If the First Few Games of the Season are a Clue, This Season’s EFL Championship Could be the Greatest One Ever

Screamers, Thrillers and Dream Killers Galore - the EFL Championship is Shaping Up Nicely

The English second tier has always had a propensity to surprise, with it being one of the hardest leagues to make a football prediction on. Whether it be scarcely believable play-off drama, on-field controversy, completely unscriptable moments on and off the field or the introduction of a future star, the Championship is well-versed in all of them, and this season, it has taken the drama to another level.

We’re only seven games into the season, but already it feels like we have seen almost everything the league can offer - across the weekend alone, we saw thrashings, thrillers, late winners and chicken dinners as the best second division in the world worked it’s magic once again.

The. Fucking. Scenes. pic.twitter.com/KECbgLNkJ5

— Second Tier podcast (@secondtierpod) September 12, 2026

It feels as though we say this every season, but the question must once again be posed: is the 2026/27 Championship on track to be the best ever?

24-Horse Race

The Sky Bet Championship is unpredictable at the best of times - in very few other leagues does form matter as little as here. A shock result or change in fortunes is only ever 90 minutes away, and in English football’s proving ground, this is abundantly clear.

Just look at the number of sides that have topped the table - in just seven weeks, six separate sides have occupied top spot. West Ham, West Brom, Swansea City, Charlton Athletic, Millwall and QPR have all sat at the peak of the table, with the Swans the only side to do it for consecutive weeks, a testament to have competitive and closely matched so many of the sides involved truly are.

Take the most recent gameweek as an example: Just when a side, such as West Brom, appear to have inserted themselves into the title race discussion, the slip to a surprise 1-1 home draw to QPR, and just when it looks like a team is falling off the pace, like Southampton, the fire back with a 4-1 romping at Bristol City.

The league is a gamblers nightmare, and Burnley serve as a perfect case study. Relegated from the Premier League last season, their squad is, on paper, more than capable of walking back into the top flight without a problem.

And yet, here they sit on three points, zero wins, rock bottom of the table, with 16 goals conceded in 7 games. For context, that is the same number they conceded in the entire 2024/25 season, which saw them earn 100 points and still miss out on the title to fellow centurions Leeds.

Burnley have already conceded as many goals in the Championship this season as they did in their entire promotion-winning campaign under Scott Parker - and it isn’t hard to see why. 😬

(Credit - @SwansOfficial) #UTC #TwitterClarets #EFL pic.twitter.com/WeT6SCaUlQ

— 72cast (@weare72cast) September 13, 2026

It’s not the usual suspects that are cooking up the surprises either - the new kids on the block in Bolton, Lincoln and Cardiff have also managed to shock a few. Seven weeks into the season, and none of the trio sit in the relegation zone - in Lincoln and Bolton’s cases, both already have two wins to their name, illustrating that despite the vast disparity’s in quality between the second and third tier, teams that do the right transfer business have more than a fair chance of survival in the former.

No More Yo-Yo Dominance

While West Ham sit top of the Championship right now, it is far from dominance. They may have beaten Wrexham 6-0 last weekend, but their loss to Charlton and draw to bottom of the table Burnley highlights just how easy it is for even the biggest team in the league (by a margin) to drop points.

Wolves have hardly looked convincing after finishing rock-bottom of the Premier League last season, and as discussed, Burnley have looked utterly woeful. Clarets right-back Kyle Walker hasn’t won a competitive game since a 3-2 victory away to Crystal Palace in February!

The three relegated sides contrasting starts to the season further highlights the fact that the era of the yo-yo club could well be over. Throughout the 2010s, the likes of Burnley, West Brom and Norwich City all bounced between the Premier League and Championship almost constantly., making whichever league in which they were competing that little bit predictable.

Now, it seems we are leaving that era behind - with Luton Town and then Leicester City’s back to back relegations indicating that relegation from the Premier League is increasingly favouring continual failure rather than renewed success, the door has been opened for other sides to take advantage and fill the niche.

Liquid football 🤌 pic.twitter.com/wQ4QYxBfZm

— Swansea City AFC (@SwansOfficial) September 1, 2026

Swansea City, QPR, Middlesbrough and, perhaps surprisingly, Charlton, have all been stranded in the Championship for years. In fact the most recent season of any of these four in the top flight was Swansea, back in 2017/18, showing how difficult it can be to recover from a top flight relegation.

However, now well adjusted to the second tier conditions and given a window of opportunity by struggling relegated teams, these sides have taken their chance and thrust themselves right into the promotion discussion - with two extra spots up for grabs in the play-offs this season, there is even more incentive to push their limits.

Stars and Stardust

For all the surprises and shocks being thrown up by the clubs themselves, arguably the most noticeable difference between this campaign and previous is the level of quality throughout the division - the standard feels as high as it has ever been.

Cyle Larin, who netted twice for Canada at the World Cup, is in the form of his life with seven Championship goals to his name, Will Lankshear has had a superb start to life at Middlesbrough with five, and Jarrod Bowen has highlighted just why he is considered the best player in the league with seven goals and assists so far for West Ham.

However, the recognised talent and the highly-rated youngsters are not the only players taking the league by storm - there is plenty of new talent on the block too.

Bristol City picked up two of the best, getting striker pairing 21-year-old Dom Ballard and 24-year-old Lorent Tolaj, the two top scorers from League One in 2025/26. With 39 third tier goals between them in just one season, they both arrive for their first season of Championship football highly-rated, and with two goals apiece to their names thus far, you feel;; they’re only getting started.

It’s the same across the division - while the established talent has been fit and firing in abundance, new faces including Jimmy-Jay Morgan, Rio Cardines, Sebastian Berhalter and many more have stood out, not for their name and the reputation that comes with, but for their endeavours to create one.

Then there are the moments - my goodness, have we been treated so far!

Ballard scored a Puskas Award worthy goal in just his third game for Bristol (seriously, watch it), Southampton’s Wellington struck one of the sweetest long-range strikes I;ve ever seen with my own eyes, and in between, there has hardly been a game without an eye-catching goal, stunning save, or a late, result-altering finish.

RIDICULOUS FINISH! 😮‍💨

The perfect start to life in the #SkyBetChampionship for Dom Ballard.#EFL | @BristolCity pic.twitter.com/iszgVg30q5

— Sky Bet Championship (@SkyBetChamp) August 22, 2026

It’s still early days, and knowing my luck, we’ll probably get a goalless gameweeks at the weekend after this article goes live. However, right now, the Championship really is looking like the honorary sixth member of Europe’s top five leagues. It can’t get any better, can it?