Championship Relegation Odds: No hoot for Owls as League 1 beckons

Cardiff City, Plymouth Argyle and Luton Town all suffered the indignity of relegation from the EFL Championship last season, but who will follow suit in 2025/26?

Below are the Championship Relegation Odds, with one troubled club highly-fancied to drop down to the third tier after a three-year stay...

Sheff Wed @ 2/7

No surprises here, with Sheffield Wednesday in a deepening financial crisis under Dejphon Chansiri and in danger of failing to fulfil their opening Championship fixture against Leicester City on Sunday.

The Owls have seen their highly-coveted head coach, Danny Rohl, depart due to the uncertainty at Hillsborough, joining key players like Josh Windass (Wrexham) out the door, with several more likely to cancel their contracts following late wage payments.

Veteran midfielder Barry Bannan has signed on for the new season, but who he lines up alongside in Wednesday's next game is anyone's guess.

Henrik Pedersen, who had served as Rohl's assistant at Hillsborough since the German's appointment as manager in October 2023, was named as his successor last week, but the Dane, whose last head coach role was in his homeland with Vendsyssel FF two years ago, has a tough task on his hands to even stave off relegation.

Unfortunately for the Owls, relegation already feels inevitable, unless something drastic changes in the coming weeks and months.

Oxford Utd @ 5/2

Second-favourites for relegation are Oxford United, who returned to the second tier last season after a 25-year absence and finished 17th, thanks in no small part to Gary Rowett, who replaced Des Buckingham as head coach on December 20 and oversaw nine victories from 25 league games.

The challenge now, though, is to avoid second-season syndrome and establish the U's as a solidified Championship club.

Striker Mark Harris and defender Greg Leigh top-scored for United in 2024/25, netting six goals apiece in the league, so there is clear work to be done in attack.

Rowett will hope Cagliari loanee Nik Prelec, who struck six times in 31 Austrian Bundesliga appearances for Austria Vienna last season, will go some way to addressing those issues, but another relegation battle appears likely.

With the former Millwall boss at the helm, though, the U's will believe they have the perfect man to lead them to safety again.

Football Odds

Hull City @ 11/4

Hull City survived by the skin of their teeth in 2024/25, drawing 1-1 on the final day at Portsmouth to finish 21st, level on points with Luton Town (22nd), who lost 5-3 at West Bromwich Albion and were relegated due to an inferior goal difference.

It's been a difficult summer for the Tigers, who were placed under a transfer embargo and, as a result, have been limited in this window.

As the division's lowest scorers last season, netting just 44 times in 46 games, the off-season exits of leading marksman Joao Pedro (six goals) and five-goal Leeds United loanee Joe Gelhardt are likely to be keenly felt, especially as they don't appear to have been adequately replaced.

Another campaign of struggle is in the offing, in my opinion, with relegation a real possibility.

Charlton Athletic @ 3/1

Nathan Jones was appointed as Charlton's head coach in February 2024 and, in his first full season with the Addicks, led them to the League 1 play-offs, where they overcame Wycombe Wanderers in the semi-finals before beating Leyton Orient 1-0 in the final at Wembley.

It's been a busy transfer window for the south London club, who have signed Charlie Kelman, Thomas Kaminski and Joe Rankin-Costello, to name a few.

Jones has kept the bulk of last season's squad, with Thierry Small the only significant departure, and added competition for places in the starting XI, so I fancy their chances of at least competing in the second tier.

QPR @ 3/1

After joining the 23rd-placed Hoops on October 30, 2023, Marti Cifuentes led Queens Park Rangers to safety by late April, and in his first full season in charge, kept them up again. QPR finished the 2024/25 campaign in 15th, but Cifuentes was placed on gardening leave before the club's final-day fixture against Sunderland, amid reports that his representatives had been in contact with fellow Championship side West Brom.

A move to The Hawthorns never materalised for Cifuentes, who instead later joined Leicester City, but that was of no concern to the Rs, who subsequently appointed Julien Stephan as their new manager in something of a coup considering the Frenchman's CV, which lists Ligue 1 side Stade Rennais as his most recent destination.

Rumarn Burrell (Burton Albion) and Kwame Poku (Peterborough United) have both been plucked from League 1 after netting double figures in the third tier last season, while Kealey Adamson (Macarthur FC) and Jaylan Pearman (Perth Glory) have joined from the A-League in Australia and could prove handy squad acquisitions.

Moroccan playmaker Ilias Chair remains, too, so the Rs shouldn't lack for goals this year, but can they shore up defensively after conceding 63 Championship goals in 2024/25? A failure to do so could bring them into a relegation battle, but Stephan's appointment in the Loftus Road dugout looks like a shrewd one.

Preston North End @ 7/2

After nine consecutive top-14 finishes following promotion from League 1 in 2014/15, Preston North End were finally sucked into a scrap for survival last season, ending up 20th, just a point above the relegation zone.

Freddie Woodman, Emil Riis and Kaine Kesler-Hayden are among the significant stars to have departed Deepdale, with Daniel Iversen (Leicester City), Odeluga Offiah (Brighton & Hove Albion) and Michael Smith (Sheffield Wednesday) moving the other way.

I don't foresee a promotion push in 2025/26, but under Paul Heckingbottom, I think the Lilywhites will be steady enough to avoid being dragged into another relegation battle.

Championship Odds

Portsmouth @ 5/1

Portsmouth made a successful return to the second tier after winning League 1 in 2023/24, finishing 16th last season, and ended the campaign unbeaten in their final five games.

Several loanees, notably Freddie Potts, may have returned to their parent clubs, but having watched a lot of A-League football last season, I'm a big fan of the Adrian Segecic signing from Sydney FC. The 21-year-old shared the 2024/25 ALM Golden Boot, netting 13 times in 24 appearances, despite not being a nailed-on starter for the first half of the campaign.

Segecic has already got off the mark for Pompey in pre-season, while another young Aussie, 20-year-old striker Thomas Waddingham, who joined from Brisbane Roar in January, has made an impression this summer, too, and could be set for more opportunities this time around.

Josh Murphy, provider of 14 Championship goals last season, should create plenty of opportunities for Segecic, Waddingham and the rest of the forward line to profit from, enough so that John Mousinho isn't worried about heading back to the third tier.

Today's Football Fixtures

Blackburn Rovers @ 5/1

Blackburn Rovers blew hot and cold in the 2024/25 Championship season, highlighted by a five-game losing run between the start of March and April that preceded a six-match unbeaten streak at the end of the campaign, including four consecutive victories that brought them to within a point of the play-offs.

Valerien Ismael has overseen a positive pre-season, too, with four straight wins, including a 1-0 success over Everton, before ending preparations with a 3-1 defeat to Nijmegen on Saturday.

Tyrhys Dolan, Rankin-Costello and Owen Beck are among those to have exited Ewood Park in the summer, but Sidnei Tavares (Moreirense), Dion De Neve, Ryan Alebiosu (both Kortrijk) and Sean McLoughlin (Hull City) have come into the club.

I'm still unsure where I stand on Rovers as it feels like they are one of a few clubs that could end up anywhere, but relegation at 5/1 is a price that could get punters interested.

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