Championship Candidates: Which Team Will Rise to The Top?

The Championship is the English’s football second tier, right below arguably the best League in the world, the mythical Premier League. If there is a place every football player has the dream to play and shine, it is the English Premier League, and that’s not different from any of the teams in the English second tier.

The competition is fierce and there are plenty of teams in the Championship that would pose a problem in many countries’ first leagues, due to the sheer quality present in most of the squads. Only 3 teams can go up, and it’s anyone’s guess at this point, so we need all information we can get, such as live statistics and filterable trends, as to better understand and appreciate the good game.

Last year, the historical Leeds United managed to climb to the top floor of English football, along with Fulham and West Bromwich Albion. While Leeds, led by Marcelo Bielsa, managed to achieve an incredible 9^th place, the other two teams didn’t have the same luck, and ended up where they started back in 2020.

Since these teams just left Premier League, it is safe to ponder that their squads, morphed for the Premier League, have a considerable edge, compared to the rest of the teams. Assuming it as a differentiating element, we can no doubt disregard them as favorites for once again achieving the instant promotion. They aren’t, however, the only teams that can dream to reach the top in the home of football. Let’s check out some teams to look out for in this next season!

Fulham FC

Fulham was overall disappointing in their endeavor in the Premier League, proving they weren’t at all ready for the top flight. However, there’s already a very good news for the club: Marco Silva will be their new head coach. Marco has a lot of Premier League experience, and he’s also no stranger at promoting teams. His start as a coach was at Estoril Praia, Portugal, where he led Estoril to the Primeira Liga, achieving a 5^th place in their first season on the league. With players like Mitrovic, Cavaleiro and Adarabyoio, just to name a few, Fulham FC poses itself as the main contender for Championship Gold.

West Bromwich Albion

WBA suffered almost the same faith as Fulham FC in the last season: as a term of comparisons, both teams only managed to snatch 1 point in their last 5 league games on the Premier League. The same, then, can be said about the overall incapacity to perform to the top league’s standards. This is not to say, obviously, that they aren’t more than ready for the Championship, all over again. Assuming they can keep their best talents, like Matheus Pereira, Sam Johnstone or the incredible seasoned Ivanovic (yes, that one), and Valérien Ismaël can accomplish the same feats than he did at Barnsley, WBA stands as one of the best positioned teams to reach the Premier League once again.

Sheffield United

Sheffield United was the punching bag of the Premier League last season. Chris Wilder failed to impose the quality of his team on the Premier League and, as such, was sacked even before the end of the season. After a small stint from Heckingbottom, serving as interim, Sheffield United hired Jovanović, with the hopes to once again reach the Premier League. If we are to look at Sheffield’s squad, one is impressed with their position in the last season; Sander Berge is one of the biggest prospects in Europe, Brewster is exploding as a forward, and then players like Ramsdale and Jagielka should in theory provide stability to the team. Lest the coach knows how to position all the pieces at his disposal this season, there’s no reason that Sheffield can’t be a contender for the Championship title.