This weekend marks the start of the ever exciting EFL Championship campaign, as another gruelling season begins.
Southampton and Leicester City were both mainstays in the English Premier League in recent times so it will be interesting to see if they make the return straight back to the top flight.
Leeds United are the other big hitter to have fallen from the EPL, while former top flight clubs Sheffield Wednesday and Ipswich Town make the step up from League One.
The 2023/24 is back with a bang on Friday night with a mouth-watering clash between Sheffield Wednesday and Southampton
Why not make this weekend’s Championship fixtures even more interesting over at Bet9ja, with more than 200 markets to check out for each match.
Here’s the three main talking points ahead of matchday one.
Leicester City start with tough derby
Leicester City were relegated to the Championship last term, despite winning the EPL in 2016. The Foxes will be hoping they can bounce straight back up, in what is their first season at this level since 2013/14.
However, the Championship is arguably the toughest league in world football to get out of because of the close competitive nature, however with players such as Jamie Vardy and Conor Coady within their ranks, they certainly have enough quality.
Leicester begin life back in the second tier with a midlands derby against Coventry City. It will be a tough test after the Sky Blues narrowly missed out on promotion to the EPL, losing to Luton Town in the play-off final on penalties.
Mark Robins’ side are also one of the biggest spenders in the Championship so far this summer, spending nearly all of the £20m they received for striker Viktor Gyokeres. This makes this an intriguing fixture, with an away win odds of nearly 6 at Bet9ja.
Coventry to beat Leicester: 5.90 at Bet9ja (at time of writing)
Leeds United to struggle
Leeds United have made just two signings in this summer transfer window, Ethan Ampadu and Karl Darlow, so they will be expected to get more players in the door before the end of the window.
Although there is no easy fixture in the Championship, the Whites have a nice opening day when they face Cardiff City at home, after the Welsh side missed out on relegation to League One by just one place.
Daniel Farke was appointed as Leeds Manager, and after his successes while at Norwich when he guided them to win the Championship, he will be hoping to replicate a similar story at Elland Road. Out of the newly relegated sides, Leeds look the mostly likely to miss out on promotion and would do well to make it into the top six.
Plymouth Argyle underdogs
Plymouth Argyle impressively won League One last term, but with their budget reportedly being the lowest in the league, they might struggle to compete and stay in the division.
Last season, Plymouth had one of the best home records in English football, so they will need to carry this on and make Home Park a fortress next term.
The newly promoted side face Huddersfield on the opening day of the season, and it will be a difficult one for the Pilgrims as Neil Warnock will have his side well drilled and organised. It will be a tough ask for Plymouth to avoid relegation in their first season at this level since 2009/10.
Huddersfield to beat Plymouth: 3.40 at Bet9ja
