Championship – The favourites to win play-off promotion | OneFootball

Leeds United and Burnley will play Premier League football next season after securing automatic promotion from the Championship.

Who joins them appears to be a fascinatingly competitive race, with the four play-off positions confirmed after an entertaining final weekend. The play-offs always promise drama and this season will certainly be no different.

Using the latest online odds from Odds96 we’ve ranked the favourites to win promotion to the Premier League, via the play-offs.

Bristol City – 4/1

Bristol City broke into the play-off picture last month and ended the campaign sixth in the table despite the recent wobble of one win in five league games.

Despite a draw with Preston on the final weekend, The Robins did enough to finish ahead of Blackburn Rovers and Millwall to reach the play-offs.

Bristol City have not reached the play-offs since defeat in the 2007/08 final to Hull City, when a Dean Windass wonder goal ended their hopes of Premier League promotion.

Bristol is famously the biggest city in England to have never had a Premier League team. It’s been 45 years since Bristol City last competed in the top flight.

Anything can happen in the play-offs but Liam Manning’s side need to improve and quickly. Bristol City have conceded nine goals in their last three Championship games.

Coventry City – 33/10

What a turnaround it’s been for Coventry City. The Sky Blues were 17th in the table and battling against relegation when Frank Lampard was appointed in November, before charging up the table into the play-offs.

Only Burnley, Leeds and Sheffield United have won more points than Coventry since Lampard’s appointment. Beaten in the 2023 play-off final, Coventry just missed the cut last season but have bounced back this time around.

An impressive 2-0 win over fellow promotion hopefuls Middlesbrough sealed a fifth-placed finish and The Sky Blues will take on Sunderland in the play-off semi-finals. It’s a clash between two teams with strong Premier League heritage, even if it’s been over two decades since Coventry were last a top-flight team.

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Sunderland – 11/4

Can Sunderland finally return to the big time?

The Black Cats have certainly been unlucky since leaving the Premier League in 2016/17, with successive relegations leading to a four-year spell in League One. Sunderland reached the play-offs on their Championship return but dropped again to 16th in 2023/24.

This season, new manager Régis Le Bris got off to a flyer and Sunderland have remained in the upper reaches of the table all season. Sunderland have the youngest average age in the league, headlined by EFL Championship Young Player of the Season Jobe Bellingham.

The future looks bright at the Stadium of Light and a Premier League return would be welcomed on Wearside.

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Sheffield United – 2/1

Sheffield United stumbled to a third-place finish in the three-horse race for automatic promotion. Ousted from the top two by Leeds and Burnley, the Blades must regroup for a play-off campaign.

Chris Wilder deserves huge credit for his work at Bramall Lane this season, with the Sheffield United squad decimated by departures last summer.

Fresh signings have helped turn the club into promotion contenders and the Blades will start the play-offs as favourites, having finished the campaign on 90 points. That’s 14 more than fourth-placed Sunderland and a hugely comfortable 24 point gap to seventh place.

However, a run of two wins in their final seven games – including four defeats – indicates a drop-off at the worst possible time. Sheffield United need to bounce back – and quickly.

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