Championship preview: Wildly unpredictable competition for Premier League promotion hopefuls
- Planet Sport writer
- 3 August 2023
While the three relegated Premier League teams will be looking to bounce right back up into the top flight, they are sure to face some stiff competition from the rest of the Championship.
Leicester, Southampton and Leeds will all be hoping their stay in the Sky Bet Championship is fleeting as the 2023/24 season kicks off on Friday.
All three clubs have new managers following their relegation from the Premier League last season and Leicester are perhaps best placed to make an instant return.
It is just six years since the Foxes were in the Champions League quarter-finals but now they have to be ready for a 46-game slog in one of the most notoriously difficult divisions in Europe.
Under new boss Enzo Maresca, who left his role on Pep Guardiola's coaching staff at Manchester City, the Foxes have recruited well, with the arrivals of Conor Coady and Harry Winks especially eye-catching, though they have to offset the departures of James Maddison and Harvey Barnes.
Southampton, back in the second tier for the first time in a decade, get things under way with a visit to Sheffield Wednesday on Friday night.
They appointed Russell Martin as their new manager and, despite the likely departures of Romeo Lavia and James Ward-Prowse, they have retained enough quality to challenge this season.
Leeds will be especially keen to make a swift return as they more than anyone know how hard it is to get out of the Championship.
New boss Daniel Farke has experience of winning promotion from this division with Norwich, but the Yorkshire club have lost a few players over the summer.
Elsewhere, there are up to 16 other clubs who will have realistic ambitions of at least mounting a play-off charge in a wildly unpredictable league.
Michael Carrick took Middlesbrough from the bottom three to the play-offs last season before falling short in the semi-finals and expectations at the Riverside Stadium will be high of another challenge this time around.
Ipswich look to be the best placed of the promoted teams to do well, with highly-rated coach Kieran McKenna at the helm.
The Tractor Boys had an excellent squad in League One last term but questions will be asked about how they adapt to the higher standard.
The same goes for Plymouth, who are back at this level for the first time since 2010, though their Home Park form could be crucial to any success.
Wednesday parted company with manager Darren Moore just after he guided them to Wembley success in the play-offs and they remain a club in disarray.
Former Watford manager Xisco Munoz is now in charge, but they are behind on recruitment and will do well to avoid a relegation battle this season.
Watford, West Brom and Norwich were all disappointing in their attempts to bounce straight back to the Premier League last term and will be hoping for better this time around while Coventry, Millwall, Sunderland and Blackburn will be eyeing repeats of their 2022/23 exploits.
Neil Warnock should keep Huddersfield away from relegation danger, with the likes of Hull, QPR, Cardiff and Rotherham all set for difficult seasons.
