Championship: Norwich, Watford, Middlesbrough to go up

The start of the 2022/23 Championship season is just a fortnight away after the domestic calendar was brought forward a week to accommodate a winter World Cup. Unsurprisingly, not many of the clubs hoping to win promotion to the Premier League seem ready for the early start.

There have only been a handful of signings made across the first two weeks of the window, while the Premier League's own transfer sagas mean a lot of important loan moves won't be sanctioned until the end of the window. This potentially hands an advantage to those clubs who excelled towards the end of last year, as well as the three teams relegated from the top flight in May.

As usual, it is those receiving parachute payments who are considered the favourites, and yet rarely do all three come straight back up - and this year's race seems particularly open, judging by the current outright odds.

Here's a look at all six teams who are available at under 20/1 to win the title:

Norwich certain to bounce back

Stuck in a limbo from which there seems no way out, Norwich's last four league finishes read: 1st, 20th, 1st, 20th. That pattern will surely continue this year as these seasoned Championship players once again show they have the technical and tactical talent to comfortably win the second-tier title.

Norwich haven't lost anyone significant so far, meaning the likes of Teemu Pukki, Todd Cantwell, and Max Aarons still lead a side that is slick and classy in the Championship but hopelessly out of their depth in the Premier League. More importantly still, they have the perfect manager to enact their usual tactical formula.

Dean Smith dominated the division for seven months as Aston Villa manager with a very attacking brand of football that unleashed the team's obvious technical superiority, and he should easily do the same thing as Norwich boss. It's boring, but there's a reason Norwich are 6.411/2 favourites to win the league and 2.829/5 to win promotion.

Watford may hang onto stars

It looks as though Watford are going to continue to mirror Norwich's yo-yoing, having finished next to the Canaries - 19th, 2nd, and 19th - over the last three years. They are yet to lose many players of significance this summer, with Josh King and Moussa Sissoko the only departures of note.

Stars Emmanuel Dennis and Ismaili Sarr are far too good for the Championship and would surely lead the Hornets back to the Premier League were they to stay, and there has been limited interest in either player. Sporting director Cristiano Giaretta recently made it clear they would remain at the club unless there was a significant offer - and that neither player was kicking up a fuss.

Watford have experience and quality in every position, but better yet they have made a surprising and astute appointment in Rob Edwards, a young manager who made headlines by winning League Two with Forest Green Rovers last year.

They are rightly second favourites to win the league at 8.27/1 and to get promoted at 2.77/4 (Sportsbook).

Middlesbrough have the best manager

Aside from Norwich and Watford, there are four clubs all given odds of 10.09/1 to win the title, reflecting the likelihood that those two will come first and second - with the usual free-for-all below that.

However, if there is one club under-rated in this year's odds it is Middlesbrough, whose secret weapon is boasting the Championship's best manager in Chris Wilder. The man who achieved great things at Sheffield United with his sophisticated tactical setup has done well since his appointment at Boro, with a five-game winless run in April the only reason they didn't steal a play-off spot.

There is no doubt Middlesbrough will be much better after a full summer on the training field, absorbing Wilder's methods. Nothing about the squad, or their summer signings, catches the eye... but that was also true of Sheffield United in 2018/19. They are worth a bet for promotion at 4.03/1.

Burnley are in serious decline

A mass exodus has confirmed that Burnley are highly unlikely to use their Premier League expertise to good effect in the Championship, especially not without Sean Dyche - whose dismissal was an absurdly poor decision by the new owners. Without Dyche, nothing really separates Burnley from the majority of other Championship clubs.

Well, that isn't strictly true. What makes Burnley stand out is their huge debt, courtesy of a leverage buyout that turned a well-run club into one facing serious financial issues, forcing them to let most of their best players leave.

Ben Mee, Nick Pope, James Tarkowski, Wout Weghorst, Nathan Collins, and Aaron Lennon are among the 20 names to have gone so far. More will follow in the weeks ahead.

West Brom stronger than Sheff Utd

There isn't a particularly good reason to assume Sheffield United, who came fifth last season, will be able to maintain that form or better it in 2022/23 under the same manager Paul Heckingbottom. Much of Wilder's Premier League squad is still there and yet standards have slipped significantly, although the loan signings of Ciaran Clark and Tommy Doyle are promising.

But they ought not to be joint favourites with others on this list, and certainly not West Brom, who are about to embark on back-to-back Championship seasons for the first time since 2007/08. They are not used to being down for so long, and a strong end to the 2021/22 campaign suggests Steve Bruce can grind his way back to the Premier League.

Bruce's dour defensive football works best at this level, and although he failed at Sheffield Wednesday and Aston Villa it seems he has found the magical formula again: West Brom won 21 points from the final 12 games of last season. Their promotion odds of 3.7511/4 reflect Bruce's and West Brom's vast experience.