EFL Championship Winner Predictions – Is It Over Already?

The Championship is an exciting and popular football league not just in England but in Europe as well. While it doesn’t have the worldwide support of foreign fans like the Premier League, it still boasts high attendance and viewership numbers. A league that’s been around for more than 100 years, it was also reformed a few times. It’s undoubtedly the strongest secondary football league in the world and its teams could hold their own in other competitions too. In this article, we’ll talk about the EFL Championship winner predictions, which teams are most likely to be promoted to the Premier League, and which teams will return to the Championship.

Magic does happen in football and it’s also present in the Championship. Many teams have been promoted from or relegated to the Championship over the years. Some of these teams are more successful than others. It’s also not uncommon that a sudden increase in performance bodes well with teams that advance from here to the Premier League. This is an old and prestigious league and the competition is not for the title alone, but a guaranteed promotion as well. We expand this article on the topic of this year’s EFL Championship winner predictions. While predicting the Premier League winners is usually not a hard task, that’s not the case with the Championship. Discover who will break records while paving the way for other Championship teams.

Quick Summary Of Recent Years In The Championship

The English Football League Championship, EFL Championship, or most commonly, the Championship is one of the most popular leagues in the world. It’s the highest division in the English Football League and second overall in the English football system. The competition in the Championship is tough as teams compete to advance to the Premier League or avoid relegation to Football League One. For example, many refer to the Championship as a “secondary league” yet its teams and players are better than many of Europe’s top league teams. It consists of 22 English and 2 Welsh football teams. Both the Championship and the Premier League change yearly so it’s always great to see how far each team can go. Both promotion and relegation apply to three teams. A few times the Championship’s viewership numbers exceeded some of the biggest leagues in Europe.

Last season’s top three consisted of Norwich, Watford, and Brentford. Alternatively, Fulham, West Brom, and Sheffield United were relegated from the Premier League. They were more than 10 points behind the “safe” 17th position. Promotion works a bit differently. The two top teams get promoted and the teams from 3rd to 6th position enter a playoff tournament for the last remaining spot. The EFL Championship winner predictions are almost as popular in England as predicting the Premier League winners. Average attendance for Championship games is higher than in many primary leagues in the world. Most online sportsbooks in the UK predict that Fulham will finish 1st this year and will go straight back to the Premier League. English football is entertaining because it’s not that predictable. Leicester had one of the best title-run ever, being promoted to the Premier League in 2014 and winning the league in 2016.

EFL Championship Winner Predictions Are in Favor of Fulham

The Championship will have its 46th and final matchday on 7 May. We’re already past the half-season mark and a few teams are starting to separate from the crowds. Fulham is the only team so far with more than 60 points this season. While sites like Bet365 Sportsbook already have Fulham winning the Championship with 1.16 (86.2%) odds, the competition is much tougher for the following spots. Striker Aleksandar Mitrović is on the path to break the goal-scoring record for a season since the league’s inauguration in 2004-2005. Ivan Toney and Glenn Murray hold the record with 30 goals each. Mitrović netted two goals in Fulham’s 3-0 victory over Millwall on 8 February. The team is also lucky to have midfielder Harry Wilson, who is second in assists this season with 10. These guys are almost guaranteed to get back into the Premier League after this season.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBzcJBv8Zok

Regarding the current and most likely future top goal scorer Mitrović, his odds are immaculate. The competition is not even close and his odds for top goal scorer of the season are 1.01 (99%). Ben Brereton of Blackburn comes in second with currently 20 goals and odds of 34.00 (2.9%). The last time Fulham was promoted to the Premier League was in the 2019-2020 season. They finished in the 4th spot but advanced due to winning the playoffs. Only this time, they are looking a bit stronger and have a real chance to avoid relegation the next season. Manchester City is favored to win the Premier League this year again if you were wondering how things are in the top league. We know EFL Championship winner predictions favor Fulham but let’s look at the chances of others for promotion.

Promotions and Relegations

At the end of the 2020-2021 season, Norwich City, Watford, and Brentford were promoted to the Premier League. They also finished the season in this order. Norwich won its second Championship title, tying it for the most with Newcastle United, Reading, Sunderland, and Wolverhampton. Norwich and Watford are currently struggling in the Premier League as they sit on the bottom of the table in the 18th and 19th positions. Brentford seems to be in a safer spot, at least for now. Back in the Championship, the competition for the promotions is pretty exciting. Fulham seems like the clear winner but the other two remaining positions can be occupied by a lot of teams. Blackburn, Bournemouth, QPR, Huddersfield, West Brom, Luton, Middlesbrough, and Nottingham Forest are only 10 points from each other in total. So basically the second-best team is only 10 points ahead of the 9th team.

Apart from Fulham’s chances, Bet365 Sportsbook already offers odds for other teams to be promoted as well. Bournemouth is favored with a really good 1.40 (71.4%) odds, followed by West Brom’s 3.75 (26.7%), and QPR’s 4.00 (25%) odds. Interestingly enough, current runner-ups Blackburn only have 4.33 (23.1%) odds of making it out of the Championship. Sheffield United and Middlesbrough are on 4.33 and 6.00 respectively, and then there’s a big jump to Nottingham Forest’s 11.00 odds. The list continues similarly. Experts believe that Blackburn will fall out of the top 2 or 3 and Bournemouth will take the comfortable 2nd position. The only remaining question regarding this topic is who will play in the playoffs for the 3rd promotion spot?

Most Likely To Finish In The Top 6 – EFL Championship Winner Predictions

Fulham is a safe pick for the EFL Championship winner prediction and Bournemouth is also heavily favored to come in second place. The next four spots will certainly be a war zone. Online sportsbooks in the UK have a couple of “more certain” teams that could finish in the top six. There’s also a noticeable difference in the odds at these sportsbook sites. The odds are as follows: QPR with 1.44, Blackburn with 1.50, West Brom with 1.57, Sheffield United with 1.72, Middlesbrough with 2.00, Nottingham Forest with 3.75, Huddersfield with 4.33, Coventry with 4.50, Stoke with 4.50, and Luton with 5.00. The next team would be Millwall with 17.00 odds of making it into the top six. The competition is clearly between these teams. 

It doesn’t matter where they end up between 3 and 6 as their fate will be decided on the pitch. West Brom was relegated to the Championship along with Fulham and Sheffield United last season. Their chances might be a bit better this year. The Championship will also most likely welcome back Norwich City, Watford, and Burnley at the start of the next season. Even though they’re not that far behind from other Premier League teams, their odds of avoiding relegation are fairly low. Norwich is expected to finish last with 1.22 odds, followed by Watford’s 1.25 and Burnley’s 1.44. The Premier League will finish its 2021-2022 season in May. Make sure to stay updated on the EFL Championship winner predictions along with promotions, relegations, and Premier League news too.

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