Championship Promotion Odds: Can Birmingham replicate Ipswich?

The Championship returns to our screens this weekend and in terms of the promotion race, it looks to be the most competitive it has been in a long time. You have the three relegated teams in Ipswich Town, Southampton and Leicester City, as well as the free-spending newly-promoted teams Birmingham City and Wrexham to think about.

With just four days to go before the season opener, I take a look at the current state of things using Betfred's Championship Promotion Odds.

Ipswich Town @ 1/1

It was only two years ago when Ipswich set off on a journey that ended with promotion to the Premier League, which immediately followed their promotion to the Championship from League 1.

The Tractor Boys tried their best to compete in the top flight, even throwing around money like the rest of them in trying to compete, but it wasn't enough. But there was no doubt that they would return to the second tier as one of the strongest sides in the division and rightly the favourites for promotion.

On top of the parachute payments that gives them an edge over most of the teams in the Championship, Ipswich also have an edge over the teams that were also relegated from the Premier League.

Championship Odds

They head into the season with the same manager that they had last term in Kieran McKenna, who was the architect of their rise from the third tier to the promised land - whereas Leicester City and Southampton have new bosses in Mart Cifuentes and Will Still respectively.

There are question marks around the latter as this is his first role in England, and one that has its pressures, while Leicester have the huge shadow of a points deduction overhanging them, as well as general uncertainty behind the scenes.

Ipswich are the healthiest of the bunch and they still have a lot of players who helped them get to the Premier League in the first place, as well as having one of the best coaches in the EFL to guide them.

Southampton @ 13/8

Southampton have a very strong squad available heading into the opening weekend, which will help new boss Still in his first post in England. He arrives having built up his reputation in France with both Reims and Lens. His style is focused on high pressing and quick transitions, which we know can cause problems at this level.

He has two very capable goalscorers in his forward ranks in Adam Armstrong and Cameron Archer, with the former registering 21 goals and 13 assists in his last full campaign in the second tier. Young talents Mateus Fernandes and Tyler Dibling are still knocking around and if the Saints can keep hold of them, it will only strengthen their promotion credentials.

Sheffield United @ 2/1

Sheffield United choked again in the play-offs last season, and now most people agree they are cursed. It ultimately cost Chris Wilder his job, which a lot of people still can't fathom and Ruben Selles has taken his place.

I've been impressed with his work at Reading in recent years, while his brief stint at Hull City last term I won't judge him too much for because that is a club that looks to be quickly unravelling. He did ensure the Tigers maintained their Championship status but he is a coach striving for more.

The Blades accomplished 92 points last year and they have some strong players in the form of Harrison Burrows, Ollie Arblaster, Tyrese Campbell and Callum O'Hare. They have lost influential figure Vini Souza, though, and Gustavo Hamer is being linked with a move back to the Netherlands. Should he leave, it would deal a huge blow to Sheffield United's promotion hopes.

Football Odds

Birmingham City @ 2/1

Whether it's envy or intrigue, there are a lot of eyes fixed on Birmingham this summer. The Blues are back in the Championship after one season away, having broken several EFL records, including the highest-ever points tally with a whopping 111.

Birmingham are coming up with a lot of momentum and with a squad assembled to easily step up to this level - whilst adding to it. No one has had a more exciting transfer window than the Blues so far with the likes of Kyogo Furuhashi, Bright Osayi-Samuel, Demarai Gray and Eiran Cashin coming on board, whilst already having the likes of Jay Stansfield, Paik Seung-ho, Tomoki Iwata and Christoph Klarer on their books.

They have one of the EFL's most exciting coaches in charge in Chris Davies, whose brief playing career has already provided him with 20 years of coaching experience - so his first season in the dugout made it seem like he had been doing this for years.

The most eye-catching signing so far has been Tommy Doyle from Wolverhampton Wanderers, a midfielder who shone for Sheffield United in this league a couple of years ago. This deal sent a warning to their promotion rivals as they fought off interest elsewhere to land his services.

They are looking to secure a second consecutive promotion and they are building a squad capable of achieving that.

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Coventry City @ 4/1

Frank Lampard is rebuilding his reputation at Coventry City and being back in the second tier is suiting him to a tee. He led the Sky Blues from the lower end of the table to the play-offs in 2024/25 but lost to Sunderland in the semi-finals.

Coventry are probably feeling like Sheffield United fans and believing they are cursed in the play-offs. I think they will be stronger this year if they can add to their squad, while holding on to the likes of Haji Wright, Ben Sheaf, Tatsuhiro Sakamoto and most importantly, Jack Rudoni.

Kaine Kesler-Hayden, Carl Rushworth and Miguel Angel Brau have been impressive additions and I think Coventry are more than capable of a top-six finish once again.

Leicester City @ 4/1

There is no doubting Leicester have a squad capable of going straight back up. Their wide options of Abul Fatawu and Stephy Mavididi alone are frightening. I saw a goal the former scored in a friendly against Fiorentina at the weekend and the pace and skill on show will strike fear into every left-back in the division.

The Foxes are waiting to find out their punishment for breaching financial regulations. The whispers through the grapevine seem to believe a 10-point deduction might be on its way. It's not ideal for Cifuentes but he is a good coach who can instil winning back into this squad.

Any deduction would seem to rule them out of automatic promotion contention, but the play-offs would be deemed realistic - and they do have a squad capable of winning them.

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