From Newcastle to Brighton: Championship promotion favourites assessed
Tuesday 8 November 2016 11:08, UK
With a third of the Championship season gone, how are the favourites for promotion shaping up?
Newcastle and Brighton occupy the automatic promotion spots after starting strongly, but it's been a different story for Aston Villa and Derby, while Norwich have also been inconsistent.
Here, we run the rule over Sky Bet's pre-season favourites to win promotion and look at some of the dark horses hoping to gatecrash the race to reach the Premier League.
NEWCASTLE (1st, 37 pts)
Odds at start of season: 7/4
Odds now: 1/16
Rafael Benitez gave Newcastle a major boost when he agreed to stay on as manager after last season's relegation, and so far they have lived up to their billing as the overwhelming 7/4 favourites to win the Championship.
It was a slow start, admittedly, with defeats to Fulham and Huddersfield in their first two games, but they have won 12 Championship games out of 14 since then. They are three points clear at the top of the table after Saturday's 2-1 victory over Cardiff. They have scored nine more goals than any other side in the division.
Dwight Gayle is the Championship's top scorer with 11 goals in 12 appearances, while fellow summer signings Matt Ritchie, Isaac Hayden, Ciaran Clark and Mo Diame have also impressed. Their squad is the strongest in the division, and with a manager like Benitez at the helm, it is difficult to see anyone catching them.
NORWICH (5th, 27 pts)
Odds at start of season: 9/4
Odds now: 13/8
The pressure is mounting on Alex Neil after a four-game winless run saw the Canaries slip from first place to fifth. It is hardly a full-blown crisis, but their 5-0 thrashing away to Brighton was a bitter pill to swallow, and they followed that up with a deflating last-gasp 3-2 defeat at home to Leeds United.
Neil admits Norwich need to get back to winning ways sooner rather than later, but they face tricky away trips to QPR, who have just sacked their manager Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, and upwardly-mobile Derby County after the international break. More slip-ups could be costly.
ASTON VILLA (14th, 21 pts)
Odds at start of season: 11/4
Odds now: 9/2
Villa started the season as second-favourites to win the Championship at 8/1 but a nightmarish start left them languishing at the wrong end of the table. Roberto Di Matteo was sacked having won only one of his 11 games in charge, and the club turned to Steve Bruce to reverse their fortunes.
The early indications suggest it was a sensible appointment. Villa are unbeaten in their last five games, and while it was frustrating to surrender their lead in last month's second city derby against Birmingham, there have been much-needed victories over Reading, Fulham and Blackburn.
They have a big job on their hands to reach the automatic promotion spots, but their upturn in form has already put them within five points of the play-offs. Summer signing Jonathan Kodjia has found his feet with five goals in his last five games, and there is likely to be more big spending in January as they aim to continue their climb up the table. The season could yet have a happy ending.
DERBY (16th, 20 pts)
Odds at start of season: 11/4
Odds now: 9/1
Derby are in a similar position to Aston Villa after a stormy start to the season and another change of manager. Nigel Pearson was sacked after falling out with owner and chairman Mel Morris following a poor start to the campaign, with Steve McClaren returning for his second stint at the club in his place.
They have beaten Sheffield Wednesday and Wolves in their last two games, but they remain the lowest scorers in the division with just 12 goals from 16 games so far. Injuries to James Wilson and Nick Blackman have not helped them, but McClaren will be hoping Darren Bent can build on his first goal of the season in Saturday's 3-2 win at Molineux.
BRIGHTON (2nd, 34 pts)
Odds at the start of season: 10/3
Odds now: 4/9
Chris Hughton continues to impress at Brighton. After the disappointment of losing to Sheffield Wednesday in the play-offs after their third-place finish last season, the Seagulls are aiming to go up automatically this time around.
So far, they look like good value for it. Their 5-0 thrashing of Norwich was a major statement of intent, and an eight-game unbeaten run has put them just three points behind leaders Newcastle with a five-point cushion on third-placed Huddersfield. They boast the best defence in the Championship having only conceded nine goals in 16 games.
DARK HORSES?
Huddersfield have been the big surprise package. David Wagner's side finished 19th last year, but they led the Championship after 11 games and are still third despite a recent dip in form. From being 11/1 outsiders to go up at the start of the season, they are now rated at 13/2.
Reading were even less fancied than Huddersfield but they have also started strongly. Jaap Staam's side sit fourth, two points ahead of Leeds, who have shot up the table after beginning the season slowly under new manager Garry Monk.
Birmingham, Fulham, Bristol City and Sheffield Wednesday occupy the places just below the play-off spots, but with only six points separating sixth place and 17th, there are sure to be more twists and turns as this year's promotion race gathers steam.
