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.
21. West Brom - 4th
West Brom have started well and OPTA expects the trend to continue. The Baggies are expected to pick up around 70 points, just four behind automatic promotion. | West Bromwich Albion FC via Gett
22. Leicester City - 3rd
2024 Championship winners Leicester City are expected to fall short in the automatic promotion race. OPTA predicts they'll finish on 73 points - one behind the automatic places. | Getty Images
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23. Coventry City - 2nd
Coventry City are looking like a force to be reckoned with in the early weeks of the season. OPTA predicts automatic promotion with 74 points. | Getty Images
24. Middlesbrough - 1st
Middlesbrough have been backed to win the league title under Rob Edwards. OPTA has given them a projected points tally of 75. | Getty Images