The English Football League (EFL) may not have the finances or profile of the Premier League, but it certainly does not lack excitement, drama, and outstanding football action! In this New Year feature, we will take a look at some of our key Championship predictions for 2025!
In addition, we’ll take you through some of the top outright betting markets available at sites like bet365 Sport, as well as a look at an example of a typical Championship weekend, complete with match details and betting tips.
Of course, we always encourage everyone to gamble safely and to ensure that when they do, they follow all responsible gambling advice and guidance!
Let’s begin with a look at a typical weekend of action in the EFL Championship.
This weekend, there is a full set of games in the Championship. We have outlined each game below together with our prediction and top betting tips for each of the matches shown. Kick off time is 3pm, unless otherwise stated.
A Lancashire derby between two sides with promotion aspirations. Ewood Park will be buzzing as Rovers face the Clarets with bragging rights and key points on the line.
Betting Tips – Burnley to win – 2.20
Two teams who have recently sacked their managers meet at the bet365 Stadium. Stoke have won just one of the last 11, while Plymouth are without a win in ten. Expect a nervy, tight affair in the Potteries.
Betting Tips – Thomas Cannon (Stoke City) to score at any time – 2.10
Swansea have won both their last two, but take on a West Brom side who are sixth in the tabe, but who have a poor recent record. This could be a low-scoring, close match.
Betting Tips – Under 2.5 Goals – 1.72
Seven points separates Bristol City in 10th from Derby in 17th in the table. The Robins have gone four unbeaten at home, while Derby’s miserable away record gives them little hope here.
Betting Tips – Bristol City to win and both teams to score – 4.50
Struggling Hull sit 22nd in the table and in the relegation zone. Leeds' great form of late has seen them win eight of their last eleven and few would bet against them making that nine from twelve here.
Betting Tips – Leeds United to win – 1.55
Middlesbrough have been amongst the goals of late, but also concede a fair few. So do Cardiff City. Expect a Boro win here, but they likely won’t keep a clean sheet.
Betting Tips – Middlesbrough to win and both teams to score – 3.75
A Tale of Two Cities. Both have underperformed this season. Frank Lampard has had a positive effect at Coventry already and both teams are unbeaten in their last three. This could be a close one.
Betting Tips – Draw – 3.40
Preston have solid home form with four draws and two wins in their last six. Oxford have won all their last three though so this one could be another very close call.
Betting Tips – Draw – 3.40
Alex Neil faces a tough task to turn Millwall’s poor form around after taking over at the New Den. They face an Owls team in good form at present under Danny Rohl and pushing towards the playoffs.
Betting Tips – Sheffield Wednesday to win – 2.10
Watford lost their first home game of the season recently and they now face a promotion-chasing Sheffield United hell-bent on regaining their best form after a sloppy spell of one point from their last three games.
Betting Tips – Draw – 3.50
Regis Le Bris’ Sunderland have enjoyed a very good season so far and have tasted defeat just once in their last five. Pompey have won two of their last four, but are still in relegation danger.
Betting Tips – Jobe Bellingham (Sunderland) to score at any time – 4.75
After a wretched start to the season, QPR have had better form of late with just one defeat in five. Luton have lost all their last three and four of their last five. This could be another defeat for the Hatters.
Betting Tips – QPR to win and both teams to score – 5.50
If you are looking for longer-term Championship predictions or betting tips for 2025, then the outright markets are the place to look. Here, you can choose long-term markets based on either a team or a player's performance for the season.
Some of the top outright betting markets for the Championship include:
Arguably the most popular outright bet on the Championship is betting on which of the 24 teams in the division will be top of the table come the end of the 46-game season in May.
Currently, bet365 lists the top three of Leeds United (1.33 favourites), Sheffield United (6.50) and Burnley (7.00) as the teams most likely to be challenging for top spot, with only Sunderland (17.00) and Middlesbrough (41.00) ranked at better than 101.00 from the remaining teams.
Betting Tips – Leeds are the form team, but we feel that despite a stutter in form recently, Sheffield United (6.50) have what it takes to last the distance and take top spot.
Backing any of the 24 teams to be promoted from the Championship is another popular outright bet with customers. It is a flexible bet as the team can either gain promotion by finishing first, second or winning the playoffs. That makes it very appealing to punters who may feel picking the outright winner is perhaps a little too precise.
Of course, that flexibility in the to be promoted market comes at a cost of lower value odds with the top three teams all ranked below even money at present (Leeds 1.04, Burnley 1.66 and Sheff Utd 1.72).
Those prices reflect the fact that it is likely two of those three teams will finish first and second in the table, according to our predictions. However, promotion via the playoffs is much more open which is where our tip will focus.
Betting Tips – I think Sheffield United and Leeds will take the top two spots in the table, meaning Burnley will go into the playoffs. That makes things a lot tougher for them and that could give other teams a chance. Middlesbrough at 3.50 are a team to consider here.
Last season it was Sammie Szmodics, then of Blackburn Rovers, now of Ipswich Town, who was the top goalscorer in the Championship. Norwich’s Borja Sainz leads the way this season with 15 goals, three ahead of West Brom’s Josh Maja at the time of writing and four in front of Josh Windass of Sheffield Wednesday.
There is a clutch of players on nine goals (Joel Piroe of Leeds, Emmanuel Latte Lath of Middlesbrough, Josh Brownhill of Burnley, Vakoun Bayo of Watford, Callum Lang of Portsmouth and Thomas Cannon of Stoke).
However, with a three-goal lead, Borja Sainz is going to take some catching.
Betting Tips – Take the even money 2.00 available on Norwich striker Borja Sainz, provided he is not sold in the transfer window.
There are plenty of other Outright markets available for the Championship in 2025, including markets on which teams will finish in the top two (and gain promotion to the Premier League), the top six (and qualify for the playoffs, or gain promotion) as well on bets on which team will finish bottom or will be relegated to League One.
*All odds shown were correct at the time of writing with bet365 Sport. However, they may have changed since the post was published.
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