The EFL Championship Begins Tonight! Our Predictions for the Title, Promotion, Playoffs and Relegation 26/27

Our 26/27 EFL Championship Predictions

The long-awaited return of England's second tier comes to an end tonight, with newly relegated Wolverhampton Wanderers hosting Blackburn Rovers at Molineux as the home side look to bounce back to the Premier League at the first time of asking.

With the new EFL Championship campaign set to begin again, here are our predicitons for all the key spots throughout the league table at both ends from promotion, playoffs and who will be facing relegation to League One.

Title Winners: West Ham United

An obvious and perhaps boring choice? Perhaps, but there is no doubt that West Ham enter the new Championship season as the strongest placed team to finish top of the table and claim the league trophy.

The Hammers saw their 15-year-long stay in the top flight come to an end on the final day of the 25/26 Premier League season nearly three months ago, but despite losing both Mateus Fernandes and Crysencio Summerville, the core of the squad that went down remains, including captain and talisman Jarrod Bowen as well as a bucketload of spending money from the two aforementioned sales.

Keeping Bowen at the London Stadium acts as a huge boost to West Ham, with the 29-year-old more than capable of plying his trade for many sides in the Premier League - however, the forward has committed to the Irons and is no doubt expected to be the best player in the second tier.

Manager Nuno Espirito Santo is also staying around, and the last time the Portuguese coach was in the Championship makes for hopeful reading for Hammers fans, with Santo helping Wolves to a dominant title-winning campaign back in 2017/18 before reaching Europe with the Old Gold side the season after.

Automatic Promotion: Wolverhampton Wanderers

Speaking of Old Gold, joining West Ham in the top two and also returning to the Premier League at the first time of asking, we believe, will be Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Again, perhaps a more route one shout, but just like the Hammers Wolves have managed to keep the majority of their Premier League squad together, with Joao Gomes' £35 million move to Aston Villa the only major sale made by the Black Country club so far.

Alongside that, big-name experienced players have also joined the side, with Kieran Tripper and Raul Jimenez signing on free transfers. Jimenez in particular will be extremely popular with Wolves supporters, as the 35-year-old Mexican striker scored 57 goals for the club during his previous five-year spell.

Trippier too brings a wealth of experience and top-flight quality, whilst winger Rafiki Saïd has joined from Belgian outfit Standard Liege.

New manager César Peixoto may be a relative unkown to English football, but the squad at his disposal has more than enough quality to return to the Premier League.

Who Will Make The Playoffs?

For the first time ever, the playoff spots in the EFL Championship have expanded, adding two extra spots in 7th and 8th to make up six places overall.

Southampton

Southampton, the current villains of English football after the 'spygate' incident that saw their place in the playoff final stripped away and a -4 point deduction set on them for the beginning of the new season.

Despite that, we believe they have enough to make the playoff spots.

Tonda Eckert, despite his wrongdoing, showed his quality as a coach to get the Saints to the playoff final initially, and will look to do the same once more this season.

Midfielder Shea Charles is a big loss, however Lewis Dobbin, Daniel Peretz and Divin Mubama are suitable additions to go along with an already solid squad which is undoubtedly up there with one of the strongest in the division.

Middlesbrough

The end of the 25/26 season must have felt like something of a whirlwind to Boro supporters, with the club initially losing their playoff semi-final to Southampton, being given a spot in the final regardless, then losing again at Wembley to a last minute Oli Mcburnie strike for Hull City.

The Teeside club will be hurting after the loss of star midfielder and last season's EFL Championship Player of the Year Hayden Hackney to Everton, but the signing of 21-year-old striker Will Lankshear from Tottenham brings more firepower to an already strong forward line which includes Morgan Whittaker and Tommy Conway.

Goalkeeper Radek Vítek, left-back Max Arfsten and winger Jeremy Sarmiento are also good additions, with manager Kim Hellberg well placed for another strong promotion push.

Millwall

Last year was so nearly Millwall's year...

Having only played top flight football for two seasons in their entire history back between 1988-1990, Millwall's 25/26 season felt different, with the Lions charging towards an automatic promotion spot for much of the campaign before settling for third, one point away from second place and with a place in the playoffs. However, they saw themselves beaten by eventual final winners Hull.

As it stands, Alex Neil and the Lions are yet to lose any major names, with key attackers Mihailo Ivanovic, Femi Azeez and Josh Coburn seemingly staying at the Den whilst money has been spent on Mathis Servias from KV Mechelen in Belgium and Elkan Baggott from Ipswich.

Strong, hard to beat and intimidating at home, Millwall have the tools to once more earn a spot in the playoffs, where they will hope this year could be their year to achieve the ultimate dream of a place in the Premier League.

Norwich City

Norwich City looked doomed in the opening months of the 25/26 season, sat in the relegation zone as one of the worst performing teams in the league.

And then, on 18th November, everything changed as Belgian manager Phillippe Clement arrived at Carrow Roda after the sacking of Liam Manning, and the impact the former Rangers manager had on the club cannot be underestimated.

In the second half of the campagin, the Canaries were one of the form teams in the division, and in the end managed a top half finish in 9th place.

The Norwich squad is one of the younger with just two players over the age of 30, and with talented players such as Mohammed Toure, Ante Crnac and Papa Diallo, the momentum set by Clement could see Norwich compete near the top of the Championship table.

Birmingham City

One of the most exciting projects in English football, Birmingham's new Amercian-based ownership is ambitious, and the club is set for the top flight in the near future - Chris Davies' side will look to achieve that aim this campagin.

Expectations were high at St. Andrews last season, with the eventual 10th place finish seen as something of a disappointment despite the club only just being promoted from the third tier. Despite that, Davies has retained the faith of the owners.

Big money striker signing Kyogo Furuhashi has left the club after a poor spell, whilst 21-year-old central midfielder Jhon Solís has joined alongside defender Luis Vasquez and Kristoffer lund has replaced Kai Wagner at left-back.

A playoff spot for the Blues will be the target as they look to reclaim their place in the English top flight.

Swansea City

Claiming the final spot in the expanded playoffs, in what could be seen as a slightly rogue shout, we believe it could be Swansea City after back-to-back 11th place finishes.

The Swans had the top scorer in the division last campagin, with Slovenian striker Zan Vipionik hitting 23 league goals, and the striker, as it stands, is set to stay in South Wales alongside fellow striker Adam Idah who make up one of the strongest forward lines in the division.

The Welsh side entered last season well, winning three of their last five matches and, despite Ethan Galbaith's move to Stoke City, exciting signings have been made, with 20-year old winger Joseph Opoku joining from Belgium alongside fellow winger Moussa Yeo with striker Ross Stewart and defender Stephan Welsh on free transfers.

If manager Vitor Manos can get the squad going, it could be a memorable season for Swansea City.

Who Will Be Relegated?

Lincoln City

Lincoln City enjoyed the greatest season in the club's history last season, as they stormed to the EFL League One title to earn a place in the second tier for the first time ever.

However, the manager who masterminded their title success Michael Skubala has left the club to become the head coach at Bristol City.

Alongside that, the squad is not quite cut out for Championship football, and although they will no doubt give it a right go, we expect a swift return to the third tier for the Imps

Blackburn Rovers

A proud, historical club, the Venky's era has been nothing short of a disaster at Ewood Park, with falling attendances and poor football resulting in the club feeling totally different to the glory days of the 1990's.

Blackburn narrowly escaped relegation last time out, finishing 20th place, but this year could be different and see Blackburn slip into the third tier for just the second time since 1974.

Charlton Athletic

Just like Blackburn, Charlton Athletic flirted with relegation back to League One following their promotion, but Nathan Jones and the Addicks face a battle this season to repeat those efforts.

Charlton have seen multiple players join the club, yet none have arrived for any kind of transfer fee. With free transfers for striker Karlan Grant and defender Nathaniel Chalobah the signings completed by Charlton so far.

There are question marks surrounding the Valley squad and whether it is strong enough to stay in the division.