The Championship is back for the 2025/26 season where Ipswich, Southampton, Birmingham and Sheffield United are the leading outright contenders.
Championship accumulator
- Coventry, Southampton, Norwich, Sheffield United & QPR to win – 22/1 on Sky Bet
Coventry vs Hull
Southampton vs Wrexham
Norwich vs Millwall
QPR vs Preston
Sheffield United vs Bristol City
Back this accumulator with Sky Bet and get the added benefit of using Acca Freeze.
Freeze 1 of the selections when they are leading and Sky Bet locks this in as a winning leg, even if they fail to go on to win.
Championship Acca prediction
Coventry vs Hull
Coventry are at home to Hull who scraped safety by the skin of their teeth last season.
They had Ruben Selles do his job who was tasked with keeping them up after taking over when they were deep into the relegation battle.
They escaped relegation on goal difference while Coventry finished 5th place last year and are the much safer bet with Hull needing to adjust to new staff.
Southampton vs Wrexham
Southampton host Wrexham who will be stepping up into the Championship after successive promotions from the National League, to League Two, to League One and now to the Championship in the matter of just a few years.
The second tier has to be the toughest to get promotion from, as the Championship is always unpredictable even for teams that look set to thrive in it.
Wrexham often find a way of doing just that but up against recently relegated Southampton they may struggle to match the level this weekend.
Norwich vs Millwall
Norwich have been having a fairly decent summer with a few interesting signings and are looking to build on their sub par 13th place finish last season.
They were looking like pressing for a play-off spot in the middle of last season but dropped off considerably which led to head coach Johannes Hoff Thorup leaving his position near the end of April.
Liam Manning is now the Norwich manager who did well with Bristol City between 2023-25 and can now add a bit more consistency to Norwich’s set up.
QPR vs Preston
QPR picked things up towards the end of the 2024/25 season and managed to finish 15th after flirting with a relegation battle on occasion.
They look set to improve a little at least and take that winning mentality from the end of last season into this one.
Or at least they do up against Preston, who had a torrid end to the season, going without a win all competitive competitions since March 15th.
Since then they’ve lost five and drawn three in the Championship including a 2-1 loss at the Deepdale to QPR.
Sheffield United vs Bristol City
Sheffield United will look like a different side under Selles who was acquired after he was let go by Hull.
It usually takes him a while to implement his style of play, but with the talent he has with the Blades it should be a more straightforward transition.
They accrued 90 points last season, winning as many as 28 games from 26 matches and are sure to start the season well.
- Coventry, Southampton, Norwich, Sheffield United & QPR to win – 22/1 on Sky Bet
How to watch Championship opening weekend
- Date & Time: Friday, 8th August 2025 – Sunday, 10th August 2025.
- TV Channel: Sky Sports Football, Sky Sports Main Event HD, Sky Sports+, .
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