Birmingham City continued their unbeaten start to life back in the Championship by securing a 1-0 home victory against strugglers Oxford United. It leaves the Blues in a strong fifth place position as they prepare to end August with an away trip to face a recently-relegated Leicester City team at the King Power Stadium.
Elsewhere, West Brom under new boss Ryan Mason, have also started well with two wins and a draw from their opening three matches. The Baggies were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Portsmouth but have shown plenty of encouraging signs in the early weeks of Mason’s time in charge with wins over Wrexham and Blackburn Rovers.
Both sides have plenty of work to do to secure promotion this term but in the early weeks have shown the quality to suggest they can be in contention come the end of the season, particularly with a few strong transfers. But what have the experts at OPTA made of each Championship team so far? Here based on the opening three games, we take a look at their final predicted league table and each team’s projected points tally.
1. Oxford United - 24th
Oxford United are expected to struggle at the wrong end of the Championship table. OPTA has predicted them to pick up just 49 points all season. | Getty Images
2. Wrexham - 23rd
Big-spending Wrexham are many people's darkhorses for promotion this term. However, Opta sees things different and predicts relegation with just 52 points. | Getty Images
3. Derby County - 22nd
Derby County are expected to be relegated in their second season back in the Championship. OPTA predicts a points tally of 53. | Getty Images
4. QPR - 21st
QPR have had a tough start to the new season but are expected to beat the drop with 54 points. | Getty Images