With the Championship the next league to get going, Tom Carnduff undergoes the near-impossible task of predicting the final table.
24. SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY
Little more needs to be said on the issues surrounding Sheffield Wednesday currently.
Multiple late payments to both playing and non-playing staff has left them with a threadbare squad with very little senior experience.
The actual football feels slightly irrelevant at the club this season, with fans' focus solely on a change of ownership.
23. PRESTON
A side who slid towards relegation trouble last season having spent multiple seasons doing nothing in mid-table. The transfer business has been slightly better than I expected but I'm still placing them in that drop zone.
Paul Heckingbottom's side failed to win any of their final eight games of the previous campaign, with the 2-1 success over Portsmouth in mid-March their only victory in the last 15.
It's far from inspiring and a tough start to the season doesn't help either.
22. HULL
Another club where off-field 'issues' have been in the news across the summer. Late payments to clubs for transfers have been resolved but that makes me worry about how much stability they'll have throughout the course of the campaign.
In fairness to them, they've made a couple of smart additions yet there's just a worry about a sole focus on football for the entire season.
A managerial gamble which may well pay off but a mistake was made in sacking Ruben Selles.
21. OXFORD
Gary Rowett guided them to enough points last season and they went on a great run of form following his appointment. They also finished the campaign strongly with just one defeat across their last five - that being to champions Leeds.
A quiet(ish) transfer window but I believe there's enough here to once again retain their Championship status.
20. WREXHAM
This is my brave prediction of the campaign and I won't lie, I hold some concerns that they've sprung into life a little bit in the transfer window.
BUT, there's been a lot of 'here and now' in Wrexham's transfer approach during this rise up the divisions and I think this is where they hit a wall.
The significant financial advantage they held over their rivals is no longer in play, even if they will have more funds than some of those around them. It feels like we'll hit a point in the season where they will face a difficult decision on manager Phil Parkinson too.
"I don’t even know what the word consolidation means," said Wrexham co-owner Rob McElhenney in a recent interview. This campaign should certainly teach him just that.
19. CHARLTON
It feels like Charlton are being written off a bit too easily by some. Nathan Jones guided them to success in what was a very tough promotion race from League One last season and they've recruited a side which looks more than capable of survival.
They've got some winnable games to kick off the season and I can see visiting teams struggling at the Valley.
18. QPR
I can't quite place QPR so I've just whacked them here, to be honest.
I don't quite know enough about some of their signings to make a bold enough prediction but the appointment of Julien Stéphan could prove to be a good one. They might well be much higher than this but I'm just not certain.
17. WATFORD
First look at the new boy 🇦🇺 pic.twitter.com/nZouvGMh2X
— Watford Football Club (@WatfordFC) July 30, 2025
Watford's main summer news has been about such an awful looking sponsor on their kits that they've had to offer them for sale without it. Honestly, I'm no fashionista but a massive blue logo on a red and yellow striped kit is a disgrace.
Paulo Pezzolano is the latest one to hop on the clichéd managerial merry-go-round at the club and his previous experience does actually include a spell in charge of Liverpool...who are based in Montevideo, Uruguay.
A busy enough transfer window but are we ever going to get real stability here? Come on.
16. PORTSMOUTH
John Mousinho's a top coach and should steer Pompey well clear of relegation once again.
Not a huge amount of activity in the transfer window but a few intriguing additions from Europe and further afield. They'll be fine.
15. STOKE
This is Stoke's home.
Each of their seven seasons since relegation from the Premier League have seen them finish between 14th and 18th, so why break the habit of a (recent) lifetime?
Happy Gilmore's sequel gives me the perfect excuse to use a line from the original film: "That's your home! Are you too good for your home?"
14. BRISTOL CITY
Ah, thought you could leave your comfy place in mid-table to have a charge at the play-offs did you? Disgraceful.
The Robins' highest finish across their five seasons before the last was 11th. Liam Manning departed for Norwich after guiding them into the top six and Gerhard Struber is in as his replacement.
A couple of solid enough additions but I'm putting them in the mid-table bunch. Perhaps they finish a few places higher but that makes no difference.
13. DERBY
This could well be one I get spectacularly wrong so I'm placing them in the safety of mid-table knowing I won't be a million miles away whatever happens.
John Eustace has a good recent track record of performing well with little in terms of real quality yet they've looked to add goals in the transfer window this summer.
Striker Patrick Agyemang arrives for a deal which could go above £7million in total. Exciting times for the Rams when additions like that are being made again.
12. LEICESTER
Stability's the key and do Leicester have that? I don't think so.
Marti Cifuentes' appointment is a very good one but we can't trust them to have a consistent season without issues arriving. There's talk of a potential points deduction and the transfer window? Well, non-existent.
Goalkeeper Asmir Begovic is their only arrival and they need to sell to allow other moves to happen. I wouldn't be surprised to see players like Bilal El Khannouss and Stephy Mavididi leave before the end of the window and are replaced inadequately.
11. WEST BROM
The appointment of Ryan Mason is a gamble considering his inexperience in senior management and I wonder if he'll have enough at this stage to successfully guide a team through a 46-game season.
They've spent a decent wedge in the transfer window with three incomings totalling around £9million but I'm just not convinced they have enough to challenge the top six.
They could well finish closer to the play-offs but that's largely irrelevant in this area of the table.
10. MILLWALL
I think I've underestimated Millwall when I originally compiled this list. I'm sticking with my original predictions but I wouldn't be surprised to see them push into that top six.
Alex Neil looks a great fit for the club and had he had the full season in charge, their points-per-game rate would have been enough to see them around the play-off picture.
Striker Mihailo Ivanovic is certainly one to keep an eye on in the top goalscorer market, as outlined in my outright preview.
9. MIDDLESBROUGH
Rob Edwards is in as Boro look to break back into the top six but you'd have expected a little bit more in terms of incomings by this point.
The potential sale of Hayden Hackney to Ipswich for around £15million may free up some funds to do that but there are other sides which look better equipped at this stage to get into the play-offs.
8. BLACKBURN
Not exactly a big-spending summer as you'd expect but four new arrivals are in at Ewood Park.
Having initially looked like a disaster of an appointment, Blackburn started to get it together towards the end of last season under Valérien Ismaël's guidance.
They finished the campaign unbeaten across their final six with four of those being victories. I'm going to back them to carry that momentum into the new campaign.
7. SWANSEA
One of a couple of surprise packages that I have in this division and I believe Swansea are well-equipped to make a push for the play-offs.
Under Alan Sheehan's interim guidance last season, the Swans played 13 games and only lost three - the other ten games ending in five wins and five draws.
They've made some solid additions in the transfer market with the talented Ethan Galbraith joining from Leyton Orient as a replacement for loanee Lewis O'Brien. Cameron Burgess brings good experience at the back from his time at Ipswich.
My concern is about where the goals will come from in this side and that could ultimately cost them a spot in the top six yet they may well end up winning a lot of games 1-0.
6. BIRMINGHAM
Big things are expected for Birmingham and rightly so after a League One campaign which delivered the title with 111 points.
The Blues' approach in England's third tier was to build a squad capable of competing in the Championship and that phenomenal return last time out shows that should be the case.
Not only that but they've added further quality in this window. Kyōgo Furuhashi is a real coup at this level while James Beadle and Tommy Doyle are top loan signings too.
5. SHEFFIELD UNITED
The Blades are another team I can't quite place at the moment but Selles is a great appointment - whether or not they were right to sack Chris Wilder is another debate entirely.
They're really going for this AI/data-led transfer policy which can discover some gems, but it can also leave you with plenty of duds too.
There's a solid squad at Bramall Lane though and they have enough to make it back into the play-offs, albeit with a lower points tally than last season.
4. NORWICH
My surprise package of the season. Norwich have a head coach in Manning who led a worse squad to the play-offs last time out.
Sure, they've seen a significant departure in Borja Sainz while Josh Sargent may well head out the exit door before the window (cliché time) SLAMS SHUT yet they've looked to invest this around the squad with a number of intriguing signings.
Denmark international Mathias Kvistgaarden has all the potential to be a star up front while Papa Diallo looks an nice addition following his £4million switch from French Ligue 2 outfit Metz.
I like the look of this squad and I fancy them for a return to the top six picture, just like they did a couple of years ago.
3. COVENTRY
I'm not Frank Lampard's biggest fan as anyone who has had the misfortune of reading my work since he was handed a managerial career knows BUT I will give him credit for the job he's done at Coventry.
He did inherit a good squad from Mark Robins and it was a team underperforming which needed a fresh voice when Lampard arrived.
Coventry looks like a good fit in that they have a talented group of players, particularly going forward, while the additions of Kaine Kesler-Hayden and goalkeeper Carl Rushworth are really smart bits of business even if it's been a quiet window.
Everything points towards continued progression for the Sky Blues.
2. SOUTHAMPTON
So then, we finally get to see what Will Still is all about.
There hasn't been a huge amount of activity either way for Southampton in the transfer market yet this is a really good squad despite their disastrous top-flight campaign.
They've got a new head coach and a new style to work with. The attack has so many goals in it across a number of options and that is such a huge advantage over 46 games.
Damion Downs is a great signing too and adds further ammunition to that front line. The Saints will have a great structure to them anyway but they could just fire their way through games if required.
1. IPSWICH
That leaves us with Ipswich then, a side who were unfortunately far from competitive enough on their top-flight return.
However, in Kieran McKenna, they have an extremely talented coach who was linked with jobs at clubs in European competition just 12 months ago. He's also got a squad which boasts quality throughout.
Sure, Liam Delap has gone and we await to see what happens with Omari Hutchinson but there's more than enough already to mount a serious title charge.
Midfielder Azor Matusiwa headlines a quiet window in terms of incomings but you'd expect more to come before the end of the month. Either way, it's a top level Championship side.
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