AI names the 8 EFL Championship clubs most likely to reach the Champions League one day | OneFootball

ChatGPT has given its verdict on which second-tier sides could be mixing it up with Europe's best in the future

The Champions League is the pinnacle of club football, where Europe's best battle for one of the most coveted trophies in existence.

For the sides currently in the Championship, and most in the Premier League, too, this dream seems just that - a dream.

But sometimes it's good to have a dream, and for these eight teams, being able to say you followed your clubs from a cold Tuesday night in the Championship to a...probably still cold, but continental Tuesday night in the Champions League has to be the best feeling of all.

Football League World has turned to the popular AI-based service, ChatGPT, to outline eight current Championship sides who are the likeliest to be playing in Europe's elite competition one day.

AI has based these decisions on predictive analysis for this season, as you need to get promoted out of the second tier to even be in with a chance of being in the Champions League, as well as financial backing and narrative momentum. So, without further ado, let's get into the list.

Ipswich Town

Kieran McKenna's Ipswich Town kick off the list, and as many see them as favourites to lift the Championship trophy and return to being a Premier League side come May, it makes sense.

The Tractor Boys, like some others on this list, have played in European competitions before, having played in the old UEFA Cup (now the Europa League) in the past, with their last venture coming in the 2002/03 season.

Under McKenna, the Tractor Boys play some entertaining football. It may not have worked out in the Premier League, but now the young manager has had his taste of top-flight football, you'd imagine that he'd be ready to adapt the next time he manages a Premier League side.

A lot of people believe McKenna to be one of the more exciting managers in the game currently, and it wouldn't be a surprise if he were managing a Champions League-level side at some point in his career. But could that be Ipswich?

Southampton

The Saints have played in the Europa League twice in the last ten seasons, but after their 11-year stint in the Premier League ended in the 2022/23 campaign, their focus now is on ensuring that they can remain in the top flight long enough to be back at that level.

Will Still is at the helm now, though, and like McKenna, has many tipping him to be in the dugout for some Champions League matches in the future. Last season, his Lens team couldn't get past the Conference League play-off rounds, but it gave him a taste of European competition.

Southampton has, in Mateus Fernandes and Tyler Dibling, two players capable of playing at the top of the European game. Fernandes was linked to former Champions League runners-up Atlético Madrid throughout the summer,

So, there is a good level of recruitment at St Mary's, and if the club can continue to attract that calibre of player, then a Champions League berth seems more likely than most in the Championship at the moment.

Sheffield United

Despite a poor start to the season, May's play-off finalists form part of this list, and are still tipped by many to go one further than last year and return to the Premier League.

Unlike Ipswich or Southampton, the Blades haven't competed in any of the traditional UEFA European competitions. Their only past venture into a European competition came in the 1994/95 edition of the Anglo-Italian Cup, a competition involving second-tier sides from England and Italy.

Sheffield United were four points removed from the top four when the country went into lockdown in 2020, but couldn't carry that momentum into the Premier League's restart. There's a lot to be done for Ruben Selles to reach that level any time soon.

Leicester City

Britain Soccer Football - Leicester City v FC Porto - UEFA Champions League Group Stage - Group G - King Power Stadium, Leicester, England - 27/9/16 General view of the King Power Stadium before the match Reuters / Eddie Keogh Livepic EDITORIAL USE ONLY.

Having won the Premier League back in 2016, Leicester City earned the right to play in the Champions League, where they made the quarter-finals before losing to Atlético Madrid. Therefore, this entry is more of a return to the elite European competition, rather than making it for the first time.

The Foxes played in the Europa League just four seasons ago. The following year, they suffered relegation, and now are beginning to become victims of the three-up/three-down promotion and relegation system, which has engulfed the Premier League over the past couple of years.

Their ambitions in the transfer window also saw them hit with charges of allegedly breaching the EFL's financial rules, showing how difficult it can be to make a team capable of challenging among Europe's elite.

But Leicester fans have tasted victory on Champions League nights before, and would love to return to that level soon.

Birmingham City

It was only a matter of time before Birmingham City graced this list. After all, with Tom Wagner outlining his ambitions of making the Blues a Premier League club this time next year, it won't be long before he's marking the Champions League as a realistic goal.

Birmingham are one of the few sides that can say they've had to contend with European matches whilst in the Championship. The Blues won the League Cup in 2011, the season they were relegated from the Premier League, so they had to play in the Europa League group stages alongside a 46-game second-tier season the following year.

I'm sure Tom Wagner and co would like the club to be a Premier League regular before a return to European competitions takes place, and the likelihood of that happening soon is very high.

Coventry City

Coventry City haven't competed in the Premier League in 24 years now, but their ascendancy in the Championship over the past few years hasn't gone unnoticed, and it surely can't be long until the Sky Blues are in the top flight once again.

As for competing in the Champions League, their manager, Frank Lampard, is the best-suited boss on this list for such a feat. At Chelsea, he led the Blues to a fourth-placed finish in the Premier League, despite a transfer embargo, and had them top of their group before he was dismissed as manager in January 2021.

Later that season, Chelsea won the Champions League after beating Manchester City in the final under Thomas Tuchel with a side which Lampard built.

At Coventry, Lampard has the chance to build a side capable of competing in the top flight, after a couple of defeats in the play-offs. Once they get there, it'll all be about consolidating themselves and building once more to try and compete further up the table.

Middlesbrough

Another side with European history behind them, and one who were a game away from qualifying for the Champions League back in 2005/06, when they lost to Sevilla in the UEFA Cup final.

Since then, Boro have yet to recapture those memories and have actually only played four out of the last 19 seasons in the Premier League.

Their last campaign in the top flight came nearly a decade ago now, in the 2016/17 season, so Rob Edwards has a lot to do just to bring the club back to the top flight, but AI feels that this manager change could possibly spark some improvement.

Whether that improvement could lead to the Champions League one day...? Perhaps a lot more improvement needs to be done from there.

Wrexham

And finally, Wrexham, and with their Hollywood trajectory, a miraculous run to the Champions League for the Welsh outfit would be the cherry on the icing on the cake.

The Red Dragons competed in the Cup Winners' Cup, a now-defunct European competition, eight times through the late 70s into the 90s, due to Welsh Cup success, but have spent more time in the National League than even League One since.

The sky has been the limit for Wrexham over the past three seasons, and you wouldn't put it past them to have those lofty ambitions of hitting Europe's elite competitions in the next decade or so.