Southampton vs Wrexham

The BEST league in the world is back on our television screens – the EFL Championship. Every year 24 teams slug it out for promotion to the Premier League – but only three can make it to the big time.

There’s a typically eye-catching clash to get us underway as Birmingham City and Ipswich – two of the top three in the Championship winner odds market – clash in the Friday night kick off at St Andrew’s.

New customers on Sky Bet can get a £10 free bet for every shot on target in Birmingham vs Ipswich (up to a maximum of £60).

You could take the Sky Bet offer and use the free bets for the rest of the first weekend’s action – I have three best bets to get stuck into.

Championship Predictions

 

 

 

Championship Best Bets

If you had told someone this would be a league fixture in 2025 just three years ago, you would’ve been laughed at. Wrexham came runners up to a dominant Birmingham side in League One to make it three consecutive promotions, while the Southampton faithful endured one of the most dismal Premier League seasons of all time. 

The sides meet on the first game of the season - a dream for script writers and TV cameras alike. Despite Southampton’s turgid campaign, they should be challenging for the title – signifying the gap between the Premier League and Championship – a league their visitors are new to. 

Highly rated manager Will Still comes in for his first management stint in England, bringing in just two players so far. Damion Downes (21) arrives from FC Köln – a quick, strong American attacker that significantly increases the Saints already strong-looking firepower for this league. Joshua Quarshie (20) also joins from Germany, adding much needed pace to the backline. 

Wrexham’s transfer kitty is well known, and their recruitment team is taking a different route than Saturday’s opponents. Lewis O’Brien, Danny Ward, Kieffer Moore, Conor Coady, George Thomason, Ryan Hardie and Josh Windass all sign domestically, bringing crucial EFL experience. 

While The Red Dragons have successfully navigated every division so far, the Championship is by far their biggest test yet and they couldn’t have asked for a more difficult start on The South Coast. 

Southampton To Beat Wrexham – 3/4 888sport

Norwich vs Millwall

As part of Millwall’s savvy new recruitment strategy, Mihailo Ivanovic was signed from Serbian side Vojvodina and the signing looks to be a master stroke so far.

The 20-year-old is quick and powerful, as well as possessing great aerial ability. The Serbian had a slow start to life in England but exploded once Alex Neil joined in December, scoring 11 goals in the second half of the season. 

 

The Lions have added a lot of creativity to the side, most notably left back Alfie Doughty who is one of the best crossers of the ball in the division. 

Josh Coburn, his strike partner, is more of a facilitator and should bring the best out of him. Against a Norwich side that conceded 68 goals last season, Ivanovic is tasty odds to open the campaign with a goal. 

Norwich vs Millwall – Mihailo Ivanovic To Score – 10/3 BetMGM

Middlesbrough vs Swansea

After looking good for a playoff finish last year, a catastrophic January window that ‘Boro lose Emmanuel Latte Lathe and Matt Clarke without adequate replacements, saw their form nose dive, ranking 17th in the annual table. 

This saw Michael Carrick dismissed as manager and replaced with Rob Edwards – an appointment I don’t agree with stylistically.  The 42-year-old is quite stubborn in his ways when it comes to playing a back five and with the lack of wing backs at his disposal, it may be tough to get his ideas across in the early stages. 

Signings have picked up this week, with centre back Alfie Jones (Hull), right back Callum Brittain (Blackburn) and centre midfielder Abdoulaye Kante (Troyes) signing, but more is needed. 

Under caretaker manager Alan Sheehan, Swansea ended the season with 17 points from  eight games, including a draw at Leeds and a win at Sunderland. This form was enough to see the 38-year-old given the job on a permanent basis. 

The Swans have had a strong window. Their back line has been bolstered by the signings of Ricardo Santos, Cameron Burgess and Kaelan Casey. The technically proficient Ethan Galbraith is a coup from Leyton Orient, while Zeidane Inoussa adds flair and creativity to an attack already containing the exciting talents of Ronald Pereira and Ji-Sung Eom. 

There is a lot to like about this Swansea side in terms of technical players and I think they can cause issues against an out of sorts Middlesbrough side. 

Middlesbrough vs Swansea – Swansea Double Chance - 4/5 bet365