EFL Championship Outright Predictions: Winners, Playoffs, and Relegation Picks

EFL Championship football kicks off in 10 days! Squads are beginning to finalise themselves, coaching decisions have been made, excitement is building, and therefore, predictions are beginning to swirl. Each year, we see numerous ‘final predictions’ appear in our social media feeds, but what are the bookies expecting this Championship season to bring? Football Park has looked at Kwiff Bet’s odds for promotion and relegation from the Championship at the time of writing (30th August 2025). Additionally, attempting to provide reasons behind the numbers and why the experts are predicting such outcomes.

Championship Promotion/Top Six:

1st - Ipswich: 2.00/1.26

The Tractor Boys are a sensible favourite to finish in the top six and gain promotion. Keeping Kieran McKenna was a necessity, and only losing a handful of their stars so far, a huge help for maintaining their squad. Ipswich have also strengthened their backline with the experienced pair of Ashley Young and Cedric Kipre. Azor Matusiwa has also signed at Portman Road from the French top flight.

Ipswich will not want to end up with the same fate as Luton Town in 2024/25. However, with a frontline consisting of Jack Clarke, Sammie Szmodics, Jaden Philogene, Conor Chaplin, and Wes Burns, they are bound to terrorise opponents' defences.

Philogene showed us what he’s really about in his favourable left wing tonight. 👏

With Jaden scoring a brace and playing some great balls through to his fellow teammates and completed some great runs, looking forward to seeing him back in the Championship. 🙌#itfc pic.twitter.com/jOnDdHW4y6

— ITFC Published (@itfcpublished) July 25, 2025

2nd - Southampton: 2.20/1.38

Relegated sides are often favoured to gain promotion with their parachute payments and Premier League-level squad. The Saints almost set records for their poor 2024/25 campaign in the top flight, yet they proved just over 12 months ago that they can bounce back with ease. Now under the management of the highly acclaimed young manager, Will Still, a project looks to be on the horizon at St. Mary’s.

Southampton have brought in Damion Downs and Joshua Quarshie from Germany, adding to a squad with top-end Championship quality players such as Adam Armstrong, Cameron Archer, and Mateus Fernandes.

First minutes 🔋
First goal ⚽️

Damion Downs has arrived 👏 pic.twitter.com/JLcZvZjVKB

— Southampton FC (@SouthamptonFC) July 26, 2025

3rd - Birmingham City: 2.50/1.44

It is rare to see a freshly promoted side placed so highly in outright odds for the top six and promotion, yet it makes sense with the Blues. Refusing to accept a fate that leaves them languishing in the second tier for over a decade, like they did last time. Birmingham is financially backed by Knighthead Capital, an American investment and ownership group with bags of money.

The Blues have arguably had the best transfer window of the Championship so far, bringing in signings from the Premier League and Europe. The likes of Tommy Doyle, Eiran Cashin, Demarai Gray, Bright Osayi-Samuel, and Kyōgo Furuhashi should all thrive in the Championship. With a few more additions, they are bound to challenge for promotion, but whether they can achieve it is a tougher question to answer.

Birmingham City became the fifth team to clinch promotion from League One with 100+ points last term. 💯

On the four previous occasions, three of the centurions have achieved a top ten finish in their first season in the Championship. 👏

Where will the Blues finish? 🤔#BCFC pic.twitter.com/sYCQc48QKJ

— The Championship Chat Podcast (@Champchatpod24) June 18, 2025

4th - Sheffield United: 2.50/1.48

Birmingham City edge the Blades by having slightly lower odds to finish in the top six, but the same decimal when it comes to promotion chances. It is harder these days for the team that lost the playoff final to compete the following year, as their successful squad gets picked apart by competition. However, that has not happened to Sheffield United, with Vinicius Souza their only major loss as he moved to Wolfsburg for £15 million.

Keeping a similar squad to the one that narrowly missed out on Premier League football in May. The only major change at Bramall Lane is the appointment of a new coach, Ruben Selles, who will bring fresh ideas to the club. Whilst being slightly unproven at this end of the Championship, the Spaniard impressed at Hull City last season, and has the tools at his disposal to fight at the top

💯 Sheffield United's results so far this pre-season:

🆚 York City: 6-2 - ✅
🆚 Rotherham United: 5-0 - ✅
🆚 Burton Albion: 2-1 - ✅
🆚 Chesterfield: 4-1 - ✅

Pre-season caveats apply, of course, but the Blades are flexing their muscles under Rubén Sellés! 💪#TwitterBlades pic.twitter.com/XW14uJgxyA

— The Championship Chat Podcast (@Champchatpod24) July 27, 2025

5th - Coventry City: 4.30/1.70

The top four are all relatively close in terms of odds, but the gap drastically stretches down to 5th and 6th place. One of the best ways to try to guess who will finish in a playoff spot is by looking at who did last year. Coventry have finished 5th in two of the last three seasons, evidently having a squad that can compete at the top.

Frank Lampard’s Sky Blues are linked with several players, having only made two permanent first-team signings this window. Who eventually comes in will determine whether Coventry clinches the playoffs again, with some tough competition around them in the table this year.

6th - Leicester City: 4.30/2.10

The Foxes come in as 6th favourites for promotion, certainly different circumstances to two years ago when they last dropped down to the Championship. The ball finally got rolling at the King Power when Marti Cifuentes was appointed as manager two weeks ago. Leicester’s first signing of the season was announced yesterday, a 38-year-old Asmir Begovic on a free deal… And it might not get a lot more exciting than that.

🚨 Official. Leicester City signs Asmir Begovic on a one-year deal. First signing of the season. 🦊💙#LCFC #leicestercity #transfers #Leicester #martí #cifuentes pic.twitter.com/qnxssSEHsy

— LCFC Daily News (@cuzcuzverde) July 29, 2025

Struggling financially due to their unexpected relegation in 2023, long-term player contracts, and managerial changes. Leicester will still be extremely competitive this season, but don’t expect them to storm the Championship as they did in 2023/24.

Championship Relegation:

24th - Sheffield Wednesday: 1.25

No one is surprised that Wednesday are the favourites for relegation, the Owls are managerless, under a transfer embargo, and have an owner who has failed to pay players or staff. Their squad has shrunk to 15 senior players, and it looks to be a very long season at Hillsborough.

DANNY ROHL HAS LEFT SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY🚨

We broke down exactly why the German coach has left Sheffield and what an absolute circus show Wednesday has became under Chansiri!🎪

Which brave soul comes in and replaces him!?👇 #SWFC pic.twitter.com/AX97rBxU0l

— Football Park (@thefootballpark) July 30, 2025

23rd - Oxford United: 2.70

Normally, teams promoted from League One are the favourites to go down, but this year, Birmingham and Wrexham’s rise means that others have to be favoured. So what better choice than last year's relegation favourites who miraculously survived?

The Us have considerably higher odds than Sheffield Wednesday, and have added first-teamers to their squad like Brian De Keersmaecker and Brodie Spencer. However, they still have one of the smaller Championship budgets, and will face critics doubting them every season due to that.

It ends all square.

🟡🟢 #OUFC | FT: 1 - 1 pic.twitter.com/mP6Rt1p84V

— Oxford United (@OUFCOfficial) July 29, 2025

22nd - Charlton Athletic: 2.85

The third favourites to go down are League One Playoff Final winners, Charlton. Edging out the likes of Hull City and Queens Park Rangers. Charlton have recruited well so far, raiding Luton’s squad (Nathan Jones’ former club) to sign Amari’i Bell, Thomas Kaminski, and Reece Burke.

Charlton have confirmed the signing of Charlie Kelman from QPR ✍️

Kelman scored 21 goals in League One while on loan at Leyton Orient last season, claiming the Golden Boot 🥇 pic.twitter.com/czuhgaI0gN

— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) July 27, 2025

The Championship is renowned for its tough and relentless level, and all three of the promoted teams last year finished within five points of the drop zone, so it can be expected that the Addicks will finish hereabouts.