New: AI reveals the 10 most likely teams to be relegated in the EFL Championship | OneFootball

ChatGPT has revealed the 10 most likely teams to be relegated from the EFL Championship at the moment

We are now well and truly into the thick of the 2025/26 EFL Championship season, and what is well regarded as the most unpredictable league in the world has so far lived up to that reputation in the early stages of the campaign.

Coventry City lead the way at the top of the league under Frank Lampard, scoring goals for fun and following their recent 3-1 home victory over Watford, remain the only side in the entire EFL to have been beaten at this stage.

Middlesbrough follow closely in second, just three points off the Sky Blues after a terrific start to the season under former Luton Town boss Rob Edwards, with Millwall, Bristol City, Stoke City, and Charlton Athletic rounding out the play-off places.

Sheffield Wednesday sit at the bottom of the league, rather unsurprisingly, given their well-documented off-field issues this season, which has only been emphasised after their recent 12-point deduction due to entering administration.

This means the Owls sit on minus six points after 12 games, 14 points off of Norwich City in 23rd, and face an almighty task to stay in the second tier this year.

Norwich have, at best, struggled under new boss Liam Manning this season, after he helped guide Bristol City into the play-offs last season, only to be defeated by Sheffield United in the semi-finals, who incidentally sit in 22nd to round off the relegation places.

The Blades are already on their second manager of the season, having dismissed Ruben Selles after five league games in charge, and brought back Chris Wilder for his third stint in charge at Bramall Lane, having been relieved of his duties in the summer and replaced by Selles.

With many twists and turns expected to come between now and the end of the season, Football League World asked ChatGPT the 10 most likely teams to be relegated come May 2026.

10 ? ? Hull City

Having been hit with a transfer embargo this summer due to increased concerns over the club's financial situation, Hull have, in many ways, exceeded early expectations to sit in eighth after 12 matches under Bosnian head coach Sergej Jakirovic.

The Tigers are currently six matches in a row unbeaten, with their games tending to be wide open at both ends, having scored only fewer goals (20) than Coventry City and have conceded only fewer (20) than Sheffield Wednesday.

This has made for some entertaining spectacles on Humberside, and if Ryan Giles can continue to create for Oli McBurnie and Joe Gelhardt up top, the Tigers should stay well clear of the drop zone come next summer.

9 ? ? Blackburn Rovers

Blackburn's season almost epitomises what the Championship is all about.

Currently in 21st place after 11 games, with their match against Ipswich Town being abandoned due to a waterlogged pitch after leading 1-0, Rovers are one of the most unpredictable sides in the division at the present moment.

A 3-0 away win at Hull City was followed up by a 2-0 home defeat to struggling Norwich, with a 1-0 away win to Watford and a 3-0 away defeat to Charlton Athletic preceding that.

After coming back from 1-0 down at the weekend at home to Southampton to win 2-1, the Lancashire club have proven that they are capable of beating and losing against anyone in this division, with their inconsistency resulting in the AI ranking them as the ninth most likely candidate for the drop.

8 ? ? Queens Park Rangers

Having begun the season with no wins in their first five matches in all competitions, including a 7-1 away defeat to Coventry City, QPR bounced back emphatically to go unbeaten in their next six matches, which included four wins.

Led by former Rennes and Strasbourg boss Julien Stephan, the R's possess one of the strongest attacks on paper in the division, with Richard Kone, Michael Frey and Rumarn Burrell supported by the likes of Ilias Chair, Koki Saito, Karamoko Dembele, Kwame Poku, Harvey Vale and Paul Smyth.

The West London outfit sits ninth in the table at the present moment, and if Stephan can get the best out of his attacking options, relegation shouldn't be considered a possibility.

In typical Watford fashion, the Hornets are already on their second manager of the season, bringing back Javi Gracia to replace Paulo Pezzolano, with the club lingering in the bottom half.

Nestory Irankunda's early-season form has fizzled out somewhat, with no goal contributions in his last eight games, resulting in the club's form being inconsistent.

Imran Louza has continued to show his quality from midfield with four goals and two assists, and with the experienced Moussa Sissoko behind him, complemented by Edo Kayembe, Watford's midfield is amongst the league's strongest.

If Gracia can get his talented squad ticking, they should be well clear of any danger of a relegation scrap.

Having suffered a heavy drop-off in the latter stages of last season, Preston looked in real danger of relegation at one stage, with only some decent mid-season form seeing them stay just above the drop zone in 20th, one point clear.

Many predicted the malaise to continue into this season, but under the guidance of Paul Heckingbottom and a busy summer transfer window, the Lilywhites have looked good value for their seventh place position at this stage.

Each of Sheffield United, Charlton Athletic, Leicester City and Ipswich Town has all come and lost at Deepdale this season, as Preston retain the third-best home record so far this season.

With the experience of Heckingbottom, it would take something to go drastically wrong in Lancashire for Preston to go down this season.

Under the guidance of former Luton, Stoke City and Southampton boss Nathan Jones, Charlton have been one of the surprise packages so far this season.

The Addicks sit just inside the play-off places in sixth, and have enjoyed some impressive results over the course of this season, having been defeated just once in their last eight games.

Jones looks to emulate what he accomplished during his time with Luton at Charlton, having already ticked off promotion. Jones' minimum aim this season will be to keep the club afloat in the second tier, but with their early-season form going above and beyond, he may just be aiming a little higher already.

If the Addicks maintain this form, they will be looking upwards come May 2026, not down, as AI suggests.

Pompey manager John Mousinho has done a terrific job getting Portsmouth to the Championship and comfortably surviving the drop last season, and will look to do similar once again.

The South Coast side has one of the smallest budgets in the division, forcing the club to be savvy with whatever money they do have.

The free arrival of John Swift this summer, as well as their investment in the Australian market, may yet pay dividends, with each of Adrian Segicic, Hayden Matthews, Jacob Farrell and Thomas Waddingham all joining from down under.

Pompey sit 18th at this stage, but a narrow 1-0 home loss against play-off chasing Stoke at the weekend could have very easily gone the other way, and if they maintain a similar level of performance, there's no reason why they can't avoid the drop again.

3 ? ? Derby County

Derby were one of the league's busiest clubs over the summer window, bringing in 13 new players, including the multi-million pound arrivals of Patrick Agyemang and Max Johnston.

So far, however, John Eustace's side has struggled for form, with just three wins from 12 league matches seeing them sit in 17th at this stage.

Back-to-back 1-0 wins at home to Norwich and QPR have calmed some nerves around Pride Park for the moment, but Rams fans will, without a doubt, have been hoping for better at this point, given how much the club has invested under Eustace.

The former Birmingham City and Blackburn boss has a strong reputation for keeping teams up, yet ChatGPT predicts that the Rams are the third most likely side to face the drop.

2 ? ? Oxford United

Following the dismissal of Des Buckingham last season, eyebrows were raised by those at the Kassam Stadium, with the bold move to sack the man who helped the club gain promotion seeming risky.

However, with Gary Rowett coming in, Oxford never seemed likely to be relegated, even if they did largely linger in the bottom half for much of last campaign.

This season, so far, has been much of the same, with the U's sitting in 19th at the moment, just beneath Portsmouth and Derby.

Oxford fans will be hoping that the likes of Brian De Keersmaecker, Cameron Brannagan and Jamie Cumming will elevate their games enough to keep them afloat once more, as AI has them as the second most likely to face the drop.

1 ? ? Sheffield Wednesday

It will take nothing short of a miracle for Sheffield Wednesday to keep afloat this season.

A 12-point deduction was issued earlier this week due to the club going into administration, and they are at last rid of Thai businessman Dejphon Chansiri, with things seemingly looking up.

However, in the short term, the club is likely going to be playing its football in League One next season, already 14 points adrift of 23rd place and one win in 12 games, to say that the Owls are up against it would be the understatement of the century.

Many will have had Wednesday as amongst the favourites to go down at the start of the season, and that rhetoric will have only strengthened in light of recent events.

AI has them as favourites to go down, in what is, sadly, the most comfortable and simple prediction of all.