The race for promotion to the Premier League has been wild this season, as big names look to go right back to the top flight and some surprising contenders have made the fight an open one.
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There are just 11 points separating first place to fourth with 10-11 games to go each and there are so many twists and turns coming up late in the season. The Championships is always weird but usually gets weirder at this stage of the season.
Leicester City, Leeds, and Southampton have unsurprisingly been favorites in the race to seize the two automatic spots in the Premier League and the third of the bunch seems destined for a playoff spot.
And most of the competitors for those places are clubs who’ve been Premier League in the last decade or so, with Ipswich Town the biggest outlier. The Tractor Boys are more than two decades removed from the top-flight and were in League One just last year but are in the top two with 11 games to go as their unlikely promotion charge has been rejuvenated.
Here we’ll go through the candidates to earn promotion this year.
Premier League promotion prognosis, 2023-24: Top-two challengers
*only the top two teams go up automatically to the Premier League
Leicester City (1st place, 81 points)
Last season in Premier League: 2022-23
Enzo Maresca’s side are back to winning ways following a mini-skid that’s shrunk their advantage over third to just five points.. Leicester head to Chelsea in the FA Cup quarterfinals and their Championship fixture run-in is far from easy. They have three double-digit goal scorers in league play: Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Stephy Mavididi and a guy named Jamie Vardy. Remember him?
Ipswich Town (2nd place, 78 points)
Last season in Premier League: 2001-02
Winger Omari Hutchinson has been so good for the Tractor Boys, who are the Championship’s top scorers with 73 and are having an astounding season after gaining promotion from League One last season. Ipswich had a bit of a wobble after an incredible run under Kieran McKenna early in the campaign but have recovered masterfully in recent weeks with six wins in a row to put them back in the top two. January loan signing Kieffer Moore has been a huge help up top.
Leeds United (3rd place, 76 points)
Last season in Premier League: 2022-23
Leeds have been red-hot but their run of eight-straight wins ended when they drew at relegation strugglers Huddersfield, who were reduced to 10 men in the first half. Crysencio Summerville (15 goals, 8 assists) and Georginio Rutter (12 assists) are Premier League talents doing it big in the second tier. Patrick Bamford has also found his form in recent weeks as Leeds have so many attacking talents and Daniel Farke knows how to get a team up from the second tier.
Southampton (4th place, 70 points)
Last season in Premier League: 2022-23
After a 25-game unbeaten run came to an end, Saints wobbled massively but they beat Birmingham City 4-3 in a thriller at the weekend thanks to a 96th-minute winner from Joe Aribo. Forward Adam Armstrong leads the way with finishes (17 goals), while the likes of Che Adams and loan signing David Brooks are chipping in with big goals too. Jan Bednarek and Flynn Downes have also been keys to the season. Russell Martin’s Saints average the division’s best possession by some margin with their free-flowing possession-based style and they still have to go to Leicester, Ipswich, and Leeds. The Saints’ destiny could be in their own hands, and a fire next to St. Mary’s on March 6 means they have a match-in-hand.
Premier League promotion prognosis, 2023-24: Playoffs or bust
*Teams who finish third, fourth, fifth and sixth in the table qualify for the playoffs. Third plays sixth home and away and fourth plays fifth home and away in the semifinals. The winners of the two semifinals then play in the playoff final at Wembley and the winner of the final is promoted to the Premier League.
West Bromwich Albion (5th place, 60 points)
Last season in Premier League: 2020-21
One of the Championship’s best defensive units, trailing only Leicester and Leeds in the race to concede the fewest goals. The Baggies have Marcelo Bielsa’s former assistant Carlos Corberan as their manager and he worked wonders taking Huddersfield to the playoffs a few seasons ago.
Hull City (6th place, 57 points)
Last season in Premier League: 2016-17
Hull are a good passing team and Jaden Philogene-Bidace impressed with Aston Villa during the Premier League Summer Series and has caught fire on loan to the Tigers. Fabio Carvalho joined on loan from Liverpool in January and has been a revelation, while Anass Zaroury joined on loan from Burnley and has been crucial to the Tigers kicking on in 2024 under Liam Rosenior.
Norwich City (7th place, 55 points)
Last season in Premier League: 2021-22
Goalkeeper Angus Gunn has been very good, and both USMNT star Josh Sargent and Jonathan Rowe have been free-scoring when healthy and/or in-form this season. Sargent has been in red-hot form in recent weeks as the Canaries are pushing hard to get back in the big time.
Coventry City (8th place, 54 points)
Last season in Premier League: 2000-01
There’s something good brewing in Coventry, where USMNT striker Haji Wright leads the team in goals and assists (and expected goals per 90, and expected goals on target, and shots per 90). When you’ve got a team that can score, anything’s possible in a winner-take-all game. The playoff final losers from last season are a good bet to make a late season surge to the top six.
Preston North End (8th place, 53 points)
Last season in Premier League: 1960-61
Preston is a physical, ornery team that’s going to have to find better finishing to finish in the top six. But they’re right in the hunt and love being the underdogs. PNE are overachieving massively under Ryan Lowe. They have a match-in-hand on most of the field, though that is away to strong Southampton.
Cardiff City (10th place, 50 points)
Last season in Premier League: 2018-19
The Bluebirds have won three-straight to surge into the top 10, seven points back of the last playoff spot. Vincent Tan’s club finished 5th and 8th in their first two seasons after relegation from the Premier League but flirted with relegation to the Championship the past two campaigns. This season’s much different — Despite scoring just 41 goals, their 48 goals conceded is very decent and they are turning draws into wins. Longtime Arsenal man Aaron Ramsey has returned from a long injury absence and Cardiff will be dreaming of what could be with a few more wins.