Championship promotion odds 2025/26: Bookies anticipate a closely-fought race

JUST one step away from the promised land of the Premier League, the EFL Championship is one of the most competitive and exciting leagues in world football.

Below, we look at the latest Championship promotion odds for the 2025/26 season. And we also bring you all the information you need to help place informed bets on who will be fighting it out at the top end of the table.

Quick Championship promotion betting tips

2025/26 Championship promotion odds

Odds provided by our favourite betting sites in the UK are subject to change.

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How promotion in the EFL works

There are 24 teams in the EFL Championship, each playing 46 matches across a league season. The top two teams are automatically promoted to the Premier League, with the teams finishing between third and sixth going into the playoffs. The winner of the playoffs clinches the final place in the Premier League. 

The playoffs offer a second route to the top flight. It is often the case that six, seven, even eight clubs are still competing for a place in the top six right up until the end of the season, keeping the ‘to be promoted’ betting market alive. 

Alternative promotion betting markets are also available, these include EFL Championship winners and to be automatically promoted (also known as ‘to finish in the top two’).  

The current standings 

There are plenty of twists and turns across a 46-match EFL Championship season. The bookmakers started out with the three teams relegated from the Premier League among their favourites to win the title. They were joined by League One champions Birmingham City, who will be looking to use their financial muscle to win back-to-back promotions. 

The relegated trio

Leicester City, Ipswich Town and Southampton all suffered the drop from the Premier League last season. The Foxes and the Saints have now both been relegated twice in the past three seasons, so they have recent experience of bouncing back and returning to the Premier League at the first time of asking. For Ipswich Town, this will all be a new experience.  

Ipswich Town

Ipswich Town have been on one heck of a journey over the past three seasons. Under Kieran McKenna, the Tractor Boys won promotion to the Championship from League One in the 2022/23 season and then backed that up by winning promotion to the Premier League 12 months later.

Unfortunately for The Tractor Boys, while they were praised for some of the football they played, the double jump in leagues proved too much and they were sent back down to the second tier. The bookmakers don’t see Town being in the Championship for long, though, as they have McKenna’s team as the early favourites to win the league.

However, Ipswich will be without the services of last season’s top scorer, Liam Delap, after the 12-goal forward left for Chelsea in a big money transfer. Much of the squad who served them so well during the double promotion have also moved on – Massimo Luongo, Conor Chaplin and Nathan Broadhead and former captain Sam Morsy.

Several new faces have arrived and none caused more of a stir in East Anglia than midfielder Marcelino Núñez, who crosses the Norfolk-Suffolk divide from Norwich.

It has been a slow start, however, with Town only amassing three points in the opening month and no wins – plus they needed stoppage time penalties to secure two of those three draws. Kieran McKenna will hope to shake off the initial hangover after the international break.

Southampton

Relegation is never a nice feeling for any club, but that would probably be an understatement when it comes to Southampton’s season in the top flight. The Saints recorded the second-lowest points total in Premier League with just 12. They won just two league matches all season and finished miles adrift at the foot of the table.

The die seemed to be cast early on. Under Russell Martin, Southampton got off to a poor start, conceding way too many sloppy goals as they attempted to play out from the back. A pre-Christmas change of manager made little difference, with Ivan Jurić unable to arrest the slide. 

Into the breach has come Will Still. There is plenty of opportunity for poor gags about whether Will Still will still be in charge at the end of the season, but in fairness to the 32-year-old former Lens’ head coach, he comes with an impressive CV, having led the French club to a respectable 8th place in Ligue 1 last season. 

His appointment looks like a hitting of the reset button at St. Mary’s. There have been plenty of departures from the club this summer, including starlet Tyler Dibling and England goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale, with Joshua Quarshie and Damion Downs among the most notable arrivals. 

Like Ipswich, however, it hasn’t all come together for Still just yet. They needed two late goals on opening day to turn a defeat into a win against Wrexham and have only put two more points on the board since then.

Leicester City

Another team in need of a refresh is Leicester City. The Foxes had a potential points deduction for financial breaches hanging over them throughout the summer and while they ultimately haven’t been punished for now, they were the least active in the transfer market as a result.

Leicester recouped around £50m in selling Mads Hermansen, Wilfried Ndidi and Kasey McAteer among others, while club legend Jamie Vardy also moved on at the end of his contract. A trio of loan signings arrived on deadline day to bolster the midfield and attack – Julián Carranza from Feyenoord, Aaron Ramsey from Burnley and Jordan James from Rennes.

Leicester fans may be wondering what if. Plenty were glad to see the back of Steve Cooper at the time, but the former-Nottingham Forest boss had been keeping the Foxes out of the relegation zone prior to his November sacking.

Cooper’s replacement, Ruud van Nistelrooy, turned out to be a poor appointment. Fresh from an impressive caretaker-manager stint at Manchester United, RvN benefitted from a ‘new manager bounce’ and enjoyed a couple of early wins before a miserable run condemned them to the drop.

van Nistelrooy has now gone, with Martí Cifuentes taking over as the new manager. Having been unable to bring many signings in of his own, however, the former QPR boss will hope the likes of Abdul Fatawu and Stephy Mavididi can rediscover their form of two years ago, when they were last in the Championship. 16-year-old Jeremy Monga also looks to be an incredibly exciting prospect.

Other contenders

Life won’t be easy in the Championship for the three relegated clubs this season. As well as having to fight it out with each other for the two automatic promotion places, they will also come up against some established Championship clubs, all of whom are well placed to make it to the Premier League. 

Birmingham City

Backed by the financial clout of Knighthead Capital Management, Birmingham City will be seeking back-to-back promotions after their record-breaking points haul in League One.

The new ownership group funded what was a Championship calibre team to play in League One last season, and their recruitment this summer has also suggested they don’t plan on hanging around at this level either.

Former Celtic striker Kyogo Furuhashi is probably the headline addition, following his disastrous six-month stint with Rennes in France. Former Blue Demarai Gray has returned on a free after 10 years away, and several players have been brought in on loan from the Premier League – including Patrick Roberts, Eiran Cashin and Tommy Doyle.

Blues have started well, beating Blackburn and Oxford and controlling the Ipswich game for large spells on opening night before a late penalty denied them the win. 

Coventry City

The Sky Blues were dramatically defeated in the playoffs by Dan Ballard’s 122nd-minute goal in the second leg of their semi-final against Sunderland at the Stadium of Light. 

As disappointing as that was, Coventry can take plenty of positives from their amazing run to finish in the top six. Reaching the playoffs looked unthinkable when Frank Lampard took over as manager in November, with the team sitting 17th in the table.

His appointment followed the controversial sacking of the popular Mark Robins. However, Lampard galvanised the squad and a run of nine wins from ten matches put the Sky Blues into top-six contention.

They don’t seem to have lost any momentum, however. With 14 goals from their opening four games, they are already well clear of the rest as the most free-scoring team in the division – putting five past Derby and seven past QPR.

They were also able to retain most of their key players over the summer, including Milan van Ewijk who was pursued by Everton but no deal was ultimately struck.

Middlesbrough

After two and a half seasons in charge, Middlesbrough cut ties with Michael Carrick at the end of 2024/25 having fallen short of the playoffs for a second season running.

Former Luton Town boss Rob Edwards was named as his replacement shortly after, with Boro hoping he can replicate what he achieved with the Hatters in 2023, when he led them to the Premier League.

So far, so very good! The Teesiders are the only club with four wins from four and they head into the international break top of the table. They’ve also held on to academy graduate and star midfielder Hayden Hackney after it seemed as though he was heading to Ipswich.

Boro haven’t had the easiest run of fixtures to start the season either – but have made light work of trips to Millwall and Norwich, and have also seen off beaten playoff finalists Sheffield United at home.

Sheffield United

The Blades were quite clearly in the top three teams in the Championship last season. Even after failing to finish in the top two, United should have gone up via the playoffs. The double failure ended up costing Chris Wilder his job. 

The much travelled Rubén Sellés has been brought in as Wilder’s replacement. Sellés has recent experience of the Championship, having been in charge of Hull City for six months from December 2024 to May 2025.

The Spaniard may already be under pressure however, with The Blades having lost all four of their games – and exiting the Carabao Cup in the first round.

The international break may have come at the perfect time, as Sellés looks to bed in several new signings who arrived in the final days of the window – including Danny Ings, Ben Mee, Tahith Chong, Ben Godfrey and Japhet Tanganga. Loads of Championship and Premier League experience there!

West Bromwich Albion

Rookie manager Ryan Mason was one of the great unknowns heading into the new Championship season but so far, it looks to be a great appointment for West Brom.

The Baggies sit second, having won three and drawn one of their opening four games, but have arguably yet to face any of the fancied sides in the bookies’ pre-season odds. That will soon change when the league resumes, with a trip to Middlesbrough and a home game against Leicester to come in September.

Who could spring a surprise?

The team most pundits think could gatecrash the top six party this season is Wrexham. 

The Hollywood-backed Welsh outfit have gone on a fairytale run over the past three seasons, with successive promotions seeing them climb from the National League to the second tier. 

Could they really go all the way to the Premier League? Well, there is no reason why they can’t be competitive, and as we have seen over the years in the Championship, when a team gets on a roll, anything is possible.

As well as the Red Dragons, Derby County and Stoke City were considered good outside bets to spring a surprise. While the latter have made a positive early impression, the former have been slow out of the traps.

A lot of eyebrows were raised when John Eustace jumped ship from top six chasing Blackburn to struggling Derby County towards the end of last season. Eustace clearly saw something in Derby’s project that impressed him far more than what he was seeing at Blackburn.

Despite only managing two points so far, new signing Carlton Morris has been on target in all four games and could help fire The Rams up the table.

Meanwhile, just down the road in Stoke, The Potters appear to be improved under Mark Robins, who’s stock is already high in the Championship having led a then cash-strapped Coventry City to the playoff final in 2023.

They won their first three, including a 2-1 victory away at Southampton, before going down to a first defeat at home to West Brom.

👇 My Championship promotion betting tips

Below, I have named my Championship promotion betting tips on who will gain automatic promotion and also my team to finish in the top six and get a crack at making the Premier League through the playoffs.

Championship top 2 double – Ipswich Town and Sheffield United (32/1)

My predictions to finish in the top two of the EFL Championship are Ipswich Town as winners and Sheffield United as runners up. 

The reasons: Ipswich have stability. The Tractor Boys still have Kieran McKenna in charge and plenty of players who played in the Premier League last season. I feel that this continuity will help Ipswich and see them win the Championship. 

Joining Town in the top two will be Sheffield United. The Blades were so close last season and were right in the mix for automatic promotion alongside Leeds and Burnley. 

With a bit of better fortune here or there, they could easily have started the 2025/26 season in the Premier League, rather than the second tier. They’ve also been in able to bring in vastly experienced players in the top two divisions.

➡️ Pick Ipswich Town and Sheffield United as top 2 double at 32/1 with bet365

Top 2 finish – Ipswich Town (2/1)

I believe that Ipswich Town have the best team in the EFL Championship. They also have one of the best managers in Kieran McKenna. The club didn’t overstretch itself in the Premier League, and unlike Leicester City and Southampton, have managed to retain the majority of its playing squad.

Even with the slow start, Town should still have enough to surge up the table and secure a top two finish and an immediate return to the top flight.

➡️ Bet on Ipswich Town for top 2 finish at 2/1 with Betfred

Top 6 finish – Birmingham City (4/6)

Due to Birmingham City being one of the favourites to be promoted, their odds to finish in the top six are very short with bet365. 

Despite the Blues having a huge budget and a strong and settled Championship quality team, I do have some reservations about their ability to go up automatically at the first time of asking.  

Birmingham will have to play a lot of derbies with West Bromwich Albion and Coventry City in the division, not to mention the likes of Leicester City, Derby County and Stoke City. They also have an inexperienced first team manager in Chris Davies. 

If things are going wrong, I can see changes being made. But regardless of who is in charge, the Blues already look like a top six side.

➡️ Pick Birmingham City to finish within the top 6 spots at 4/6 with bet365

Some key dates in the 2025/26 Championship season

Ipswich may be winless at time of writing but they have had a relatively tough start to the season. They’ve already been to Birmingham and hosted Southampton, with Sheffield United up next.

The Tractor Boys will, naturally, have one eye on the East Anglian derby against Norwich. The first instalment will take place at Portman Road on October 5th, with the return match coming during the key Championship run-in on April 11th. Town haven’t beaten City since 2009 and will hope to finally end that run this season.

As for Sheffield United, the Blades will face their city rivals, Sheffield Wednesday, at Hillsborough on November 25th and at their Bramall Lane home on February 21st. 

As always, local derbies can upset the form book. However, with the off-pitch chaos at Wednesday, these two sides will likely be at opposite ends of the table.

Local derbies could be an area that does cause problems for Birmingham City. The Blues have plenty, with the key fixtures coming against West Bromwich Albion on November 26th (away) and February 14th (home).

The Blues will also visit the CBS Arena to face Coventry City on September 27th, with the return match at St Andrews on January 4th – coming at the back end of the busy Christmas holiday period. 

These key matches could be crucial in deciding the order of the top six.

How to follow the latest Championship news and results

All leagues are marathons not sprints, but the Championship is more like an ultra-marathon with 46 matchdays. 

There will be plenty of highs and lows across a season of this length, so it is key to do your homework if you want to keep on top of all the latest information that can help you make smarter betting choices.

There are the obvious things to keep an eye on – injuries and suspensions. However, studying the fixture list can be just as important. Coventry City’s results after Christmas last season are the perfect example of why this can be crucial. 

The Sky Blues were in the bottom half of the table, but they showed an improvement in form over the Christmas period, and then went on a run of nine wins from ten matches. The Sky Blues had a favourable run of matches. The one fixture they didn’t win during this run was against Leeds United.

Spotting trends like that can lead to smart calls that increase your chances of landing more winning bets.

FAQS ahead of the 2025/26 Championship season

We’ve covered the latest odds on Championship promotion for the three teams relegated from the Premier League and also the teams we say will be in the mix this season. To further help you to make smarter Championship bets, we have put together a helpful FAQ section below:

1. How many points do teams typically need for automatic promotion, and for a playoff spot?

Leeds United and Burnley both secured returns to the Premier League with 100 points each last season. In 2023/24, the top two went up with 97 and 96 points, and in 2022/23, the top two scored 101 and 91 points. It used to be that a points haul in the mid 80s was enough to gain automatic promotion, the low to mid 90s is now looking like the new minimum. 

For the playoffs, points hauls of 69, 73 and 68 have been enough to secure a place in the top six over the last three seasons. 

2. Which teams, in this year’s Championship, have been promoted most often?

Norwich City are the Championship team who have been promoted to the Premier League the most. The Canaries have made it to the top flight five times since the league’s inaugural season in 1992/93. 

Wrexham have had three successive promotions in the past three years, rising from the National League to the Championship under the ownership of actors Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds, who purchased the club in 2020. 

3. How quickly can the promotion picture in the Championship?

The promotion landscape in the Championship can often fluctuate across a season. In recent years, the top two or three teams have generally led from early in the season and used their momentum to carry them to automatic promotion. Leeds United and Burnley did this last season, as did Leicester City and Ipswich Town in the 2023/24 campaign. 

However, in the playoffs, it is completely different. It could so easily have been the Sky Blues that took on Sheffield United in the 2025 final, rather than Sunderland. Their run from 17th in the table under Frank Lampard clearly illustrates how quickly the promotion landscape can change outside of the top two or three.  

4. Which teams have the longest odds of being promoted to the Premier League this season?

The teams with the longest promotion odds to the Premier League this season are Oxford United and Sheffield Wednesday. Both are 40/1 with bet365. Of teams with a realistic looking chance of gaining promotion to the Premier League, Wrexham look like a good outside bet at 6/1, as do Derby County and Stoke City at 10/1.  

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