Pick the Right Team to Win the Football League Championship and Collect Huge Winnings

Check out the betting guide for the new season of the Football League Championship.

The new season of Barclays Premier League kicks off on August 16th, but before that, the second division or the Football League Championship will commence on August 8th giving punters another great competition to bet on under British gambling laws.

Three teams from last season have been promoted to the Premier League: Leicester City, Burnley, and QPR. The latter was actually placed fourth in the table at the end of the season, but thanks to a play-off success against Derby County, QPR got to go to Premier League leaving Derby in the Championship.

Those who bet on sports in the United Kingdom are certainly aware that three teams from the Premier League – Norwich, Fullham, and Cardiff have been relegated to the Championship as a result of last season’s competition.

New betting season

Take a look at the best wagers to make on the Football League Championship

• Online sportsbooks in the United Kingdom offer a great selection of lines

• The most popular market is the Outright Winner

• Derby County seems to be the top favorite to win the second tier

New season is expected to be super-exciting thanks to lots of transfers following the World Cup in Brazil. And a new season means a whole new history of betting at land-based and online sportsbooks in the United Kingdom.

Naturally, the most popular betting market is the Football League Championship Outright Winner. The focus this season is on the top eleven teams, enjoying various levels of support at the bookies. Interestingly enough, betting on the Championship is more difficult than that of the Premier League. And odds on the winner are much fatter than in the top division, giving punters plenty of opportunity to make some hefty money.

The first of the recently relegated teams, Cardiff, is leading the ranks for the outright winner with 8.00 odds followed by Derby with 9.00 odds, who just missed out on promotion in the play-offs. Another relegated team, Fulham is next in line with 10.00 odds, the same as for Wigan, who were relegated the season before.

Bet365 also gives pretty hefty odds of 11.00 for Norwich, the last of the three relegated teams to win the Championship and make it straight back to the Premier League after this season. Other favorites include Watford and Nottingham Forrest, both priced at 15.00 odds to win the Championship title. Brighton and Middlesbrough got 17.00 odds each, while Reading got a line of 19.00 odds, and Wolverhampton received longer odds of 21.00.

Contenders for the top spot

Derby County were enjoying pretty good form at the end of last season, and they managed to get into the top 10 of the World Form Guide for several weeks. But the play-offs against QPR didn’t go their way, and now Derby will have to build on their previous form in order to finally make it to the top tier competition.

Next up are Fulham, who got off to an awful start during their last season in the Premier League, with only 10 points from their first 13 matches. Derby will certainly be counting on a similar performance from Fulham this year, giving them brighter hopes of winning the Championship. Even though Fulham are one of the favorites to win the competition, poor management and unpredictable form are their biggest enemies.

Another real threat to Derby County are Cardiff City. There were playing in the Premier League last season, which speaks for itself about their potential. One of the main reasons for their relegation is a very public manager sacking, which surely influenced the team’s performance for the rest of the season. Their form in the Championship is under some heavy doubts, making wagering on them to win the competition a pretty unsafe bet.

Having said all that, Derby County does look like the team to back for the Championship success and at 8.00 odds from Bet365 this is a pretty smart bet to make at this point. Derby boast pretty good form, their squad is strong, and will look to continue excellent performance they revealed at the end of last season.

More contenders

However, let’s not forget about Wigan. Yes, they failed to return to the Premier League last season, but the fifth place in the Championship is pretty decent, and 10.00 odds on them winning the tournament don’t seem like at outrageous bet at this point.

Wigan were relegated to Championship two seasons back, and surely the first season spent in the new league comes with very high expectations, which are not always lived up to. This is what happened to Wigan most probably, but it doesn’t mean their squad is not capable of Premier League-type performance. Although the team is a less certain wager for the Championship winner, they still must be considered as one of the hot favorites.

Betting on the relegation

Of course Championship is not the last tier of British football, and teams can be relegated from here too. Last year it was Doncaster, Barnsley, and Yeovil Town going down to League 1. As for the upcoming season, there’s only one clear “favorite” to be relegated – Blackpool. The headlines are full of the mess, currently happening at Blackpool, so it’s no surprise the squad got 1.66 odds to be relegated.