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The battle for a place in the Premier League gets underway next weekend with the first round of Championship fixtures. Ipswich, Leicester and Southampton are back in the second tier after relegation last season, while newly-promoted Birmingham City and Wrexham have legitimate ambitions of securing back-to-back promotions - in the case of the latter they’re looking to make it four promotions on the spin. With less than a week to go until the first game kicks off next Friday, we’ve picked out three outright tips for the Championship. BET £10 GET £30 IN FREE BETS WITH TALKSPORT BET Blades can bounce back Sheffield United pushed Leeds and Burnley almost all the way last season in the battle for the automatic promotion spots, but their form dipped in the closing stages and they ended up in third spot, before losing out to Sunderland in the play-off final. The south Yorkshire outfit opted for a change in manager of the summer as Chris Wilder was replaced by Rubén Sellés and the Spanish tactician has inherited a squad that has all the ingredients to battle for the top prize. The Blades have largely managed to keep their squad intact and they look particularly strong in midfield with Callum O'Hare and Gustavo Hamer. Tyrese Campbell is a proven goalscorer at this level and United look strong at the back as well - having boasted the third best backline in the division last season. Ipswich are rated as the favourites to win the league, but it remains to be seen how they will react after relegation and their squad doesn’t look particularly stronger than the side Selles has at Bramall Lane. The jury is out on Selles after frustrating spells elsewhere in England, notably at Southampton and Hull. However, this is his first opportunity to take charge of a team with ambitions beyond survival and for a full season - so he may prove to be a shrewd appointment for the Blades and they look worthy contenders at 6/1 to take the Championship title. Sargent an each-way contender for top scorer prize The top goalscorer market offers some big prices and an each-way bet on Josh Sargent, covering the top four places, stands out. The Norwich forward shared the goals with Borja Sainz last season, but the latter has moved on to pastures new. Sargent struck 15 times in 32 games for a mid-table team last season, coming in fourth in the scoring charts, and has reached double figures in each of the last three campaigns. Sargent may shoulder the scoring burden for the Canaries once again and he looks a strong each-way value play to be the division’s top scorer. Pompey could be in trouble Promoted duo Birmingham and Wrexham probably won’t be among the drop candidates and the other team that came up, Charlton, have a fair chance of surviving. Crisis club Sheffield Wednesday will probably occupy one of the bottom three spots, but there are a host of teams who could be in the other two and at 9/2 Portsmouth look an interesting option. Pompey needed a big finish to pull clear last term and they haven’t particularly strengthened over the summer. They finished just five points clear of danger last season and they could drop back down to League One at the end of the coming campaign, as the Championship looks a tougher league this term considering the quality of the sides that have come up. BET £10 GET £30 IN FREE BETS WITH TALKSPORT BET Sign Up Offer: Bet £10 and get £30 in free bets - CLAIM HERE T&Cs: 18+ New customers only. Opt in via mobile or app & bet £10+ on any football market at 2. 00+ odds within 7 days. No Cash out. Get 6x £5 Free Bets on selected markets. Free bets expire in 7 days. T&Cs apply, see below. Gamble Aware. org | Please gamble responsibly Odds correct at time of publish and subject to change* 18+ New customers only. Opt in via mobile or app & bet £10+ on any football market at 2. 00+ odds within 7 days. No Cash out. Get 6x £5 Free Bets on selected markets. Free bets expire in 7 days. T&Cs apply, see below. Gamble Aware. org | Please gamble responsibly A responsible gambler is someone who: For help with a gambling problem, call the National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133 or go to www. gamstop. co. uk to be excluded from all UK-regulated gambling websites. Commercial content notice: Taking one of the bookmaker offers featured in this article may result in a payment to talk SPORT. 18+. T&Cs apply. gambleaware. org © 2025 talk SPORT Limited
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