Outright Tips & Latest Odds for the 2025/26 Championship Season

Described as the "best league in the world", the Championship season soon kicks off as the second tier of English football is set to once again offer drama, controversy and special moments that will live long in the memory of every football fan.

All eyes will be on newly promoted Birmingham City and Wrexham, who have been among the major media stories in their different rise through the divisions - the Blues in particular seen as one of the favourites for promotion from this competition. The recently relegated sides from the Premier League will be of key interest, as off-field issues for Leicester City will seemingly plague the Foxes at some point this season.

The season kicks off a week later than the EFL League One and Two, with the season starting on 8th August 2025 and ending on the 2nd May 2026.

Here are our outright predictions and tips for the 2025/26 Championship season.

Birmingham City steamrolled their way through League One last season after just one season in the third tier of English football. The Blues are heavily backed financially through the wealth of Tom Wagner and celebrity endorsement through Tom Brady, who needs no introduction.

The Blues are backed as one of the favourites for promotion early doors, with Bet365 offering 2/1 for Chris Davies and his side to record consecutive promotions similar to the feat accomplished by Ipswich Town in the last two seasons. After signing Jay Stansfield to a club record £20million fee last season, Birmingham City have flexed their muscles once again in this window to show others they are here to disrupt the top of the Championship.

Kyogo Furuhashi, Bright Osayi-Samuel, and Demari Gray are expected to bolster the attacking options. Chris Davies has also utilised the loan market by signing England Under-21 international James Beadle, who will be brimming with confidence following his success in the Under-21 European Championship.

We are tipping Birmingham City to make a strong push for an automatic promotion place given their recent transfer activity. The window is yet to be closed, so further additions could see the Blues strengthen further.

Ryan Mason's West Bromwich Albion side will undoubtedly be an interesting watch this season, as the Baggies look to break into that top six after missing out by four points last season.

West Bromwich Albion ended their campaign last season with 64 points and had four managers at one point, which would have caused much distress and instability at the Hawthorns. The Baggies lost popular manager Carlos Corberan to Valencia, while Chris Brunt and James Morrison were brought in on a temporary basis. Tony Mowbray was sacked towards the end of the season because of a run of poor results, which saw five wins from 17.

Ryan Mason enters the dugout at the Hawthorns in his first permanent managerial role, having filled in a respectable capacity during his time on the Tottenham Hotspur coaching staff. Mason will also be looking to use some of the experience gained by studying under the likes of Jose Mourinho and Ange Postecoglou.

Aune Selland Heggebø is a recent signing from SK Brann, who the Baggies faithful will hope to see an impressive scoring return from the £4.8m signing. Aune Selland Heggebø scored seven goals in 13 appearances in the Norwegian Eliteserien last season and comes with a predatory eye for goal, and will hope to strike a partnership with American striker Daryl Dike.

Hull City only just managed to secure their survival last season and the Hull City board saw fit to replace Ruben Selles with a relatively unknown manager to the English game, in Sergej Jakrovic, who impressed at Kayserispor. However, with the uncertainty around the club amidst a reported transfer embargo potentially placed on the club, this season could be the season where the Tigers run out of luck.

Their attacking options look relatively weak on paper, with Kyle Joseph shouldering the responsibility up top as the only senior striker at the club at 23 years old. Sami Ajayi could prove a shrewd acquisition for the Tigers from West Bromwich Albion, as well as central midfielder Gustavo Puerta from Bayer Leverkusen.

The main concern for any side that is tipped to be struggling towards the bottom of the table is to keep an assured record at home, and last season, this almost cost Hull City. The Tigers had the worst home record of the division, with only five wins from 23 matches. Their survival was confirmed on the final day, only beating out Luton Town by goal difference, finishing on 49 points.

Here is a list of the top 10 teams likely to win the Championship in the 2025/26 season accoridng to Bet365:

• Ipswich Town - 7/2
• Southampton - 5/1
• Birmingham City - 7/1
• Sheffield United - 8/1
• Leicester City - 12/1
• Coventry City - 12/1
• Norwich City - 16/1
• West Bromwich Albion - 20/1
• Middlesbrough - 25/1
• Wrexham - 25/1

The EFL will have over 1000 live games for TV coverage next season, as part of a new deal that will exclusively showcase more coverage of England's lower tiers.

With over 1,000 EFL fixtures live on Sky Sports via Sky and NOW each season, iFollow/club streaming services cease to offer domestic live video coverage of EFL matches, and streamed games can be watched on the Sky Sports+ service.

Sky Bet Championship matches selected for international broadcast during Championship midweeks can still be streamed internationally.

Select Championship matches are also available to view on ITV.

The Championship opening weekend TV schedule:

• Birmingham vs Ipswich - Sky Sports Football, 8 Aug, 8 pm.
• Southampton vs Wrexham - Sky Sports Football, 8 Aug, 12.30 pm.
• Charlton Athletic vs Watford - Sky Sports+, 8 Aug, 12.30 pm
• Coventry City vs Hull City - Sky Sports+, 8 Aug, 12.30 pm
• Sheffield United vs Bristol City - Sky Sports Football, 8 Aug, 5.30 pm
• Leicester City vs Sheffield Wednesday - Sky Sports Football, 8 Aug, 4.30 pm

*The remaining six matches are all available at 3 pm on Sky Sports+ with every game live in some capacity opening weekend.