Having entered the month of December we’re nearing the halfway point in the season for many leagues across Europe. The EFL Championship table, the second tier of English football, is consistently regarded as one of the most exciting and tactically diverse divisions on the continent. Twenty-one matches in, here is the state of play.
EFL Championship’s Top Two
Leicester City and Ipswich Town occupy the top two spots in the Championship table, the automatic promotion spots have been dominated by the two teams since the offset.
Leicester sit atop the Championship table with 52 points and their form has been largely unsurprising. Despite financial difficulties that contributed to their relegation, Leicester were able to make some useful acquisitions, such as Harry Winks, Mads Hermansen and Stephy Mavididi, alongside keeping hold of talented players from their Premier League years, like Ricardo Pereira, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Kelechi Iheanacho.
Combining a strong squad with manager Enzo Maresca, who previously assisted Pep Guardiola to treble glory with Manchester City, it’s been almost a given that the Foxes will make the bounce back to the Premier League at the first attempt.
A much less predictable ascent is second-placed Ipswich Town, who are only one point behind Leicester. Finishing runners-up in League One table last year, Kieran McKenna’s team have defied expectations, only losing twice so far this year. With the likes of Leif Davis, Conor Chaplin and Nathan Broadhead, the squad was always primed to succeed but the level they have currently reached has been mainly down to McKenna.
A highly-rated coach who learnt his trade at Tottenham and Manchester United, McKenna’s approach has led the Tractor Boys to new heights. Now seven points clear of third place in the Championship table, Ipswich are comfortably playoff contenders. They should be capable of keeping up consistent enough form though time will tell whether they can cement an automatic promotion spot.
Play-Off Contenders
The playoffs are one of the reasons the EFL Championship table and other non-top division leagues) is routinely enthralling year after year. It’s also so tightly contested that a good run of form can propel any club to hopes of reaching the promised land of the Premier League. Given that, numerous teams are in contention at the almost-midway point.
The current occupants of the top six slots in the Championship standings are Leeds United, Southampton, West Bromwich Albion and Sunderland – all sides that have tasted top-tier success in recent memory, with some more recent than others. Like Leicester, Leeds and Southampton were largely expected to make this promotion push.
Though they are both disappointed at times in the season’s early stages, Daniel Farke and Russell Martin should both be capable of keeping their respective clubs near the surface for the remainder of the season and hope that the top two go through choppy waters at some point.
West Brom and Sunderland’s form is more uncertain. They are currently closer to the congested chasing pack, which, includes Hull City, Blackburn Rovers and Preston North End – all of which are led by talented and promising coaches getting the most out of their sides. It will be fascinating to see how it plays out this season. West Brom has the strongest squad to keep up with their current position, with Carlos Corberan in turn continuing his fine work at the Hawthorns.
Don’t Miss
The Baggies will have to iron out inconsistencies that saw them pipped to the playoffs last season, while Sunderland will have to be careful in selecting the right successor to Tony Mowbray, whose fifteen-month stint at the Stadium of Light came to an end on December 4th.
Teams resting in the middle of the table, such as Norwich City and Middlesbrough, do have some quality to make progress. As stated, the Championship table can sometimes flip on a dime. Middlesbrough and Coventry both made the playoffs last season but languished in 13th and 14th respectively. These sides were tipped for contention in the preseason, but leaky defences and blunt attacks have led to a slip.
The Tail End
Similarly to the top half, the EFL Championship’s congested middle is separated from the very foot of the table. Currently, the bottom two – Sheffield Wednesday and Rotherham United – are eight points adrift of safety with five wins between them all season. They will both more than likely stay there.
At present, the final relegation slot is taken up by Queens Park Rangers, though only six points separate them from Coventry and only seven points from Middlesbrough (the Championship is wild). Despite that QPR and Huddersfield Town will do well to get out of the teams around them. Millwall, Stoke City and Plymouth Argyle should be able to move clear with time.
As mentioned many times, a lot can change in the EFL Championship between now and May. It is consistently competitive and entertaining.
Thank you Andrew!
Leicester for certain I agree. I’d say Ipswich are set for the playoffs but yeah, if Leeds and Southampton have good January’s then it’ll be tough going. Can’t see them dropping dramatically or anything like that though.
Leicester look like the likely runaway leaders come the end of the season, Ipswich look strong but not too sure if they’ll stick around.
Nice piece 🙂
Who do you think will get promoted and relegated from the Championship?