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.
17. Sheffield United - 8th
Sheffield United are expected to improve after a weak start, but OPTA feel they'll finish outside the play-offs with just 68 points. | Getty Images
18. Millwall - 7th
Millwall are expected to compete for a place in the play-offs but just fall short with 69 points. | Getty Images
19. Bristol City - 6th
OPTA has backed Bristol City to finish in sixth for the second consecutive season. It would represent a fine start to Gerhard Struber's tenure in charge with the club picking up a projected 69 points. | Getty Images
20. Stoke City - 5th
Stoke City are expected to make huge strides under Mark Robins. OPTA predicts a fifth place finish with 70 points. | Getty Images