The Championship season pauses for breath this week as international football takes centre stage, and there will no doubt be clubs near the bottom ready to push the panic button. I’ve taken a look at the current relegation odds to try and find some value.

Sheffield Wednesday to be relegated @ 2/5

When assessing the current bottom three it would be very easy to consign all of them to relegation right now. The bookies certainly don’t rate their chances as Rotherham United are 1/3 to go down, Sheffield Wednesday are 2/5 and QPR are 5/6. However, there’s a long way to go in the season and with potential managerial changes I wouldn’t be keen to back the Millers or QPR at that price. 

However, Sheffield Wednesday are nothing short of a disaster at the minute. Having parted company with Darren Moore over the summer, they hired and have now subsequently had to fire Xisco Munoz. They sit bottom of the table, are yet to win a game so far this season and have amassed just three points. 

Now, their new manager may inspire them to some sort of uplift, but he’ll be doing so on a background of uncertainty under Dejphon Chansiri. Added to this, the squad simply doesn’t look anywhere near good enough to compete in the Championship, as we have seen so far this season. 2/5 is a short price, but Wednesday have little to no chance of staying up this season. 

Watford to be relegated @ 10/1

The short prices and three poor teams at the bottom do make it tough to pick out a long shot, but there is one price that caught my eye. Watford. The Hornets were only in the Premier League in 2021/22, but since then have suffered from a fall from grace. They are currently 20th in the Championship, and have won just two of their 11 matches so far. 

Normally, this sort of form at Vicarage Road would see the manager given the boot, but Watford took the unusual step last week of rewarding Valerien Ismael with a new contract. He only got the job in the summer, so this strange move doesn’t feel like it fits with the Pozzo’s usual strategy. 

If results don’t pick up, they will have to make a change at some point. The squad looks like a competitive mid-table outfit on paper, but as of yet, they’ve been unable to get going so far this term. The 10/1 price is reflective that this is somewhat of a longshot. However, if this squad experiences more managerial uncertainty, there is no guarantee they will be able to pull themselves away from danger.