Championship Title Odds 2025/26: Favourites Ipswich Cut For Top-Flight Return

The Championship season gets under way on August 8 and betting sites reckon two of the relegated clubs are heading straight back to the Premier League.

Ipswich are the favourites to make an immediate return to the top flight, closely followed by Southampton, who are starting a new era under manager Will Still.

However, 2023/24 champions Leicester are not expected to finish inside the top three with the threat of a points deduction hanging over their head and only appointed a new manager to replace Ruud van Nistelrooy less than a month before the season starts.

One of the big questions is whether Wrexham, co-owned by Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, can achieve an incredible fourth successive promotion.

The Red Dragons finished runners-up to League One champions Birmingham, who have NFL legend Tom Brady as a minority shareholder. 

Last season, Leeds finished ahead of Burnley on goal difference with 100 points, but the new campaign is expected to be much more competitive.

With that in mind, Gambling.com is looking at some of the leading contenders to win the title and the latest Championship winner odds.

Championship Title Odds: Ipswich To Bounce Back?

Ipswich won just four games in the Premier League last season, so it was small wonder they dropped back into the Championship with 22 points.

Manager Kieran McKenna has been linked with several clubs in the last 12 months, including Manchester United, but it looks like he is staying at Portman Road for another season.

The Tractor Boys’ squad looks much weaker than last season, with star striker Liam Delap signing for Chelsea, while key defenders Axel Tuanzebe and Cameron Burgess joined Burnley and Swansea respectively.

Dutch midfielder Azor Matusiwa signed from Rennes for an undisclosed fee and former Ivory Coast international Cedric Kipre completed a season-long loan from Reims, but fans will be hoping for more signings in the coming weeks to ensure their Championship season starts with a bang.

Ipswich have been cut from 9/2 to 4/1 to win the title with several football betting sites.

Championship Winner Odds: Southampton Aiming To Banish PL Memory

Southampton avoided the worst points total in Premier League history by the skin of their teeth, but they are 6/1 with Betway to bounce back as Championship title winners.

Saints garnered just 12 points, one more than Derby’s total in the 2007/08 season, which saw Russell Martin sacked in December, followed by the dismissal of Ivan Juric at the start of April when their relegation was confirmed. 

Former Reims and Lens manager Still has been tasked with wiping away the memory of last season and getting Southampton back into the Premier League.

Still has brought in a couple of players from the Bundesliga as part of a minor rebuild of an inflated squad, USA forward Damion Downs and centre-back Joshua Quarshie joining from FC Koln and Hoffenheim respectively. 

But, forwards Kamaldeen Sulemana and Paul Onuachu have both left St Mary’s and it remains to be seen whether Taylor Harwood-Bellis will move to Porto, so it’s hard to get excited about odds of 6/1 on Saints topping the table at the end of the season.

Championship Title Odds: Birmingham Shorten For Top Spot

Birmingham were 12/1 to win the Championship with betting apps towards the end of May, but several eye-catching signings have seen their odds cut to 15/2.

Demarai Gray joined on a free transfer following his departure from Al-Ettifaq, but the League One champions’ biggest coup was signing former Celtic striker Kyogo Furuhashi from Rennes on a three-year deal.

The 30-year-old Japanese scored 85 goals in 165 appearances for the Glasgow giants and should be a major threat in the Championship this season.

Compatriot Kanya Fujimoto, an attacking midfielder, and right-back Bright Osayi-Samuel have also joined on free transfers from Gil Vicente and Fenerbahce respectively, so the squad is starting to take shape ahead of an exacting season.

With the Blues bringing in loan signings Tommy Doyle and England U21 goalkeeper James Beadle from Wolves and Brighton respectively, hopes are high at St Andrew’s of another promotion push.

Championship Winner Odds: New Era For Sheffield United

Sheffield United have a new man at the helm after Chris Wilder was shown the door for losing to Sunderland in the Championship play-off final.

Last season, the Blades technically earned three points more than the 89 which proved enough for automatic promotion to the Premier League in the 2018/19 campaign, but that was immaterial to the United board who swiftly appointed Ruben Selles an hour after Wilder was sacked. 

United looked like Premier League certainties when they topped the table at the end of March, but four defeats in their final seven fixtures scuppered their hopes.

Former Hull and Reading boss Selles has vowed to implement “intense and front-footed” football at Bramall Lane, so fans can expect an exciting season in South Yorkshire.

Defensive midfielder Vini Souza joined Bundesliga side Wolfsburg for an undisclosed fee, and although Selles is not expecting a major overhaul of the squad, he is expecting to bring in some quality signings.

The Blades catch the eye at 9/1 with Betway to make amends for last season’s failure.

Coventry And Leicester Lead Outsiders

Frank Lampard’s Coventry are 12/1 across the board to win the Championship, having finished fifth last season only to concede a last-gasp equaliser against Sunderland in the semi-finals of the play-offs.

City were 17th when Lampard took the reins, so it was a strong finish to their campaign and they are expected to be in the mix once more. 

Coventry beat off competition from Stoke to sign Aston Villa right-back Kaine Kesler-Hayden and more signings are expected.

However, Leicester, who pipped Ipswich to the Championship title two years ago, are 14/1 as they prepare for their first season in 14 years without club legend Jamie Vardy.

The Foxes appointed former QPR manager Marti Cifuentes as their head coach on a three-year contract in mid-July, so it remains to be seen how they will perform.

Middlesbrough and Norwich are also under new management, with Rob Edwards and Liam Manning at the helm respectively.

Boro are a best-priced 20/1 with Bet365, while Norwich are available at 18/1.

Wrexham have brought in striker Ryan Hardie from Plymouth and goalkeeper Danny Ward from Leicester, but are 25/1 to win the Championship, the same price as West Brom, who start a new era under Ryan Mason.