Top 7 most exciting EFL Championship teams to watch right now (Ranked) | OneFootball

Which second tier sides are currently the most watchable?

The 2026-27 Championship season is eight games in for all but two teams, and the table is starting to take shape in the early stages.

After a summer transfer window full of splurging, with the EFL's financial rules changing and giving many teams more openings to splash the cash, there's some exciting new faces in the second tier of English football, but it's not one of the parachute payment teams that leads the way.

In-fact, it's the bottom of the table that sees one of them holding up the rest of the 23 teams in the form of Burnley, but out of the whole of the Championship, who are the seven most exciting teams to watch? FLW takes a look...

7 ? ? Bolton Wanderers

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When it came to goalscoring in their League One promotion campaign, Bolton Wanderers were only the sixth-biggest scorers in their 46 regular season games, but they blasted Stockport County away in the final by a 4-1 scoreline.

Manager Steven Schumacher has always played an attacking style of football, but going up a level can sometimes negate that, with a need to perhaps play more defensively - he's stuck to his guns though, and the early signs are promising.

The Trotters fired three past Preston North End on the opening day of the season, and they've scored 11 in total so far from their eight games - four of those coming in a statement 4-3 victory away at Norwich City.

Wanderers did have a run of three games out of four where they didn't score, but they appear to be clicking now - Thierry Gale has stepped up from League One massively whilst centre-forward Sam Dalby is also among the goals. What Bolton lack in defence, they certainly make up for going forward.

6 ? ? Swansea City

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It would be remiss of us to not have table-topping Swansea City in this list somewhere.

The 2025 appointment of Vitor Matos to replace Alan Sheehan has seen the South Wales outfit move somewhat back to their old philosophy of short passing and attack-minded football, and it's certainly paying off right now.

Of course, the added investment over the summer also helped, as well as some new signings being funded by Ethan Galbraith's surprise departure to Stoke City, and they're leading the Championship table without talisman Zan Vipotnik really getting going yet.

Adam Idah has been bagging goals once more and the new winger signings of Joseph Opoku and Moussa Yeo have been exciting to watch, as well as posing an end product threat - if the Swans can keep this up, then you'd expect them to be up there come May 2027.

5 ? ? Millwall

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Thanks to their more progressive recruitment in recent years, Millwall have had a knack of replacing exciting, match-winning players with similar profiles - and that has continued in 2026.

The likes of Romain Esse and Zian Flemming have been sold for big money in the last few years, and thanks to a mix of Alex Neil's management and the players that have arrived at The Den, the Lions finished third in the Championship last season.

And the early signs of some of the latest new faces to arrive in South Bermondsey are positive - Kyrell Lisbie from Peterborough is absolutely rapid, whilst Tairyk Arconte's arrival from Rodez in France was a gamble, but he's a bag of tricks and really exciting to watch, if not unpredictable.

Added to Camiel Neghli's creativity and a strong array of strikers, which includes Josh Coburn and Mihailo Ivanovic, Millwall can mix up their playing styles and they will score plenty of goals in 2026-27 - and that makes them must-watch.

4 ? ? Southampton

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With 19 goals scored from their first eight games - what's not to like about watching Southampton?

If not for their four-point deduction in the wake of the Spygate saga, the Saints would be in the top six right now, picking up where they left off last season when they went on a sensational run under Tonda Eckert's management.

And if not for a loss away at Wrexham prior to the international break, they'd be even higher in the table - Southampton do have the top scorer in the league though in the form of Cyle Larin, and the supporting cast of Finn Azaz, Leo Scienza and Kuryu Matsuki often shows plenty of promise.

As long as Southampton have the attacking contingent at their disposal, then they'll continue to fire in goals and strike fear into opposition defences and fans.

3 ? ? Wolves

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When Wolves didn't sell as many first-team players as perhaps expected over the course of the summer, it was perhaps an ominous sign that they meant business - and they are certainly showing it in the early stages of 2026-27.

The Midlands outfit have lost just one of their first seven games, having a game in hand already on their promotion rivals, and whilst they've leaked a few goals (10 to be exact), there's been no struggles firing them in at the other end of the pitch.

Fer Lopez has been unquestionably the star of the show so far in an attacking midfield role, but the supporting cast of Marshall Munetsi, Rodrigo Gomes and a returning Raul Jimenez have also been chipping in.

Their high-pressing style under Cesar Peixoto led to a Nat Phillips mistake in the Black Country Derby, leading to Lopez's match-winning strike - if they can play like that all season, then few Championship sides will be able to cope.

2 ? ? West Ham

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After a slow start to the 2026-27 Championship season, West Ham have finally found their feet - and they're firing in the goals too.

No-one has scored more than the Hammers - who have hit the back of the net 22 times - so far this season, with their best performance undoubtedly coming in the 6-0 demolition job of Wrexham at the London Stadium.

It's rare that a centre-back leads the way in terms of scoring, but Konstantinos Mavropanos has proved to be a real menace from set-pieces, and along with Jarrod Bowen has scored four times in the league so far, and the scary thing is - Taty Castellanos hasn't even got going yet.

Joel Piroe, Mohamadou Kante and Manor Solomon have also all been among the goals for the East London outfit - many will expect them to break the 100 goal and 100 points barrier this season, and it may already be within their sights.

1 ? ? Middlesbrough

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Middlesbrough took a big gamble by swooping for Hammarby manager Kim Hellberg last year, but there will be no regrets now.

Yes, Boro fell short in the play-off final after receiving a second chance thanks to Southampton's antics, but there's faith among the fanbase for Hellberg to get it right - and chairman Steve Gibson has certainly backed him over the summer to get the job done.

Big funds were created by the sale of Hayden Hackney to Everton and Morgan Rogers' sell-on clause from his big switch to Chelsea landing, and the best part of £22 million was spent on Will Lankshear, Radek Vitek and Ash Phillips - all of which could rise to £55 million in total if all add-ons are met.

The sale of Morgan Whittaker may have raised the eyebrows of rival fans, but to replace the Colorado Rapids-bound winger with the loan signing of Amario Cozier-Duberry was incredibly smart, and the pocket rocket has already had an instant Boro impact with two goals and an assist since his arrival on Teesside.

Boro currently top the expected points table for the Championship, despite being third in the actual standings, but if they continue with their attacking brand of football, and if Lankshear keeps on adding to his six league goals already, then they'll continue to be the most exciting team to watch.