EFL Championship Betting Tips: Opening Weekend Treble
The wait is finally over for fans of the 24 Championship clubs, all of whom are in action on the opening weekend of the season.
The action begins on Friday night as Birmingham City host Ipswich Town.
Ten matches are scheduled for Saturday, including Southampton vs Wrexham at lunchtime, before the weekend concludes with Leicester City’s game against Sheffield Wednesday on Sunday.
We have previewed those three encounters in our EFL weekend treble, which comes to around 5/1 with the best betting sites.
Weekend Championship Treble
- Tip 1: Birmingham Vs Ipswich - Both Teams To Score - 8/11 With Betfred
- Tip 2: Southampton To Win - 7/10 With Betfred
- Tip 3: Leicester To Score In Both Halves - 4/6 With Betfred
Birmingham Vs Ipswich
A few months ago, Birmingham and Ipswich were two divisions apart. Now, they are competing in the same league, and both teams share the ambition of promotion to the Premier League.
That might sound ambitious for Birmingham given they were in League One last season, but the Blues can take inspiration from their opponents.
Ipswich memorably won back-to-back promotions under Kieran McKenna, and Chris Davies is aiming to replicate his opposite number’s achievement this time around.
Birmingham accumulated a record-breaking 111 points in the third tier last term. They have real momentum behind them and have moved to improve their squad over the summer, bringing back old boy Demarai Gray, plus Bright Osayi-Samuel, Kyogo Furuhashi and Kanya Fujimoto.
Ipswich are aiming to return to the Premier League at the first time of asking.
They proved to be out of their depth in the top flight, but the Tractor Boys have kept hold of McKenna despite interest from elsewhere.
They have also retained most of their key players, with the exception of Liam Delap and Sam Morsy. Omari Hutchinson is still at Portman Road with a few weeks of the window remaining.
This should be a hugely entertaining encounter between two teams aiming to compete at the top of the Championship. On Friday night, it is the perfect start to a new season.
Southampton Vs Wrexham
Southampton are keen to move on quickly from a disastrous season last time out. The Saints narrowly avoided breaking Derby County’s all-time record low points tally, but the fact that it was the only positive to take from the campaign says it all.
The Saints will now aim to secure an instant return to the Premier League, as they managed to do after their last relegation in 2022/23.
Will Still, who succeeded in Ligue 1, has been chosen to lead the effort, while Johannes Spors has had his first summer as sporting director.
Damion Downs and Joshua Quarshie are the only two arrivals to date, with Kyle Walker-Peters, Jan Bednarek, Kamaldeen Sulemana and Aaron Ramsdale among the departures.
Still, Southampton have a squad that should easily be good enough to challenge for promotion.
They start the season against Championship new boys Wrexham, back at this level for the first time since the early 1980s.
The Welsh outfit have had a rapid rise from the National League to the second flight in the space of three seasons, but this is their biggest challenge yet. Consolidation in the Championship would represent a good outcome in 2025/26.
It could take a while for Wrexham to get to grips with the league, so Southampton deserve to be favourites with football betting sites on Saturday.
Leicester City Vs Sheffield Wednesday
These are bleak times for Sheffield Wednesday. The good news is that the club’s players, whose wages have been delayed for the last three months, have agreed to play this fixture against Leicester City.
The bad news is that Wednesday remain in a vulnerable state. Manager Danny Rohl has left, one of Hillsborough’s stands has been closed, and the club has missed payments to HMRC.
Dejphon Chansiri must sell the Owls before the situation gets even worse, but this is not exactly an enticing business deal right now.
In the short term, Wednesday’s players will aim to give their beleaguered supporters something to cheer at the King Power Stadium, but given the current situation, it is difficult to see them being able to compete.
Henrik Pedersen, formerly Rohl’s assistant, has stepped up to take on managerial duties, but he has a threadbare squad at his disposal.
Leicester should prove too strong for Wednesday on matchday one.
Jamie Vardy may have left, but the Foxes possess a decent amount of attacking quality at this level. Wednesday’s defence will be tested from minute one.
Tip 3: Leicester To Score In Both Halves - 4/6 With Betfred
* This weekend's treble pays around 4/1 with Betfred
