The new Championship season gets underway on Friday night with two promotion candidates, Birmingham and Ipswich, getting us underway with a clash at St Andrew’s.
To mark the occasion, Sky Bet are offering new customers who bet on the game a free £10 bet for every shot on target in the match, up to a maximum of £60, which can be claimed by following this link*.
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Two of the top four favourites for promotion at the time of writing meet in the Championship’s curtain raiser in the Second City on Friday night, with last season’s League One record breakers Birmingham taking on newly relegated Ipswich.
Chris Davies’ side broke all sorts of records in the last campaign as the Blues secured an instant return to the second tier from League One, racking up 111 points in the process.
Only Norwich and Wrexham have spent more money in this summer’s transfer market than the West Midlands side in the Championship this season, and have also picked up some huge names both on loans and on free transfers.
Former Celtic striker Kyogo Furuhashi is the standout signing for the Blues, joining from Rennes for £8m, though the loans of Tommy Doyle, Eiran Cashin and James Beadle as well as the free signings of Bright Osayi-Samuel and Demarai Gray among others have also raised eyebrows.
Ipswich head into the new season as the bookies’ favourites to return straight back to the top flight with the Championship title having largely kept hold of their squad from last season – Liam Delap and Sam Morsy arguably the only two notable absentees.
Kieran McKenna had signed a lot of the best players from the Championship in preparation for their Premier League season last time out, keeping the likes of Omari Hutchinson, Jack Clarke and Sammie Szmodics who are all expected to have a strong season, just to name three.
The Tractor Boys have won all four of their pre-season friendlies in preparation for the new campaign, most notably winning 3-0 away at French top flight side Auxerre last weekend.
Birmingham have won only one of their last seven matches against Ipswich, though the Tractor Boys have only one of their last 20 visits to St Andrew’s.
How to watch Birmingham v Ipswich
- Location: St Andrew’s, Birmingham
- Date and time: Friday 8th August 2025, 8pm
- How to watch: Sky Sports Football
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