Birmingham City
After finishing 20th last season, Birmingham fans hope to stay in a similar position and avoid falling into League 1. Birmingham has lost Kristian Pedersen, Ivan Sanchez, and Ivan Sunjic. To help replace and improve on their departures, they have brought in Dion Sanderson, Przemyslaw Placheta, and Auston Trusty. While I think Birmingham has improved their team, the teams around them have done the same. As a result, I cannot see them finishing much higher than where they finished last season.
Best Player: Marc Roberts
Prediction: 20th
Blackburn Rovers
After missing out on the playoffs last season, Blackburn will be looking to climb into the playoff spots and have a crack at promotion. Joe Rothwell and Darragh Lenihan have both left the club, but they have held onto their key players. If Ben Brereton can regain his form, then Blackburn will be a serious contender for a playoff spot. Callum Brittain is the only major signing for the former Premier League champions. However, I think that they will narrowly miss out on the playoffs, despite a good season.
Best Player: Ben Brereton
Prediction: 8th
Blackpool
Blackpool will be looking to repeat their success of last season when they finished 16th. Given the fact that they had been promoted the previous year, their main goal was to avoid relegation. It seems that that will be their goal again, this year. Lewis Fiorini, Rhys Williams, Domonic Thompson, and Theodor Corbeanu have all joined the club. However, I’m still not sure if Blackpool is Championship quality. Michael Appleton is a good manager, but second-season syndrome could strike and send Blackpool down.
Best Player: Gary Madine
Prediction: 22nd
Bristol City
Bristol City will look to improve after finishing 17th last season. Callum O’Dowda, Kasey Palmer, Robbie Cundy, Taylor Moore, Owura Edwards, Tyreeq Bakinson, and Samuel Pearson have all left the robins. To replace them they have brought in Mark Sykes, Kane Wilson, and Kal Naismith. While I think Naismith will improve their defense, I think that Bristol City has weakened their squad from last season. Austrian international Andreas Weimann will be crucial to The Robins if they are to improve.
Best Player: Andreas Weimann
Prediction: 17th
Burnley
Burnley will be looking to get promoted after relegation from the Premier League. Many key players such as Nick Pope, James Tarkowski, Wout Weghorst, Nathan Collins, Wayne Hennessey, Men Mee, and Dwight McNeil have all left. It will be important for Burnley to hold onto Maxwell Cornet if they want to achieve promotion back to the Premier League. They have replaced their key players with more Championship-quality players like Scott Twine, Taylor Harwood-Bellis, Luke McNally, Conrad Egan-Riley, Samuel Bastien, Josh Cullen, Ian Maatsen, Arijanet Muric, and Vitinho. This team definitely has the quality to get promoted. New manager, Vincent Kompany’s biggest task will be getting all of the new signings to gel early in the season. If he can do this then Burnley has a good chance of returning to the top flight.
Best Player: Ashley Barnes (Maxwel Cornet if he stays)
Prediction: 5th (playoff winners)
Cardiff City
Cardiff City will be looking to improve after the last few lackluster seasons. Aden Flint, Will Vaulks, Ciaron Brown, Marlon Pack, and James Collins have all departed The Bluebirds. To replace the departures they have brought in Jak Alnwick, Ollie Tanner, Jamilu Collins, Ebou Adams, Callum O’Dowda, Mahlon Romeo, Vontae Daley-Campbell, Ryan Allsopp, Andy Rinomhota, Romaine Sawyers, Cedric Kipre, and Jaden Philogene-Bidace. Despite all of the new arrivals, Cardiff’s team is still around as good as it was the previous season. Therefore, I can’t see them finishing in a much different position than where they finished last season.
Best Player: Sean Morrison
Prediction: 19th
Coventry City
Coventry City will be looking to improve on last year’s impressive campaign. Jordan Shipley, Declan Drysdale, and Julien Da Costa are the only players departing the club. Kasey Palmer, Callum Doyle, and Jonathan Panzo will add quality and youthfulness to The Sky Blues.
Best Player: Viktor Gyokeres
Prediction: 14th
Huddersfield Town
Huddersfield Town will look to repeat their success of last season when they made the promotion playoff final. However, it will be difficult as Pipa, Matty Daly, Lewis O’Brien, Harry Toffolo, Jamal Blackman, and Scott High have all departed the club. New signings William Boyle, David Kasumu, Connor Mahoney, Yuto Nakayama, and Tino Anjorin are all good players but are not improvements on the players who departed the club. It will be a tough season for Huddersfield, but they could be back and challenging for promotion in a couple of years.
Best Player: Duane Holmes
Prediction: 15th
Hull City
This year might be difficult for THe Tigers as they have recently sold Keane Lewis-Potter to Brentford. However, Hull has brought in Tobias Figueiredo, Ozan Tufan, Nathan Baxter, Jean Michael Seri, Allahyar Sayyadmanesh, Oscar Estupinan, Dogukan Sinik, and Benjamin Tetteh. Therefore I think Hull will have a decent season, although it will be nothing spectacular.
Best Player: Oscar Estupinan
Prediction: 16th
Luton Town
Luton Town will be looking to continue its upward trajectory from the last few seasons. Their only major departures are Danny Hylton, Peter Kioso, and Kal Naismith. Alfie Doughty, Cauley Woodrow, Matt Macey, Louie Watson, Ethan Horvath, Luke Freeman, and Carlton Morris have all joined the club. Luton has a solid Championship team, but they could struggle to improve as there are many strong teams around them.
Best Player: Ethan Horvath
Prediction: 10th
Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough will be looking to sneak into the playoffs after they narrowly missed out last season. Martin Payero, Djed Spence, and Lee Peltier have all departed. However, Middlesbrough has made some great signings such as Zach Steffen, Tom Smith, and Marcus Forss. If they can hold on to Marcus Tavernier then they will definitely be promotion contenders.
Best Player: Marcu Forss (Marcus Tavernier if he stays)
Prediction: 6th
Milwall
Millwall will be looking to sneak into the playoffs after years of narrowly missing out. The departures of Jed Wallace, Mahlon Romeo, Maikel Kieftenbeld, Alex Pearce, and Connor Mahoney are all massive blows to their promotion charge. . However they have brought in Zian Flemming, George Honeyman, Benik Afobe, Charlie Creswell, and Jamie Shackleton which should keep them in the top half of the table.
Best Player: Shaun Hutchinson
Prediction: 9th
Norwich City
Norwich City will be looking to get promoted after another relegation from the Premier League. Josip Drmic, Przemyslaw Placheta, Cristoph Zimmerman, Christos Tzolis, and Pierre Lees-Melou have all left The Canaries. New signings of Issac Hayden and Gabriel Sara will be extremely important in Norwich’s promotion charge.
Best Player: Milot Rashica
Prediction: 3rd
Preston North End
Preston North End will be looking to move away from of years of mediocrity. They have brought in Freddie Woodman, Ben Woodburn, Roby Brady, Troy Parrot, and Alvaro Fernandez. Preston has a very strong team and could push for a spot in the playoffs.
Best Player: Troy Parrot
Prediction: 7th
Queens Park Rangers
QPR will be looking to return to the premier league after many years of narrowly missing out on promotion. Moses Odubajo, Dominic Ball, and Jordy de Wijs have all left the club. To replace them they have brought in Kenneth Paal, Tyler Roberts, and Taylor Richards. However, this QPR team is one of the weaker teams that they’ve had over the last few seasons.
Best Player: Rob Dickie
Prediction: 12th
Reading
Reading will be looking to improve after many poor finishes over the last few seasons. The departure of John Swift will be a major blow to their survival hopes. Josh Laurent, Andy Rinomhota, Brandon Barker, and Alen Halilovic have all left the club. While Tom Ince, Jeff Hendrick, and Shane Long have come in, I could see Reading having a very poor season.
Best Player: Lucas Joao
Prediction: 23rd
Rotherham United
Recently promoted Rotherham United will be hoping to avoid relegation right back to League 1. Freddie Ladapo, Mickel Miller, Michael Smith, and Michael Ihiekwe have all departed the club while Peter Kioso, Jamie McCart, Cohen Bramall, Tom Eaves, Cameron Humphreys, Grant Hall, Lee Peltier, and Scott High have all joined the club. Survival is a big ask for this Rotherham side, but anything is possible, in The Championship.
Best Player: Tom Eaves
Prediction: 24th
Sheffield United
Sheffield United will be looking to return to the Premier League after a year in the Championship. Thomas Doyle, Anel Ahmedhodzic, Ciaran Clark, and Reda Khadra have all joined The Blades. David McGoldrick, Luke Freeman, and Oliver Burke have all left the club. Paul Heckingbottom has done a great job with this team, and I think Sheffield United will have a great shot at promotion.
Best Player: Sander Berge
Prediction: 2nd
Stoke City
Stoke City will be looking to improve after a few poor seasons in recent years. The signings of Aden Flint, Dwight Gayle, and Will Smallbone will massively improve this Stoke team. Benik Afobe, Tom Ince, Steven Fletcher, James Chester, Joe Allen, and Tom Smith have all departed The Potters. Stoke has improved their squad from last season and should be comfortably mid-table.
Best Player: Dwight Gayle
Prediction: 11th
Sunderland
Sunderland is finally back in the Championship after a couple years in League 1. Ellis Simms, Jack Clarke, Leon Dajaku, and Daniel Ballard have joined the club. While Aiden McGeady has left the club, Sunderland has a good side and should be able to avoid the relegation battle.
Best Player: Ross Stewart
Prediction: 18th
Swansea City
Swansea City will be looking to stay mid-table and not drop into a relegation battle. The signings of Erwin Mulder, Harry Darling, Matthew Sorinola, and Joe Allen should help The swans achieve this goal. The departure of Flynn Downes will be a massive blow to their goals, but I think that Swansea has a strong enough squad to finish mid-table.
Best Player: Olivier Ntcham (Joel Piroe if he stays)
Prediction: 13th
Watford
Recently relegated Watford will be looking to get straight back into the Premier League. Kiko, Adam Masina, Josh King, Cucho Hernandez, Andre Gray, Moussa Sissoko, and Philip Zinkernagel have all left the club. Mario Gaspar, Rey Manaj, Vakoun Issouf Bayo, Ben Foster, and Samuel Kalu have all joined The Hornets. Young manager Rob Edwards has experience with young players, and I have no doubt that this Watford squad will perform up to expectations.
Best Player: Emmanuel Dennis
Prediction: 1st
West Bromwich Albion
West Brom will be looking to get into a playoff spot after a poor campaign last season. Sam Johnstone, Romaine Sawyers, and Cedric Kipre have all left the club. Jay Molumby, John Swift, Jed Wallace, and Okay Yokuslu have all joined the Baggies. If everything can click for West Brom, then they will definitely be contenders for a playoff spot.
Best Player: Dayrl Dike
Prediction: 4th
Wigan Athletic
Recently promoted Wigan Athletic will have the difficult task of avoiding relegation from The Championship. Jordan Jones, Adam Long, and Tom Costello have all left the club. Wigan has not made any notable signings, but I think their squad is just good enough to avoid relegation.
Best Player: James McClean
Prediction: 21st
Awards
Player of the Season: Emmanuel Dennis
Manager of the Season: Paul Heckingbottom
Young Player of the Season: Joao Pedro
Signing of the Season: Gabriel Sara
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