The Championship gets underway this week as Sunderland host Derby and Nottingham Forest face Millwall on Friday night. It has been a long and arduous summer bereft of footballing action and fans will be giddy with excitement ahead of the big kick-off. But who will emerge victorious and secure promotion to the Premiership this season. Here we analyse the leading contenders.
Middlesbrough
Boro are the 7/1 favourites to win the Championship and that looks a fantastic bet. They were prudent upon winning promotion to the Premiership and did not spend too much of the £170 million windfall they received. It caused them to be relegated but leaves them in much better shape than Sunderland and Hull, who gambled on beating the drop with big money signings and now look as though they will struggle in the season ahead amid a summer exodus. Boro meanwhile have kept the majority of the side that battled bravely in the top flight last season and bolstered it with £40 million worth of talent, notably forwards Britt Assombalonga and Martin Braithwaite. Do some research on the betting markets offered by BetOnline and get involved. Boro should finish top of the pile this season.
Aston Villa
The summer capture of John Terry has Villa fans dreaming of a return to the top flight after a couple of years marooned in the Championship. Steve Bruce has a strong track record of getting teams out of this division and supplemented his side with further shrewd signings in the shape of Glenn Whelan and Ahmed Elmohamady. But Villa were 13th last season, well off the pace, and they finished the campaign in poor form. It will take more signings to see them challenge and the 2/1 on offer for them to be promoted does not look attractive.
The Next Wave
There are five Championship stalwarts priced between 3/1 and 9/2: Fulham, Sheff Wed, Wolves, Norwich and Derby. Most of them have been pretty stable in recent seasons and the timing is right for them to launch a push for automatic promotion. Fulham finished the season in great form and were scoring goals for fun, but their defensive brittleness let them down and they have not really corrected that this summer. Wolves have been very ambitious, signing Ruben Neves for £15 million, but their new manager does not have experience at this level and they are a risky choice after finishing 15th last season. Norwich are another high scoring side that struggles defensively, while Derby do not score enough goals. Of this group, Wednesday stand out. They have been on an upward trajectory, finishing sixth two seasons ago and fourth last season. They have been bold in the transfer market and kept hold of Fernando Forestieri, one of the divisions best players, and they look a good option to finish second, with odds of 7/2 available on them to be promoted.
The Rest
You can get 6/1 on Sunderland to be promoted and 13/2 on Hull, huge prices on teams that were playing Premiership football. But the heart has been ripped out of both teams this summer as highly paid stars have moved on, and they are both a shadow of their former selves. Unlike Boro, it will probably take these two a season or two to stabilise before they can challenge again. But Leeds look interesting at 6/1. A poor end to the season cost them a playoff spot last season as they finished seventh, but they have the league’s deadliest striker in Chris Wood and have strengthened with some interesting European talent this summer. They could give the likes of Sheff Wed and Fulham a run for their money in the battle to earn automatic promotion.
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