Attractive, thrilling, and unpredictable. So unpredictable that just a few poor results can separate clubs from the danger zone, while at the same time, they secretly hope for a playoff spot and promotion to the Premier League. These two things—hope and fear—go hand in hand, and this is what many believe makes the Championship the best second division in the world, which will open its twenty-first chapter under this name this Friday. Of course, there are those who underestimate it, mostly outside the UK, but in England, they are well aware of its importance to the entire football system in the country. After all, 19 players that Gareth Southgate took to Germany this summer have at some point in their careers played in the Championship, and seven of them were in the starting lineup for the European Championship final against Spain.⏳ Counting down to kick-off with @SkySportsNews’ 72 Live! 📽️#EFL | #EFLisBack pic.twitter.com/Jg9vXcSIg8— Sky Bet Championship (@SkyBetChamp) August 9, 2024 The notion that the Championship still plays an old-school, traditional British style of football is increasingly losing relevance. This idea has been further diminished by the strides made by Vincent Kompany and Enzo Maresca after leaving the Championship. With an attractive, modern style of football, Kompany led Burnley to a convincing promotion to the Premier League, making him a strong candidate for Bayern Munich this summer, despite Burnley’s quick return to the lower tier. Just a few days later, Maresca was also appointed as a new head coach, having replicated Kompany’s feat from two years ago with Leicester in the past season.”When I played in the London Stadium for Leeds two years ago, I said to my father and my girlfriend that I can see myself playing there one day. God made it happen. I’m so excited.”– Summerville This defo didn’t happen but I’ll take it 😂 pic.twitter.com/bBdOKSoG8G— West Ham (C)entral 🏆 (@WestHam_Central) August 8, 2024 All of the aforementioned factors have contributed to the growing popularity of the Championship, whose matches last season attracted a record 12,723,678 fans to stadiums across the country. This was the highest attendance recorded in this competition since these statistics started being tracked in 1892. These numbers surpassed those of La Liga, the Bundesliga, and Serie A in the previous season. Even the Championship play-off final, often dubbed “the most expensive football match in the world,” between Southampton and Leeds, drew more spectators to Wembley (85,862) than the FA Cup final between Manchester City and Manchester United (84,814). This year, the second tier of English football will be packed with teams rich in history, not only domestically but also in European competitions. Among them is a former Premier League champion (Blackburn), 12 FA Cup winners, a European Cup runner-up (Leeds), and a UEFA Cup finalist (Middlesbrough). Additionally, seven clubs that have won the Championship out of the 14 seasons since 2004/05 (when it adopted its current name) will be competing this season.No place like home? Selhurst Park calling Zaha backIn the past four years, the Championship title has been won by clubs relegated from the Premier League—Norwich, Fulham, Burnley, and last season, Leicester. Over the last five years, two out of the three promotion spots (including the play-off winner) have typically been claimed by teams relegated from the top tier of English football. This trend suggests that the favorites for promotion might include Luton, Burnley, and Sheffield United. However, football experts and oddsmakers on the Island are giving Leeds the highest chances for promotion. Last May, Leeds stumbled at the final hurdle. A disastrous end to the season dropped them to third place, forcing them into the play-offs where they convincingly defeated Norwich in the semifinals (4-0 on aggregate) but were then shocked by Southampton in the final at a packed Wembley (0-1). This made them only the second team ever to fail to secure Premier League promotion despite earning over 90 points. The previous team to suffer such a fate was Sunderland in 1998, who completed their mission the following season. At Elland Road, there is a strong belief that Leeds can do the same, particularly because they had the fourth most potent attack and the second-best defense in the league, indicating that Daniel Farke has effectively assembled a team in just one year.##EDITORS_CHOICE##The mentioned 90-plus points tally is something the German expert has surpassed in each of the three seasons he worked in the Championship, including the two where he finished as the leader with Norwich. According to the Opta supercomputer, he has the highest chances among all managers to finish first again this time. However, it remains to be seen if and how he will compensate for the departures of three crucial players from last season: the super-talented midfielder Archie Gray, the midfield anchor Glen Kamara, and especially Crysencio Summerville, the team’s top scorer last season (20 goals, nine assists). These sales brought in around 80 million euros. A replacement for Gray (primarily a right-back) has already been signed in the form of Jayden Bogle from Sheffield United, and efforts are underway to find someone to step in for Summerville (Jonathan Rowe from Norwich has been targeted). Meanwhile, great hope is placed on 20-year-old Spaniard Mateo Joseph, who shone during the preseason, and Brenden Aaronson—the club’s second-most expensive signing in history—who has returned from a loan at Union Berlin.A mature transfer: 31-year old Fullkurg goes to London for 30 millionNext in line is Burnley—or at least that’s how it should be. However, it remains to be seen how much of a blow Vincent Kompany’s departure to Bayern will be, as there are doubts about whether Scott Parker will be able to mitigate it. These doubts aren’t unfounded, given that the former Tottenham and Newcastle midfielder lasted just 12 matches at Club Brugge, winning only two, before being sacked in March 2023 after just three months. Since then, he hasn’t been employed. However, there’s another side to the story, which is that he has twice secured promotion to the Premier League: with Fulham through the play-offs in 2019/20, and with Bournemouth automatically in 2021/22. Burnley has quality, boasting the most expensive squad in the league according to Transfermarkt (242.73 million). The club has also secured Mike Trésor and lost only goalkeeper Arijanet Muric among its key players. Nevertheless, it’s hard to say that even in this position they’ve been weakened, given that they have potential England international James Trafford between the posts. Apart from Burnley, Luton also has a great chance for comeback, since they didn‘t change the team so much. Middlesborough is expected to once again be in top half of the table, since they nearly missed the playoffs last season, while Sheffield United lost too many players in the current transfer window and will have a really difficult job.New midfield targets identified as Man United refuse to splash out for UgarteThere are also chances for Hull City, Coventry City, West Bromwich Albion, and Norwich City to sneak into at least a playoff spot from the shadows. The latter two clubs were already in the playoffs last year, while Hull narrowly missed out by just three points. Liam Rosenior paid the price for this failure with his job, so now it’s up to Tim Walter to meet the ambitions of the Turkish owners. This will be a formidable task, not only because Hull has lost one of its best players, Jaden Philogene, but also because they’ve seen the departure of Ozan Tufan, William Carvalho, Liam Delap, Aaron Connolly, and defensive leader Jacob Greaves. Together, these players scored 49 of Hull’s 68 league goals last season. Everyone else will likely be focused on securing their survival, as just a few bad results in the Championship can quickly push a team to the brink of relegation. It’s most logical to look for relegation favorites among the newly promoted teams; however, all three teams that moved up from the third tier last season managed to stay up. Of course, that doesn’t mean the same will happen this time around.EFL CHAMPIONSHIPMATCHDAY 1Friday22:00: (2.20) Blackburn (3.40) Derby (3.30)22:00: (3.00) Preston (3.40) Sheffield Utd (2.35)Saturday14:30: (2.95) Cardiff (3.20) Sunderland (2.50)14:30: (2.45) Hull (3.30) Bristol City (2.95)14:30: (1.37) Leeds (4.90) Portsmouth (8.50)14:30: (1.90) Middlesbrough (3.50) Swansea (4.10)14:30: (2.35) Millwall (3.25) Watford (3.15)14:30: (3.00) Oxford (3.40) Norwich (2.35)14:30: (2.55) QPR (3.15) WBA (2.90)14:30: (2.40) Stoke (3.40) Coventry (2.95)Sunday18:00: (1.85) Sheffield W. (3.50) Plymouth (4.40)Monday22:00: (2.50) Luton (3.35) Burnley (2.85)***odds are subject to change***
