EFL Championship 2023-24 Preview: England’s most competitive division is back!

While the Premier League understandably takes most of the limelight, the EFL Championship is England’s most competitive football league. Predicting the English second division’s placings come the end of the season is infamously difficult, as we found out last season.

The race to make next season’s Premier League will begin this weekend and the 24 teams will face one of the most intense fixture schedules in football. The three relegated Premier League teams from last season will be looking to bounce back, while those who missed out promotion in 2022-23 will look to make the step up this season.

So, with that in mind, what do we think the EFL Championship will provide us with this season?

EFL Championship 2023-24 Preview

With two automatic promotion spots and another four play-off places, the race to be promoted to the Premier League is wide open. Leicester City surprised many by getting relegated last season, but we think they’ve retained enough quality players to make an immediate Premier League return.

Also likely to make an immediate bounce back to the top tier is Leeds United. Their ownership saga has finally been resolved, and we think a fresh start under Daniel Farke will be the tonic they need. The Whites have kept onto a lot of key players that in truth, are too good for the Championship.

The other relegated side, Southampton, will likely make the play-offs. While they were the whipping boys in the Premier League last season, their squad is solid by second tier standards, especially if they manage to keep a hold of James Ward-Prowse.

The play-offs

The play-offs are often described as a lottery, and getting in them is often down to a slice of good luck as well as skill and quality.

After disappointing with a mid-table finish last season, we think that Watford have enough about them to make the top six this campaign. How many managers the Hornets will have in 2023-24 though, is anybody’s guess.

We’re also going with Middlesbrough to make the play-offs again. Boro were one of the form teams in the second half of last season, shooting up from the relegation spots to the play-offs under Michael Carrick. While they haven’t strengthened ahead of this season, a strong team spirit will help them enormously.

For the final play-off spot, we’ll go with Millwall. The Lions always make a play-off push and after the tragic death of their chairman John Berylson in the off-season, this would be a fine tribute to him.

Midfield melee

The Championship is the tightest league in England, so the midtable battle is extremely competitive. Coventry City sensationally made the play-off final last year, but this campaign will be more mediocre for them, especially after losing Viktor Gyökeres to Sporting Lisbon.

Blackburn Rovers have flirted with a top six finish the past few seasons, but won’t have enough to make the play-offs again this season. Hull City could make a step up, but still probably won’t have enough to make the top six.

We predicted that Norwich would make an immediate Premier League return last season but the Canaries fell well short. We think they’ll do slightly better this season, but play-offs are probably still a bridge too far.

West Brom, Preston and Swansea will have similar campaigns to last, perhaps regressing somewhat thanks to not strengthening this Summer.

Teams heading down

After one of the most sensational comebacks in the play-offs last season, Sheffield Wednesday will be relegated this season. The Owls bizzarely sacked manager Darren Moore after promotion and have replaced him with Xisco Munoz, a man whose only experience in England is being sacked by Watford.

Also heading down will be Cardiff City. The Bluebirds finished fourth from bottom last season and have been flirting with relegation for years now.

The final side to head down will likely be Queens Park Rangers. The R’s had awful form in the second half of last season and have been very frugal in the transfer market in recent seasons.

Other sides that will be nervously looking over their shoulders will be Birmingham City, Rotherham United and Stoke City. Huddersfield Town will also be down there, but Neil Warnock will keep The Terriers safe.

We do however think that the other two promoted League 1 sides will be safe. Both Ipswich Town and Plymouth Argyle were excellent in the third tier last season and will be relatively comfortable this campaign. Some are even tipping Ipswich to make the play-offs, although we think that’s a little brave.