EFL Championship Predictions: Tractor Boys to rev their way to the title
The Championship makes its long-awaited return this weekend as the 2025/26 season gets underway. To help build up the excitement, we have collaborated with football analyst StatmanDave, who has delivered his EFL Championship Predictions.
Below you will find his 1-24 selections for the upcoming campaign.
Championship Outright Odds
Here is Statman Dave's 1-24 in full. If you agree/disagree with him then you can find all the Championship Odds available on Betfred.com and you can also message Dave on X to give him your predictions!
24th - Sheffield Wednesday
The Owls are in a right mess; a financial crisis, late payments to HMRC, multiple failures to pay the wages of players and staff members, and rising debts. Sheffield Wednesday only have 16 first-team players currently, with captain Barry Bannan signing a new deal on reduced terms. Danny Rohl has left but his assistant Henrik Pedersen is taking the reins at Hillsborough.
The club is in an awful position under the ownership of Thai businessman Dejphon Chansiri and will finish this season bottom of the Championship. As Sir Alex Ferguson would say, there’s no doubt about that.
23rd - Oxford United
Oxford United surprised everyone last season with a 17th-place finish in the Championship. A lot of credit should sit with Gary Rowett. The former Birmingham City manager took charge of the U’s in December without a win in eight with the club joint-rock bottom of the Championship. He flipped their form, going unbeaten in eight, winning five and drawing three.
This season may be a step too far for Oxford United. The underlying data wasn’t great from last season. They were 23rd in the division on expected points, had the second-worst record in terms of xG (creating chances) and only Stoke and the three relegated sides finished with a worse goal difference. All in all, you can’t run from data forever.
22nd - Preston North End
Preston’s transfer business could only be described as scattergun. They have signed a 28-year-old Montenegrin left back from Mexico, Thierry Small from Charlton, Daniel Iversen from Leicester and Daniel Jebbison on loan from Bournemouth. These signings will have to adapt to life at Deepdale fast and, frankly, even the best case scenario with these deals probably won’t be enough. They’ve been escaping death for a while now and it’ll catch up with them this season.
Odds correct at time of publishing.
21st - Watford
The underlying data wasn’t great from last season. They were 23rd in the division on expected points, had the second-worst record in terms of xG (creating chances) and only Stoke and the three relegated sides finished with a worse goal difference. They could easily go down, but I have them just about staying afloat due to the other teams just being worse.
20th - Hull City
Hull have done incredibly poorly under the Acun Medya ownership. They’ve waved goodbye to two very good managers in Liam Rosenior and Ruben Selles. Both of those managers have landed really good jobs after leaving the club and Hull City are going nowhere fast. Hull’s lack of continuity and vision will once again see them in a relegation battle. The business that they’ve been doing more recently is solid enough and should see them stay ahead of the teams I’ve covered so far.
19th - Derby County
There’s a huge range of potential outcomes for Derby County this season. John Eustace is a very good manager at this level and has brought some decent players over from Blackburn Rovers who he should be able to get a tune out of. Bobby Clark, who had immense potential as a youngster but has struggled to kick on at senior level, is a really interesting project player to keep an eye on and has the kind of raw ability that could propel his side up the league.
I’m not as keen on them as many people seem to be overall, they’ll do well to drag themselves away from the relegation conversation. Anything more would be a bonus.
18th - Stoke City
Since dropping down to the second tier under Paul Lambert in 2018, Stoke City’s league finishes are as follows: 16th, 15th, 14th, 14th, 16th, 17th, 18th. The 2025/2026 campaign will be another unremarkable one for The Potters but I can’t see them slipping any further down the league unless they’re to lose Viktor Johansson - who has saved around 23 goals more than we’d expect based on xG over the past three seasons.
The most recent reports are that he’s saying put, so there’s not too much to worry or get excited about here.
17th - Wrexham
They have brought in Premier League experience in the form of Conor Coady and Lewis O’Brien from Leicester and Forest. Coady is a great signing who will easily slot into Phil Parkinson’s 3-5-2 and add leadership into the centre of their back three.
My slight concern with Wrexham is the expectation. After three consecutive promotions, straight from the National League to the Championship, this will be the first real test of the 'McReynolds' ownership. Many may assume that Wrexham will be in the running for a fourth promotion in a row, but the combination of quality in the division as well as the style of football Phil Parkinson has Wrexham playing may not be a good combination.
Wrexham only saw 47% of the ball in League 1 and giving their opponents the ball in the Championship is a recipe for disaster. This was an extremely unpopular take on The Sportsman Untitled’s season preview show (see above) - but I really do think they’ll struggle.
Odds correct at time of publishing.
16th - QPR
QPR start another season with a new manager. Frenchman Julien Stephan takes charge of the Rs hoping to build on a successful time in France with Rennes. He managed the French club on two separate occasions winning the Coupe de France in 2019. He has a great reputation for developing young talents, having played a key role in the early careers of players like Raphinha, Eduardo Camavinga, Jeremy Doku and Désiré Doué.
That bodes well for his tenure in the English capital generally, especially with the likes of Kwame Poku following him through the door, but they’ll be a transitional period to go through first and I think it’ll be a pretty modest first season. They should absolutely stick with the new gaffer, though.
15th - Portsmouth
Portsmouth have signed John Swift from West Bromwich Albion with the hope he can add more creativity into Pompey. Last season the burden fell on Josh Murphy’s shoulders who finished the season with 14 assists, two more than his brother Jacob managed in the Premier League.
They stuck with John Mousinho last season and will be rewarded with another season of stability. In fact, they are the only Championship club (excluding those coming back down from the Premier League) who start this season with the same manager that they had this time last year. They’ll be solid and unspectacular but will continue building a great foundation to kick on from.
14th - Blackburn Rovers
There are things to like about this Blackburn side. Makhtar Gueye is a handful, Yuku Ohashi is a lovely little player and Todd Cantwell is one of the most gifted players in the division - when he wants to be. Putting it all together under their disastrous ownership is nowhere near as easy as it sounds, though.
13th - Swansea City
Alan Sheehan looks like a really capable coach. His Swansea side beat Derby County, Plymouth Argyle, Sunderland, Hull and QPR in successive games in April. That was Swans’ best winning run since the day of Roberto Martinez. When you look under the hood, things look even better. The Welsh side were statistically the best pressing team in the division last season.
I don’t necessarily expect fireworks here - they’ll be solid enough - but keep an eye on them more generally. They’re a club on the up, I reckon.
12th - Bristol City
There'll be a significant regression here. I wasn’t massively convinced of Bristol City last season and felt that their place in the table flattered them. Their expected goal difference had them 11th in the league and I reckon that’s around where they’ll finish this term.
Liam Manning is a massive loss and nothing that I’ve seen from or read about Gerhard Struber has suggested to me that his arrival will do anything to soften the blow. Compared to last season, they’ll probably be the biggest under-performers of the season.
Odds correct at time of publishing.
11th - Charlton Athletic
The Addicks have been very active in the market following their playoff win last season. Instead of shopping in the Premier League like Birmingham City, they have bought well from League 1.
Most notably signing striker Charlie Kelman from QPR and Rob Apter from Blackpool. Charlie Kelman spent last season on loan at Leyton Orient in League 1 and ended the season as the top scorer in the division with 23 goals as well as five assists. He looks like a very good finisher and deceptively good in the box with his head considering his short statue. He will be an excellent addition to Nathan Jones’ side.
Apter will also provide a goal threat for Jones. He finished last season in League 1 with Blackpool with 8 goals and three assists. A left footed right winger, Apter has the ability to go both ways when taking on full back. Apter completed more progressive carries than any other player in League 1 last season.
There’s plenty of quality here, Charlton will be threatening the top ten upon their return to the second tier!
10th - West Brom
Last season the Baggies were flying under Carlos Corberan with the seventh-most points in the Championship. They picked up just 29 points in 24 games after he left for Valencia. Meanwhile, Valencia turned their fortunes around in a big way. Tom Fellows - last season’s leading provider in the Championship - is an exciting talent but the Baggies need more quality if they’re really going to kick on.
Ryan Mason shows promise as a manager but he’s obviously an unknown quantity. The combination of a lack of real quality in the final third and a manager who has no real track record to speak off puts me off backing the Baggies to finish much higher than here.
9th - Middlesbrough
In 2025, 16 teams have picked up more points in the Championship than Middlesbrough. However, with a talented young midfield in Hayden Hackney, Aidan Morris & Finn Azaz, there’s enough reason for me to believe that they can arrest that form and finish inside the top ten.
Rob Edwards showed in his first season at Luton Town that he can squeeze that little bit extra out of a squad and if Boro can keep hold of Hackney for one more season they should be fine.
8th - Millwall
I think Millwall will have another solid campaign. They’ll continue to be a tricky side to play against under Alex Neil and I can’t see them losing too many games. Can I see that being enough for a spot in the play-offs? Sadly not.
They’ll likely improve on the 47 goals in 46 games that they managed last term but going from a lack of output that severe to a promotion charge just seems unrealistic in such a short amount of time. I love their striker Mihailo Ivanovic - he’s physically dominant and a brilliant technical finisher who isn’t afraid to put in the hard yards; he reminds me a lot of Sergej Milinkovic-Savic.
I could see him having an excellent season but if he takes that next step up early on in the campaign they could lose him before the window shuts or in January. Outside of him, I don’t see enough talent for a promotion-level attack to form and so they’ll end up just outside of the play-off spots once again.
Odds correct at time of publishing.
7th - Norwich City
The good news is that I expect a significant improvement from last time out, the bad news is that they’ll just miss out on the play-offs. Liam Manning is a brilliant coach and his positional play principles will fit the style of football that Norwich fans want to see well. However, those principles demand consistency and there are just too many question marks at Carrow Road for me to back a top-six finish.
Between the reported interest on the continent, the injury record and the shadow of the upcoming US World Cup, I just can’t trust Josh Sargent and Norwich are a much worse side without him. Manning’s system is demanding of his striker too and anybody they were to bring in, regardless of their actual quality, would be afforded a period of adaptation.
If Sargent was to follow Borja Sainz through the exit door, that would be 34 goals that Norwich have to find from elsewhere in the squad or through the transfer market. I don’t see it.
6th - Coventry City
I really like what Frank Lampard’s doing at Coventry City. Since the England icon came in, they’ve had the second youngest average starting XI in the division and have picked up the second most points of any side remaining in the second tier. I expect that they’ll continue to be one of the best teams to watch in the division this season. I’ve seen the idea that pressure is on Lampard to “prove something” this term but I think that’s slightly unfair.
He’s still a pretty green manager and has worked almost exclusively in awkward circumstances: he was being primed for the Chelsea job pretty much as soon as he joined Derby, he had the transfer ban to deal with when he arrived at Stamford Bridge and heightened external expectations due to his over-performance in that situation.
Everton were in dire straits when he turned up there and a lesser manager could easily have taken them down.I’d like to see him given time and patience at Coventry because the side he’s building there is very exciting but very young. There’s the catalyst for a top two side in here - I believe - but for now it’ll be another season of trying their luck in the play-offs.
5th - Sheffield United
The Blades are particularly hard to place this season, there’s a lot of upheaval but there’s also a lot of quality. Michael Cooper is one of the very best stoppers in the division, Gus Hamer is probably the best playmaker in the Championship and Tyrese Campbell is a very real contender for the Golden Boot.
Ruben Selles is a very good manager but balancing the expectation that comes at a club this size with a squad this good with the fact that the teams around them are strengthening significantly is tricky.
A few years back, this Sheffield United side would’ve been almost certain to land themselves an automatic promotion spot but with the quality ahead of them in this article I just do not see it. They’ve every chance of going up through the play-offs this time around, though.
4th - Birmingham City
Tom Brady’s Birmingham City. It still sounds weird, doesn’t it? The former New England Patriots quarterback has done a great job since switching codes and moving into coaching. Hold on. I joke. Chris Davies’ Birmingham City have been one of the most exciting sides in the football league since he took over as manager. Brendan Rodger’s former assistant boasts the best win rate of any manager in the Blue’s 150-year history at 73%.
Birmingham haven’t been afraid to splash the cash under their American owners. They smashed the League 1 transfer record bringing Jay Stansfield to the club for a reported £15 million (rising to £20 million with incentives). This season they have continued in the same vein, bringing in former Celtic hitman Kyogo Furuhashi from Rennes for around £10 million. The Japanese forward will be playing in the Championship this season after scoring in the Champions League last season for Celtic.
Birmingham have added to their squad signing Nigerian full-back Bright Osayi-Samuel and homegrown winger Demarai Gray, as well as Wolves midfielder Tommy Doyle and Euro Under-21 winning goalkeeper James Beadle on loan.
So far, Birmingham have spent the fourth most money in the Championship. They are pushing for promotion.
Odds correct at time of publishing.
3rd - Leicester City
I think the Foxes will miss out on automatic promotion. Even though they’ve got a squad filled with Championship level talents - with the likes of Fatawu & Mavididi key to Enzo Maresca’s 23/24 Championship title win - I think a lack of quality in both boxes will ultimately cost them.
Jamie Vardy has left whilst Patson Daka only managed four non-penalty goals in Maresca’s title winning side. Meanwhile in goal, Mads Hermansen has reportedly agreed personal terms with West Ham and free transfer Asmir Begovic was statistically the third-worst shot stopper the last time he played in the Championship (23/24 -7.7 PSxG for QPR).
There’s also a potential 10-point deduction looming over Leicester so for me, automatic promotion is a no go - but they’ll make the playoffs as they still fundamentally have a strong Championship squad.
2nd - Southampton
I am very excited to see Will Still in England. An outstanding out of possession coach, Still deploys a well organised man to man press and last season his Lens team ranked third in Ligue 1 for PPDA, challenge Intensity and conceded the third-fewest goals.
With solid young recruitment from Germany’s second tier in Joshua Quarshie and Damion Downes adding to an already top-end Championship squad, I expect Southampton to get promoted to the Premier League. That might not be the boldest shout in the world, but here’s something else… I’m pretty confident that they’ll STAY in the Premier League the season after next under Will Still’s tutelage.
1st - Ipswich Town
The Tractor Boys have assembled a squad of Championship superstars. Jacob Greaves, Sammie Szmodics, Jacob Philogene, Leif Davis, the experienced Ashley Young and physical monster Azor Matusiwa. This squad is a serious upgrade on the one that McKenna collected 96 points with.
Kieran McKenna is the best manager in the division and he has the best squad, that’s a pretty simple formula for winning the league as far as I am concerned. Sam Morsy is a noteworthy loss to the club but Ajax academy graduate Matusiwa is an inspired replacement so I wouldn’t lose too much sleep over that.
Liam Delap would’ve been a cheat code back in the second tier but they can call upon Szmodics, who banged in 27 goals in his last Championship campaign and became the first Blackburn player since Alan Shearer to hit 30+ in all competitions.
George Hirst is a fine goalscorer at this level and will work superbly with the dynamic band of three behind him but McKenna and his team should - in the background - start thinking about who plays up front when they get back into the Premier League.
Because they absolutely will be. And they’re going up as champions this time.
Odds correct at time of publishing.
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