The Sky Bet Championship gets underway tomorrow night, as 24 teams battle it out for promotion to the Premier League. From Molineux to Cardiff, let’s take a look at this weekend’s key fixtures to keep an eye on.
1. Wolves v Blackburn Rovers
Following their relegation from the Premier League last season, with just 20 points, Wolves will be hoping they can get their second tier return off to the perfect start in the season’s opener tomorrow night against Blackburn.
Wolves head into this season having had, on paper, a very strong transfer window which has featured the return of Raul Jiménez and the signing of Kieran Trippier after the full-back left Newcastle United, this, accompanied with their already strong squad, has made them second favourites for the league title after West Ham United.
Meanwhile, Blackburn are heavily tipped for relegation to League One by many fans and pundits, having only avoided the drop by five points last campaign.
2. Bristol City v Millwall
Bristol City have spent big this Summer, following a change in the dugout from Gerhard Struber, who was sacked in March, to Michael Skubala, who enjoyed an astonishing season with Lincoln City in League One last term, which saw his side amass 103 points and only lose five times all year. Lorent Tolaj has hit the ground running in pre-season, and will be hoping to translate that into his first Championship match come Saturday afternoon.
Now on to Millwall, a side who will feel very unlucky not to be lining up in the Premier League this term following their promotion push last time out. The Lions finished just one point behind Ipswich Town, missing out on the final day before losing 2-0 on aggregate to Hull in the play-off semi-final. The Tigers would of course go on to win promotion to the top flight.
It will also be an Ashton Gate return for Mark Sykes, who signed for Millwall on a free last month following the expiration of his contract in the South West.
Both sides will have their eyes on at least a top eight spot this season, and this could prove to be an early indicator as to whether they can go on to achieve that goal.
3. Middlesbrough v Lincoln City
Boro have been the league’s big spenders this summer, as they look to go one better than last season and win promotion after their gut-wrenching 95th minute play-off final defeat to Hull. The side from the North East have made eight signings so far, with the headline two being permanent additions of Radek Vítek and Will Lankshear from Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur. Both players spent last season on loan in the Championship, with Vítek winning Player of the Season at Bristol City and Lankshear walking away with Oxford’s golden boot after netting 11 league goals for the relegated side.
Meanwhile, as previously mentioned, Lincoln won promotion to the second tier last time out and will be hoping to get their Championship season off to a strong start. However, arguably one of the toughest possible tests awaits them come 3pm on Saturday.
4. Burnley v West Ham United
The other two relegated Premier League sides from last season will go head-to-head at Turf Moor on Sunday, with West Ham the favourites after announcing that club captain Jarrod Bowen will be sticking around for at least another season to try and help his side back to the Premier League. Bowen is already tipped by many for this year’s Championship golden boot, whilst The Hammers are favourites for the title. The addition of Manor Soloman that’s come in recent days certainly won’t dent those chances either.
Burnley have faced a concerning pre-season, which saw them fail to win any of their five games before beating Notts County on penalties in the Carabao Cup first round last weekend. The worst result for The Clarets came in Utah, when they endured a 4-1 defeat to Salt Lake City, who currently sit 5th in the Western Conference of the MLS. You feel as though if Burnley are to truly compete with Wolves, West Ham ad Middlesbrough for automatic promotion, then they simply have to hold on to Zian Flemming, who netted 11 times in the Premier League last term, as well as scoring in the previously mentioned game against Notts County, both in regular time and the shootout.
5. Cardiff City v Wrexham
A Welsh Derby rounds off the first gameweek of the season on Monday night, as Cardiff welcome Wrexham to the capital for the first time since 2002, when The Blubirds ran out 3-2 winners in front of a rocous crowd of 15,702 at Ninian Park. Wrexham were unfortunate to miss out on the play-offs last season, finishing just two points behind 6th place Hull, after being in a play-off spot for almost the entire season.
Meanwhile, Cardiff cruised to promotion with 91 points, 14 more than 3rd placed Stockport County, but still 12 behind the title winners Lincoln. There is a feeling around Cardiff at the moment that they’ll need to get a bit more business done if they are to avoid dropping back down to the third tier this season though, as they have only brought in two players so far this window.