
LAST SEASONS REVIEW
Cardiff responded at the first time of asking by winning automatic promotion back to the championship finishing in 2nd Place. They appointed Brian Barry-Murphy who coming Into this job only had experience of managing in League 1 and League 2 with Rochdale. Cardiff finished on 91 points, 14 points ahead of 3rd and 12 points behind 1st place Lincoln City.
WHAT THE BOOKIES ARE SAYING
The bookies have Cardiff City finishing in 22nd Place. Winner- 80/1 Promotion- 20/1
MY PREDICTION AND OVERVIEW
Cardiff have enjoyed good times in the Championship in the past and will be wanting to go better then the season That saw them get relegated to League 1. They will need to improve in certain positions but overall have a good squad of players for the Championship but for me it will be too much for them to cope with.
Prediction- 22nd
Charlton Athletic
LAST SEASONS REVIEW
Charlton finished 19th in the Championship in their first season back after 5 seasons in League 1. The recruitment by the club helped them to stay in the league by bringing in experienced goalkeeper Thomas Kaminski and other players who’ve had promotion experience.
WHAT THE BOOKIES ARE SAYING
Charlton are backed by the bookies to finish 23rd place. Winner- 100/1 Promotion- 25/1
MY PREDICTION AND OVERVIEW
Charlton have a very good manager who knows how to get the best out of his players and have built a good side over time with the balance of defense and attack perfect. Campbell and Leaburn up front offer pace and goals up top. They still need experience in the team with how competitive it gets every year.
Prediction- 23rd
Derby County
LAST SEASONS REVIEW
Derby finished the season in 8th Place. They had a really good season and brought in players who made an impact such as Banel from Burnley and Agyemang who made an impact up front. To finish near the play off places would of been seen as a massive achievement for the club.
WHAT THE BOOKIES ARE SAYING
The bookies have Derby finishing in 10th Place. Winner- 33/1 Promotion- 8/1
MY PREDICTION AND OVERVIEW
If Derby can continue the good work under John Eustace and recruit efficiently this summer then they will no doubt be there around the top 6 again although missing striker Patrick Agyemang till January with an injury will be a huge blow to the Rams.
Prediction- 12th
Lincoln City
LAST SEASONS REVIEW
Last season was a season that was better then anyone thought would be achievable considering the teams that were in League 1. They have achieved 3 top 10 finishes in league 1 in 7 seasons they have been in the league.
WHAT THE BOOKIES ARE SAYING
The bookies have Lincoln City finishing in 24th Place. Winner- 150/1 Promotion- 33/1
MY PREDICTION AND OVERVIEW
Lincoln have a very good side heading into the Championship with good experience in most positions. Going forward they will be a threat with 2 skillful wingers, a great attacking midfielder in Moylan. With a little more squad depth, Lincoln will comfortably stay in the Championship.
Prediction- 16th
Middlesbrough
LAST SEASONS REVIEW
The season for Boro was a very mixed one which started with 9 games unbeaten under Rob Edwards who had the team more organised at the back and had the attacking line scoring more goals. However things weren't going to be straight forward after Boro's 1-1 draw away at Leicester City proved to be Rob Edwards final game in charge before the news broke that he had been approached by Wolves and was interested in taking the job. Ady Viveash took the team for 3 games before the new manager Kim Hellberg came in and had some amazing results such as the Norwich home game winning 1-0 which felt like the turning pint in Boro's season had the reds sitting in the top 2 of the championship. The Boro went to Sheffield United and got a 2-1 win sending Middlesbrough top of the Championship with a 2 point gap to second place and a 7 point gap to 3rd place with 15 games left to play. Boro that endured a tricky spot in March and April failing to win home games against sides like Oxford United, Portsmouth, Leicester City, Bristol City and Charlton Athletic, which meant Boro finished in 5th place and faced a play off semi final over 2 legs against Southampton which was hit with controversy when Southampton were accused of spying on their opposition. Boro went onto draw the first leg 0-0 and lost the second leg 2-1 but Boro had a life line when Southampton were booted out the play offs and Boro were reinstated to the Wembley Final which ended in heart break with a 94th minute winner for Hull meaning it is another season in the Championship.
WHAT THE BOOKIES ARE SAYING
The bookies have the Boro finishing in 4th place. Winner- 11/1 Promotion- 4/1
MY PREDICTION AND OVERVIEW
If Boro can get some decent attacking players in the window and a few strikers and keep the rest of the team relativity the same Boro will go into the new season full of confidence and under the management of Kim Hellberg he will get the best out of the team in his first full season in charge.
Prediction- 6th
Millwall
LAST SEASONS REVIEW
This was one of the best seasons Millwall have had in the Championship. 6 of the last 9 seasons in the Championship have ended in top 10 finishes for the club which has seen very good stability with good mangers who have managed to get the best out of the players at their disposal. Considering Millwall don't have the financial options available to them like lots of other teams do in the league they have built a very strong competitive team who do well every season. They finished 3rd and lost to Hull in the second leg of the play offs falling just short.
WHAT THE BOOKIES ARE SAYING
The bookies have Millwall finishing in 11th Place. Winner- 25/1 Promotion- 8/1
MY PREDICTION AND OVERVIEW
In my opinion this will be another good season for Millwall if they can keep their stars players such as Crama and Ivanovic then they will do well again and kick on. The team will only need maybe 2 or 3 new additions to the team otherwise its very much pick up from where they left off.
Prediction- 11th
Norwich City
LAST SEASONS REVIEW
Norwich started the season badly and were lingering in the bottom 3 towards Christmas. Since new manager Philippe Clement came in they enjoyed a turn around in form only losing 8 games. Jovan Makama enjoyed a break through season since joining from Lincoln City scoring 13 goals in 31 games
WHAT THE BOOKIES ARE SAYING
The bookies have Norwich finishing in 9th place. Winner- 20/1 Promotion- 6/1
MY PREDICTION AND OVERVIEW
Norwich will be hoping to carry on where they left off from the end of the season. A top 6 finish will be achievable and a top 2 finish will be close with the squad they already have. Not much needs adding to the squad.
Makama, Toure & Ahmed will be the clubs star players and produced excellence at the end of the season.
Prediction- 3rd
Portsmouth
LAST SEASONS REVIEW
Overall Portsmouth have a very good season by anyone's standards and were capable of putting unbeaten runs together such as, 3 in October, 4 in December, 4 in January and then had a wobble between February and March winning 2 from 10 games and then to end the season only lost 1 of their last 8 league matches including wins against promotion hopefuls Middlesbrough & Ipswich Town. Kept 3 clean sheets in a row, went 5 unbeaten in April.
WHAT THE BOOKIES ARE SAYING
The bookies have Portsmouth finishing in 19th place. Winner- 80/1 Promotion- 18/1
MY PREDICTION AND OVERVIEW
If Portsmouth can add good additions to their squad and maintain those that had a good effect on the team they should be capable of maintaining their championship status again for another season.
Prediction- 21st
Preston North End
LAST SEASONS REVIEW
Preston had stability with manager Paul Heckingbottom in charge of the team and achieved a
Better finish then the season before finishing in 14th place which means the club are back on track.
The clubs 3 top scorers where Lewis Dobbin with 11 goals who was on loan from Aston Villa, Alfie Devine on 8 goals and Milutin Osmajic on 8 goals and has 31 goals since joining the team.
WHAT THE BOOKIES ARE SAYING
The bookies have Preston finishing in 20th. Winner- 100/1 Promotion- 20/1
MY PREDICTION AND OVERVIEW
If the club can continue to use the loan market effectively and add a few players to the team they’ll be in mid table again been stable as a championship club.
Prediction- 17th
QPR
LAST SEASONS REVIEW
QPR had a very mixed season with results been very inconsistent such as losing 7-1 away at Coventry but then beating Portsmouth 6-1 at home. Results show they had a block of 3 straight games losing all of them and and then had 2 spells where they lost 4 in a row each time followed by a 5 game unbeaten run between March and April. The club have lots of ability in players such as Richard Kone & Rumarn Burrell.
WHAT THE BOOKIES ARE SAYING
The bookies have QPR finishing in 18th place. Winner- 66/1 Promotion- 18/1
MY PREDICTION AND OVERVIEW
QPR will need a strong pre season, lots of work on the training pitch and decent loans signings and a few experienced Permanent transfers which will be needed to have a good start to the season and will want to maintain a good finish in the league table. The squad will need to be considerably cut down as there is far too many players (47 Players).
Prediction- 19th
Sheffield United
LAST SEASONS REVIEW
The start of the season the team were lead by Ruben Selles he failed to get any wins in the 5 Championship games he was in charge of which then disrupted most of the season so the club were playing catch up on other sides to make up ground lost and had to earn points. Chris Wilder came back to steady the club and guided them to a 13th place finish.
WHAT THE BOOKIES ARE SAYING
The bookies have Sheffield United to finish in 5th place. Winner- 14/1 Promotion- 9/2
MY PREDICTION AND OVERVIEW
The blades have a very good squad such as players such as Bamford, O'Hare, Hamer. The ability shows the club should be competing within the play off places in the Championship. If they can have a quick start to the season and maintain good results by scoring lots of goals they will achieve the goals Chris Wilder will have for the team.
Prediction- 8th
Southampton
LAST SEASONS REVIEW
Southampton's season didn't start to well as they would of wanted it was only 2 wins in 13 Championship games under Will Still, he was replaced by Tonda Eckert who got the team firing on all cylinders and went on a long 19 game unbeaten run which meant the Saints finished in the play off places. The club made some very smart signing's with players like goalkeeper Daniel Peretz from Bayern Munich & Cyle Larin from Mallorca.
WHAT THE BOOKIES ARE SAYING
The bookies have Southampton finishing in 7th place. Winner- 14/1 Promotion- 5/1
MY PREDICTION AND OVERVIEW
Under Tonda Eckert the team will achieve another very good season and with the club making some of their loan signings permanent they will have a good chance at finishing in the play off places once again. Keeping hold of key players such as Leo Scienza and Taylor Harwood-Bellis will be crucial to their success next season.
Prediction- 5th
Stoke City
LAST SEASONS REVIEW
It was another season of failure & underachieving for Stoke, under Mark Robins there was hope he would use his experience to guide stoke to a top 6 finish and hope for a crack at promotion. Stoke were in the top 6 for the first 19 games before dropping away and finishing in 17th place.
WHAT THE BOOKIES ARE SAYING
The bookies have Stoke finishing in 14th place. Winner- 40/1 Promotion- 12/1
MY PREDICTION AND OVERVIEW
The season has to be a better one and with new additions added during the summer I see Stoke finishing further up the league but another season below the top 10.
Prediction- 13th
Swansea City
LAST SEASONS REVIEW
Since the new manager came into Swansea they have had a very good season with some very good players in the squad such as top scorer Zan Vipotnik who scored 25 goals in 49 games last season and has a total of 32 goals for the club. Matos achieved 14 wins in 24 matches he was in charge of and only losing 5.
WHAT THE BOOKIES ARE SAYING
The bookies have the Swans finishing in 15th place. Winner- 66/1 Promotion- 14/1
MY PREDICTION AND OVERVIEW
If Swansea can keep their squad together and keep hold of Zan Vipotnik they will definitely give it a good crack next season and hope to finish in the top 8 end of season play offs. If they lose Zipotnik the club will have the funds to bring in another prolific scorer to fit into that role. I don’t have confidence for them as clubs will come in for their big players meaning it could be a rebuild.
Prediction- 18th.
Watford
LAST SEASONS REVIEW
Last season Watford finished in 16th place which is the worst in the club's history. The club had another 3 managers during the season. Watford sold experienced players who had know how and were able to help the club get results in Rajovic and Sierralta.
WHAT THE BOOKIES ARE SAYING
The bookies have Watford finishing in 17th Place. Winner- 66/1 Promotion- 16/1
MY PREDICTION AND OVERVIEW
The upcoming season will be the Unknown for Watford with yet another new manager coming through the door who will want to adapt his own formation, style of play and their own transfers. There has been many Inconsistencies for Watford in previous seasons finishing no where near the play off places. It was the worst season in the club's history and they will be desperate to correct that.
Prediction- 15th
West Brom
LAST SEASONS REVIEW
West Brom underachieved in so many different aspects, a team who should be competing at the top end of the league finished the season in 21st place and ended the season 10 games unbeaten from March until end of April when they lost on the final day away at Sheffield Wednesday. Heggebo was their stand out player scoring 9 championship goals.
WHAT THE BOOKIES ARE SAYING
The bookies have West Brom finishing in 12th place. Winner- 40/1 Promotion- 9/1
MY PREDICTION AND OVERVIEW
Prediction- 9th
West Ham United
LAST SEASONS REVIEW
West ham endured a very bad start to the season only winning 1 of the first 9 premier league games which had the club bottom of the premier league alongside Wolves. Manager Graham Potter was sacked before been replaced by Nuno Espirito Santo who started to improve the clubs form gradually. From January results started to look better only losing 3 games from 13 between January and April.
WHAT THE BOOKIES ARE SAYING
The bookies have West Ham finishing 1st place. Winner- 12/5 Promotion- 8/11
MY PREDICTION AND OVERVIEW
West Ham will be hoping for an immediate return to the Premier League. With the squad that is still at the club there is more then enough talent which should see them over the line and win the majority of the 46 Championship games. The best January signing under Nuno was bringing in striker Taty Castellanos who scored 7 goals in 22 Games.
Prediction- 2nd
Wolves
LAST SEASONS REVIEW
Last season was a disaster for Wolves since been promoted back to the Premier League for the 2018-19 season they have always finished comfortably in mid table but did have a season where they finished in a europen spot and played in the Europa League in 2019-20 achieving 2 back to back 7th place finishes before league table finishes started to drop off season after season. Vitor Pereira was sacked by the club eventually replaced by Middlesbrough manager, Rob Edwards who couldnt save the club from relegation back to the Championship.
WHAT THE BOOKIES ARE SAYING
The bookies have Wolves finishing in 2nd place. Winner- 11/2 Promotion- 7/4
MY PREDICTION AND OVERVIEW
The Championship will be a hard league to get out from. The team do have some really good players for the league with the return of Raul Jimenez, experienced defender Kieran Trippier and prolific goalscorer Adam Armstrong, Wolves will expect a much better season and an immediate return to the Premier League.
Prediction- 1st
Wrexham
LAST SEASONS REVIEW
Last season was Wrexham’s first in the Championship who have been on a high after promotions from the National League all the way up to the Championship. They exceeded anyone's expectations for the first season finishing 7th. The owners and manager are very ambitious about where they want to take the club and with this been the first season in the Championship it will of been seen a success to everyone.
WHAT THE BOOKIES ARE SAYING
The bookies have Wrexham finishing in 8th Place. Winner- 18/1 Promotion- 11/2
MY PREDICTION AND OVERVIEW
After what was an amazing season for the welsh side they played some amazing football and showed that they are not just in the league to make up the numbers. I believe Wrexham will have another good season if they can keep players like Broadhead, Moore and Windass.
Prediction- 10th
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