EFL Championship 2023: Wolves and West Ham Lead the Charge
The EFL Championship rarely needs help to be chaotic, but this season it gets it anyway. An expanded, eight-team playoff, two heavyweights dropping down, and a transfer window that’s turned England’s second tier into the sixth-biggest spending league in Europe.
It’s going to be wild.
West Ham and Wolves set the pace
At the top, two names tower over the rest: West Ham and Wolves. On paper, they should run away with the automatic promotion spots. That’s the expectation, at least.
Nuno Espírito Santo has done this dance before with Wolves, guiding them out of the Championship once already. He knows the grind, the Tuesday nights, the tight pitches, the relentless schedule. This time, though, he’s working with a squad that’s been reshaped at both ends.
They’ve lost serious talent. Matheus Fernandes and Crysencio Summerville are big departures, the kind that strip away creativity and spark. But Wolves have moved quickly to plug gaps and add nous. Joel Veltman brings reliability. Kieran Trippier and Raul Jimenez arrive with Premier League mileage and the kind of experience that can drag a team through the ugly spells in February and March.
The big unknown? The new Portuguese manager calling the shots. The club made the ruthless call to sack Rob Edwards. Now the question hangs over Molineux: was that gamble really worth it?
West Ham, meanwhile, carry the weight of expectation almost by default. Their squad, budget and stature scream “promotion or bust”. With the playoffs stretching to eight, the margin for error grows slightly. But for a club of their size, second place might still feel like underachievement.
Middlesbrough leading the chasing pack
If anyone is going to crash that automatic promotion party, Middlesbrough look the best equipped. Stability in the dugout helps, and Boro have kept the core of their squad together, even after losing Hayden Hackney.
Up front, big Willy Lankshear arrives from Spurs with the profile to bully Championship defences. It’s the kind of signing that can tilt tight games. Sebastian Berhalter and Radek Vitek are shrewd additions too, bolstering the spine and giving Boro more depth for the long slog.
They might not have the financial muscle of West Ham or the recent Premier League pedigree of Wolves, but they have something just as valuable in this division: continuity and a clear idea of what they are.
A supersized playoff race
With three spots in the top eight feeling almost ring-fenced, the real drama sits just below. Five more playoff places. A pack of clubs with wildly different stories. And a gulf between the Premier League and the Championship that makes every relegated side an instant contender.
Burnley have to be in that conversation, even with uncertainty around who will actually be in the dugout. The squad still carries enough quality and top-flight experience to compete near the top.
Southampton, too, should be right back in the mix. They’ve largely kept their group together from last season’s playoff run, and Lewis Dobbin looks a clever pick-up, the kind of forward who can stretch games and give them a different dimension.
Millwall are harder to read. Their collapse in last season’s playoff final felt like a scar, not just a bad day. This campaign might be a step back before a bigger leap forward. The intensity is there, but emotionally and physically, that kind of blow can linger.
Then come the headline-makers: Birmingham and Wrexham, the “Hollywood” clubs with global attention. Birmingham are dreaming big, talking about a future Premier League home in front of up to 62,000 fans. Ambition is not in short supply. Talent is a different matter. Right now, Wrexham look the more dangerous footballing project.
Wrexham missed out on the playoffs by the finest of margins last season. They return with momentum, investment and a squad that increasingly looks Championship-ready rather than plucky overachievers.
Norwich City round out the cluster of serious playoff candidates. Their late-season form last year hinted at a team finally pulling itself together after a period of drift. If they can bottle that run and stretch it across a full campaign, they’ll be back in the promotion picture.
Midtable: flirting with both ends
The middle of the Championship table is never quiet. This season, it feels even more volatile.
West Brom, Sheffield United, Swansea and Bristol City all have the potential to glance upwards and wonder about the playoffs. Each has enough quality to piece together a run, but just as much inconsistency to get dragged into trouble.
Bristol City, in particular, look primed for a comedown. The expectation is a notable drop-off from last season’s levels. Stoke’s sharp decline over the back half of last season felt less like a blip and more like a reveal of who they really are. Their early form now looks like the illusion.
Derby County and Cardiff City sit in that awkward space between concern and quiet confidence. You can picture them struggling. You can also see them just about keeping their heads above water. They’re not safe, but they’re not the most vulnerable either.
Watford and QPR are in the mix as well, clubs that could drift in either direction depending on how quickly they settle and how long they can hold their nerve when the winter grind bites.
The relegation scrap
At the bottom, six clubs stand out as relegation candidates, with three facing the drop in Fitzie’s forecast.
Lincoln City are the obvious worry. Last season was a dream: a League One title, a surge of momentum, a fanbase riding the wave. Now comes the reality check. A ground that holds just 10,600 tells its own story about scale and resources in a division where parachute payments and big-city clubs distort the landscape.
Blackburn Rovers are sliding into danger too. Finishes of 19th, 7th and 20th across the last three seasons hint at deeper structural issues rather than random inconsistency. This isn’t a team trending in the right direction.
Portsmouth and Charlton both narrowly stayed up last year. Survival felt more like an escape than a platform. Unless something fundamental shifts, they’re back in the thick of the relegation fight.
Bolton return to the Championship with history on their side but a tough reality ahead. The step up is brutal, and romance doesn’t win points in April.
Preston North End, by contrast, cling to a lifeline. Securing the return of Alfie Whiteman could prove decisive. Without him, they’d look far more exposed. With him, they have just enough to believe they can squeeze out the points required to stay up, even if it’s tight and ugly.
Fitzie’s full table
Here’s how it all shakes out in Fitzie’s predictions:
1. Wolves (C)
2. West Ham (P)
3. Middlesbrough (P)
4. Southampton
5. Burnley
6. Norwich
7. Wrexham
8. Millwall
9. Birmingham
10. Swansea
11. Sheffield United
12. Bristol City
13. West Brom
14. Watford
15. QPR
16. Stoke
17. Derby
18. Cardiff
19. Preston
20. Charlton
21. Bolton
22. Blackburn (R)
23. Portsmouth (R)
24. Lincoln (R)
The Championship has a way of ripping up scripts and shredding predictions by October. But if this season delivers even half of what this table hints at—heavyweights chasing redemption, Hollywood projects chasing glory, and giants staring at the trapdoor—it’s going to be relentless. Just as Kieran Trippier said: this league is totally different.
