Saturday 14^th September

English Championship

Preston North End v Swansea

The home side have started where they left off last season whilst Saturday’s visitors are still coming to terms with the loss of former manager Roberto Martinez who left for Wigan during the summer.

Preston remain unbeaten after 5 games accumulating a total of 9 points in the process. They find themselves just inside the ridiculously early play-off picture in 6^th position, 4 points of current leaders Newcastle United. As mentioned in a previous article, North End had the most amount of home wins in the division last season and have started in a similar vein. From their 4 home games this term, 2 of which were in the League cup, they have won 3 and drawn 1.

Swansea were a somewhat surprise package when promoted to the Championship a year ago. They were in and around the promotion picture for much of last season only to lose out in the final few weeks of the season. They played an open and expansive style of football under Martinez with the likes of Ferrie Bodde, Jordi Gomez and Jason Scotland flourishing. Gomez and Scotland have since followed Martinez to JJB Stadium whilst Bodde is just coming back from a long term injury.

Preston should be able to welcome back influential defender Youl Mawene from injury whilst manager Alan Irvine will be hoping Sean St Ledger will return from international duty ready to take his place alongside Mawene. Swansea will be hoping to give debut’s to Craig Beattie and Abu Bakr whilst prodigal son Lee Trundle will be looking to start his first game of his 2^nd spell at the Swans after a deadline day move from Bristol City.

As ever with Preston, their strengths will lie upfront with a powerful duo of strikers in Neil Mellor and Jon Parkin. Swansea’s task will be made doubly difficulty with the absence of Gary Monk and Rangel who are both suspended for Saturday’s match. North End will be looking for their creative players such as Ross Wallace and Richard Chaplow to provide a bit of spark and take the game to the visitors. I really fancy Preston to have a good season this term and their home form will be key to that. Paulo Sousa, Swans manager, is still to prove himself adept at this level and I can see him and his side on the wrong end of a defeat on Saturday.

My selection: Preston North End to beat Swansea

Best odds available: 5/6 with several bookmakers including StanJames

English League 1

Charlton v Southampton

Four years ago this match was taking place in the Premier League, as it is, Charlton will be entertaining Southampton in the 3^rd tier of English football.

Charlton can boast a 100% record in League 1 so far with 6 wins from their initial half dozen games. They have adapted well to their new league and have been very impressive, especially going forward. They have brushed aside the likes of Walsall, Tranmere and most recently, Brentford. In these last 3 matches they have amassed a total of 8 goals and managed to keep a clean sheet in the same run of games. Phil Parkinson, manager of Charlton, has rejuvenated an ailing club by bringing in experienced faces to mentor and support their prodigious young talent. Deon Burton, Christian Dailly and Miguel Llera have been brought in over the summer. Add their experience to bright, exciting youngsters such as Jay Shelvey, Lloyd Sam and Nick Bailey and you have a more than decent chance of challenging for promotion.

Southampton were relegated along with Saturday’s hosts last season. Their start to this one, however, has been far different to that of Charlton’s. By going into administration they triggered an automatic 10 point deduction meaning they needed 10 points just to be on level par for the season. As yet, they have only managed 4 points, all coming from draws. They still retain several quality players in the shape of Kelvin Davis, Adam Lallana and Marius Saganowski. They have also signed Ricky Lambert from Bristol Rovers who is a prolific goal scorer at this level.   

I watched Charlton’s last match against Brentford and was very impressed with not only their style of play but their control of the football match. Their midfield was particularly good and their wide players, Sam and Bailey, were threats throughout the match – they’ll always create chances. Southampton have proven to be stubborn opponents already this term losing only two of their 6 matches. Both these defeats however have come on the road and they have looked more vulnerable on their travels.

Charlton just look to be on a roll and I can’t see their progress being halted this weekend. I can’t see Southampton edging closer to the level par mark by picking up a point or 3 on Saturday and fully expect Phil Parkinson and his troops to be chalking up another victory and making it a magnificent 7.

My selection: Charlton to beat Southampton.

Best odds available: 8/11 with Coral

English Premiership

Fulham v Portsmouth

Fulham host Portsmouth this Saturday in a clash between two sides that are not in the best of form. The home side have not won a league game in 5 when they brushed aside Middlesborough the weekend before Christmas. Since that match they only played one other EPL match at home, a 2-2 draw against 3^rd place Chelsea. Outwith those games, they have only managed to pick up single point from three matches on the road, losing their last two away games against West Ham and Sunderland.

Unfortunately for Portsmouth, they have picked up even less points. From their last 8 league games they have amassed a pitiful 5 points. The run has seen them slip further and further down the table and the lie perilously close to the dreaded relegation places. Tony Adams has actually only managed to win two out of his 14 league matches since taking over at the end of October, it really is a startling stat. His cause has not been helped by the loss of key players such as Defoe and Diarra, as well as the ongoing financial troubles that have impeded his own transfer dealings. The likes of Mullins and Pennant are decent enough players, but they’re also journeymen who their own clubs were only too happy to let go of.

Fulham have also lost a key player in the shape of Jimmy Bullard. The transfer of the much admired English internationalist could prove detrimental to the Cottagers in the long run. His goals, set piece delivery and energy for central to most things that Fulham done well.

The hosts have a home record they can be very proud of. From 10 matches they’ve played at home, they’ve won 6 and drawn 3. Their solitary defeat came against a West Ham side who were extremely lucky to escape with anything, let alone all 3 points. They also have the 4^th best home defensive record in the league, only bettered by the top 3.

Portsmouth have been pretty poor on the road this season. Winning only two of their 11 games on the road thus far, they have lost 5, including two of their last 3. They managed to pick up a draw at Tottenham but even then they were very lucky not to suffer another defeat.

Interestingly enough, Pompey actually have a decent record away to Fulham, winning on their last two visits. Those wins however, came when they had pace to burn going forward. With Peter Crouch and Kanu their likely front pairing tomorrow, they are unlikely to be able to get in behind a resolute Fulham defence.

It’s been a tough old start to Adam’s managerial career and I can’t see it getting much better anytime soon. Andy Johnson and Bobby Zamora could enjoy a fruitful today tomorrow.

My selection: Fulham to beat Portsmouth

The best price available for a Fulham victory is 21/20 which is available at Bluesquare

English Championship

Southampton v Swansea

The away side comes into this match absolutely flying. Not only are they unbeaten in any competition since the end of November, they also defeated Portsmouth 2-0 in last week’s FA Cup tie at Fratton Park. The home side are at the other end of the form table, they’ve only managed victory once in their last 11 league matches, which was a single goal victory away to fellow struggler, Barnsley.

The Swans have finally started turning draws into victories. After stalemating in 8 league matches in a row, they have won their last 5 matches, including league wins over Reading and Preston at home and a 2-0 victory over Burnley on the road. Manager Roberto Martinez has put together a very balanced squad which can battle but also play quality football when they get the opportunity. A mixture of home based players and oversee imports has set them up for a very interesting second half of the season.

The home side have suffered a nightmare season to date. They recently lost manager Jan Poortvliet who only came in during the last close season. His philosophy of playing good football and nurturing young players may not have been getting consistent results, but it was the best way forward for a club who have had to loan out or sell their best players because they are in financial difficulties. All is not well at St Mary’s and the fans have not been slow to vent their anger at Chairman Rupert Lowe.

The away side will have to do without a key player in the shape of Darren Pratley. His presence will be missed in the middle of the park will no doubt be missed, but it should be noted that he went off 10 minutes into Tuesday’s 4-1 victory over Preston. Another player missing will be on-loan Nathan Dyer. Last week’s FA Cup hero is actually on loan from Southampton so is ineligible for tomorrows match.

Southampton have only managed to pick up one victory all season long at St Mary’s in the league. They have lost 7 games on home soil, only equaled by bottom club Charlton. Swansea have won only 4 matches on the road, but have only suffered defeat the same amount of times. I was tempted with backing the draw because of the players Swansea are missing but I just feel they will still have too much quality with the likes of Jason Scotland and Jordi Gomez.

My selection: Swansea to beat Southampton

The best price available for a Swansea win is 13/10 available with Coral

A few years ago this was a regular Premiership fixture for both sides but my how Southampton have fallen since. The two teams have met on no less then 71 times during the many years football has existed and Manchester United have always had the upper hand. United have won the previous four meetings between the two sides including a 4-0 win at Southampton in the FA Cup back in 2005. We wouldn’t put anyone off backing a similar scoreline this Sunday at St Mary’s.

Jan Poortvliet has one of the hardest jobs in football right now and that is attempting to get his struggling Saints out of the rut they are in and away from the foot of the Championship. They only just managed to scrape survival last season when they secured Championship status on the very last day of the 2007-2008 season. They are close to odds on to go down this season and it wouldn’t be much of a surprise if they were to do just that.
They have made a dreadful start to their Championship campaign and are already occupying one of the three relegation positions. The Saints also find themselves on a run of 8 matches without a win. Funnily enough their very last win in the league came against a very good Reading side. Since then they have managed just four goals in 8 matches and have shipped 12 in return. Hardly the sort of material you need to know if you’re a Southampton faithful.
The truth does tend to hurt though and it doesn’t get more painful then this for the saints. Their performances of late have been nothing short of abysmal and the home advantage on Sunday won’t mean anything when they sail out of the FA Cup at the first time of asking.

Sir Alex won’t mind too much who he draws in the FA Cup but he couldn’t of got much easier then an out of sorts Southampton side for their first FA Cup fixture. If they were not to win on Sunday it would be a major disappointment as Saints have showed very little of late to indicate that they could make a match of this.
Manchester United don’t exactly go into this game with a lot of momentum as their displays recently have been average to say the least. They have narrowly seen off Middlesborough at Old Trafford in their last ever fixture in 2008 winning 1-0 but they were hardly impressive. They have a knack of creating a lot of chances but have a big problem with converting them. They had a dozen or so clear cut chances against Middlesborough and missed all but one. J Park’s miss from 2 yards summed up their poor finishing.
Despite their poor performances they are still grinding out the right results and are currently third in the table and well in touch with those above providing they win their games in hand. Scoring away from home has been a concern this season with United scoring just nine on the road all season. That’s an average of 0.90 a game. Hardly Premiership winning material. They will be facing a far inferior side on Sunday though so they should enjoy themselves in front of goal. It could be a guessing game as to who will start up front with Carlos Tevez the more likely choice with Wayne Rooney probably settling for a place on the bench after he took a knock in the match with Middlesborough.

Match odds -
Southampton 10/1 Bet365
Draw 9/2 ToteSport
Manchester United 3/10 Coral

Prediction – Manchester United

With the championship season just four games old, there has already been a few surprise results with both Derby and Crystal palace occupying two of the relegation places. The biggest shock of the season so far came on the opening day with new boys Doncaster defeating Derby at Pride Park. Derby, who are widely tipped by several to be serious promotion contenders, have already given themselves a mountain to climb under Paul Jewell and are without a win after their first 4 league fixtures.

Crystal Palace are the other side who have made a dreadful start to the season. Two draws and two defeats see them lye in 22nd in the league and are also without a win from their first 4 fixtures.

Several have made undefeated starts to the season with Wolves, Preston, Birmingham, and Bristol City all yet to taste defeat. Wolves currently occupy top spot on goal difference which was largely down to their two terrific home victorys over Sheffield Wednesday which finished 4-1 and their 5-1 rout over Nottingham Forest.

Another surprise is that none of the three new clubs occupy any of the relegation places with Nottingham Forest the lowest out of three in the league in 16th. After Doncasters opening victory at Derby they went on to get 4 points from their next 3 matches.

Outright Betting: With Birmingham winning 3 out of the first 4 fixtures they are justified 10/3 favourties to win the league and judging by their early performances, they should go close. Wolves look good value at 11/2. They eased past their first few league games especially at home and look the team to beat in my opinion. Reading will be thereabouts come the end of the season and the bookies think so too and have priced reading up as third favourties at 7/1 while the new rich boys, QPR are currently 9/1 to win the Championship outright.

Relegation Odds: With both Blackpool and Barnsley not getting particularly good starts the bookies have priced them up as favourites for the drop with Blackpool 5/4 and Barnsley 11/8. The value looks to be with Derby County at 7/1. They are winless in 4 games and have just 1 point to their name. Their performances have been poor and haven’t really looked like winning any of the first 4 fixtures. Burnley lack quality and at 11/4 they look a fair bet for relegation and they should be around the foot of the table come the end of the season.

How we rate each team chances individually.

Barnsley
Players In: Luke Steele, Iain Hume, Roberto Colace, Mounir El Haimour, Darren Moore
Players Out: Paul Reid, Sam Togwell
Key player: Iain Hume
Prediction: 21st Despite making it all the way to the semi-final of the Fa Cup last season they struggled in their domestic campaign and finished 18th. They have a distinct lack of quality especially up front and they will struggle for fire-power in front of goal. We expect them to be around the bottom again this season.

Birmingham
Players In: Lee Carsley, Kevin Phillips, Marcus Bent, Kemy Agustien, Quincy Owusu-Abeyie
Players Out: Adam Lezgdins, Fabrice Muamba, Daniel de Ridder, Olivier Kapo, Sone Aluko
Key Player: Kevin Phillips
Prediction: 2nd They were unfortunate to be relegated last season as they got some decent results in the Premiership. They have kept the basic structure of the team while adding the likes of Everton’s Lee Carsley and West Brom’s Kevin Phillips. They have made a decent start to the season and they should be challenging for the automatic spots this season.

Blackpool
Players In: Matt Gilks, Joe Martin, Alex Babtiste, Steve Kabba, Jermaine Wright, Adam Hammill, David Vaughan, Marlon Broomes, Rob Edwards, Sone Aluko, Alan Gow
Players Out: Marcus Bean, Keigan Parker, Michael Jackson, Wes Hoolahan, Kaspars Gorkss
Key Player: Daniel Nardiello
Prediction: 23rd They did extremely well to avoid any sort of relegation battle come the end of the season but with a lack of quality, we fancy them to have a difficult season this time around. With just 4 points from the first 4 fixtures it doesn’t look too good.

Bristol City
Players In: Nicky Maynard, Gavin Williams, John Akinde
Players Out: Alex Russell, Nick Carle, Darren Byfield, Richard Keogh
Key Player: Nicky Maynard
Prediction: 9th They had a fantastic season last year and were unfortunate in the play-off’s. Once again they have made a great satrt to the season and with 8 points from the first 4 games they currently lye in 4th position and look on course for another good season. They were the surprise team last season but we doubt they will beat that and we fancy them to settle in the top half of the table this time around.

Burnley
Players In:Martin Paterson, Kevin McDonald, Christian Kalvenes, Diego Penny, Remco van der Schaaf, Chris Eagles, Russell Anderson, Steven Thompson
Players Out: John Spicer, Kyle Lafferty, James O’Connor, Jon Harley, Djemba-Djemba, David Unsworth
Key Player: Martin Paterson
Prediction: 22nd Burnley finished in mid-table last term and will be lucky to surive this season in our opinion. Chris Eagles should provide them with creativity while fan will be looking towards Martin paterson for goals this season after they let Kyle Lafferty go to Rangers. With just a single points form the opening fixtures the writing looks on the cards already. They lack quality and look set to face a relegation fight this season.

Cardiff
Players In: Darren Dennehy, Ross McCormack, Mark Kennedy, Jay Bothroyd, Eddie Johnson, Peter Encklemen
Players Out: Aaron Ramsey, David Forde, Warren Feeney, Robbie Fowler, Steven Thompson, Jimmy Flyod-Hasselbaink, Trevor Sinclair
Key Player: Joe Ledley
Prediction: 7th Cardiff somewhat sacrificed their league campaign for a great cup run in the FA Cup which seen them lose 1-0 to Portsmouth in the final. They will be disappointed with the departure of Aaron Ramsey who had a lot of potential and doesn’t seem as if Cardiff have found a replacement. Joe Ledley will be key if they are to push for the play-off’s this season but we think they will just come up short.

Charlton
Players In: Stuart Fleetwood, Martin Cranie, Hameur Bouazza
Players Out: Patrick McCarthy, Darren Randolph, Chris Iwelumo, Marcus Bent, Madjid Bougherra, Osei Sankofa, Sam Sodje, Ben Thatcher, Jerome Thomas, Amdy Faye,
Key Player: Marcus Bent
Prediction: 8th We’re not impressed with their lack of incoming transfers but they do posses some decent players in the final third. I think their season will rely heavily on a good start. If they hit a win less streak then they could start struggling. 6 points from 4 games isn’t the ideal start they would have hoped for and we doubt they will make a claim for one of the play-off spots.

Coventry
Players In: Guillaume Beuzelin, Aron Gunnarsson, Keiren Westwood, Freddy Eastwood, Steven Wright, Clinton Morrison
Players Out: Liam Davis, Julian Gray, Donovan Simmonds
Key Player: Freddy Eastwood
Prediction: 10th They had a poor season last year and were lucky not to go down. A new manager at the helm in Chris Coleman and their new signing Freddy Eastwood could one of the buys of the season. The welsh international is a proven goalscorer at this level and his goals this season will be crucial for Coventry’s ambitions. I don’t think they have the credentials to push for promotion and might have to settle for a mid-table finish.

Crystal palace
Players In: Patrick McCarthy, Johannes Ertl, Darryl Flahavan, Jos Van Nieuwstadt, Jose Fonte, Simon Thomas, Nick Carle, John Oster, Leandre Griffit, Alan Lee
Players Out: Jeff Hughes, Lewis Spencer, Mark Kennedy, John Bostock, Tony Craig, Clinton Morrison, Tom Soares, Dougie Freedman
Key Player: Nick Carle
Prediction: 6th Crystal palace made it to play-off’s last season and we fancy a repeat this season despite their poor start to the season. Neil Warnock has built a decent side at Palace and his side have the ability to push for promotion back to the top flight once again. One negative for me was them letting go of Clinton Morrison to league rivals Coventry. The forward bagged 16 goals in the championship last season and will be missed.

Derby
Players In: Kris Commons, Steve Davies, Nathan Ellington, Paul Connolly, Ruben Zadkovich, Paul Green, Jordan Stewart, Martin Albrechtsen, Liam Dickinson, Przemyslaw Kazmierczak, Rob Hulse
Players Out: Robert Earnshaw, Kenny Miller, Michael Johnson, Lee Holmes, David Jones, Darren Moore, Jason Beardsley, Craig Fagan, Tyron Mears, Eddie Lewis
Key Player: Rob Hulse
Prediction: 12th Despite them dropping down from the premiership we reckon they will have a difficult season. They were the worst ever team to play in the Premiership last season and they haven’t strengthen enough for us to think they will bounce straight back up. Add that to their poor start to the season we reckon they will find things tougher then they first expected in the Championship. Kris Commons and Rob Hulse look decent signings but we’re not too confident of their defence. A tough season ahead predicted which could see the end of Paul Jewell.

Doncaster
Players In:John Spicer, Darren Byfield, Tomi Ameobi, Matthew Mills, Jos van Niewstadt, James Chambers
Players Out: Paul Green, Stephen Roberts, Mark McCammon
Key Player: Darren Byfield
Prediction:19th Doncaster made it into the championship via the play-offs from League one and although they didn’t go up through automatic promotion, we fancy them to do well this season. They have a solid look about them and they could give some of the bigger sides in the league a surprise when they play them. Derby have already found this out when they lsot at home to Doncaster 1-0. Going by their first few performances they should have enough to stay up.

Ipswich
Players In: Pim Balkestein, Gareth McAuley, Kevin Lisbie, Richard Wright, Ivan Campo, Ben Thatcher, Moritz Volz, Johnathan Stead
Players Out: Gavin Williams, Gary Roberts, Nick Colgan
Key Player: Johnathan Walters
Prediction: 3rd Ipswich are a team with a great home record. They were the best home side of last season with just the on defeat at Portman Road. We didn’t think many would beat them at Portman Road this season but with two straight home defeats it has certainly made us concentrate harder. Although they have made apoor start to the season by their own standards, we still fancy them to at least get one of the 4 play-off positions. A distinct lack of transfers into the club is a slight concern but we fancy them to go well and possibly sneak automatic promotion.

Norwich
Players In: Sammy Clingan, Wes Hoolahan, Ryan Bertrand, Dejan Stefanovic, Elliot Omozusi, Arturo Lupoli, David Bell, Stuart Nelson
Players Out: Matt Gliks, Andrew Cave-Brown
Key Player: Arturo Lupoli
Prediction: 14th Norwich finished 17th last season which is unacceptable for a club with their recent history. They lacked goals last season and have brought in some strikers wit h the aim of putting it right this season. However they still lack quality in the midfield and there is a lack of quality creative players in their squad. If they can provide the former Arsenal youngster, Lupoli with regular service then they may go well but they are very incocnsistent and we fancy them to have another poor season.

Nottingham Forest
Players In: Robert Earnshaw, Guy Moussi, Andy Cole, Joe Garner, Paul Anderson, Mickael Darnet, Lee Martin
Players Out: Kris Commons, Matt Lockwood, Alan Power, Sammy Clingan, Grant Holt, Junior Agogo
Key Player: Robert Earnshaw
Prediction: 17th Last seasons League two runners-up Nottingham Forest look to have enough to see off relegation for one season at least. The signing of Robert Earnshaw from Derby County is a massive positive. The welsh international has bags of pace and can score at this level. If Nottingham are to survive then his goals will play a key part. A 5-1 hammering against Wolves won;t go down too nciely with the players but their other 3 performances look good enough for us to think they should settle nicely in the bottom half of table.

Plymouth Argyle
Players In: Jason Puncheon, Karl Duguid, Yala Bolsaie, Graham Stack, Emlie Mpenza, Nicolas Marin, paul Gallagher, Chris Barker, Simon Walton
Players Out: Paul Connolly, Paul Wotton, Najim Abdou, Peter Halmosi
Key Player: Emile Mpenza
Prediction: 15th I live near Plymouth and the fans are not too optimistic about the season ahead. Plymouth have let several of their best players go over the past year with the likes of Ebanks-Blake going to Wolves in January and their most high profile of them all in Peter Halmosi who couldn’t resist the lure of the premiership with Hull City. Emile Mpenza is a fantastic signing for Sturrock and he could be crucial for Plymouth this season. After a decent season last year we fancy them to finish in mid-table this term.

Preston
Players In: Barry Nicholsen, Ross Wallace, Jon Parkin, Stephen Elliott
Players Out: Tamas Priskin
Key Player: Neil Mellor
Prediction: 13th Preston struggled for the majority of last season and spent a lot of the time near the foot of the table. The eventually finished in 15th and with the lack of activity in the transfer market this summer they won’t be too far away from where they finished last season. They have made a great start to the new season though and have 10 points from their first 4 games beating some of the favourites for promotion. Their start to the season is very good but they are a inconsistent side and we doubt they can keep it up throughout the season.

Queens Park Rangers
Players In: Radek Cerny, Peter Ramage, Emmanuel Ledesma, Kaspars Gorkss, Dani Parejo, Samuel Di Carmine
Players Out: Stefan Bailey, Jake Cole, Daniel Nardiello, Zesh Rehman. Simon Walton, Chris Barker
Key Player: Emmanuel Ledesma
Prediction: 4th QPR fans are confident they can win the title this season. With new investors from the world of Formula 1 they have the cash to push for promotion and a minimum of a play-off spot will be expected from the fans. They have brought in a decent keeper in former spurs shot stopper Radek Cerny and Ledesma is a classy winger who can deliver a good ball. The board have already expressed that they aim to be in the premiership within the next couple of season and we think this could be their year but it will take a lot of work.

Reading
Players In: Noel Hunt, Chris Armstrong
Players Out: Adam Bygrave, Ben Hamer, Glenn Little, Dave Kitson, Scott Davies, Ibrahima Sonko
Key Player: Kevin Doyle
Prediction: 5th Despite Reading being relegated from the Premiership they have managed to keep the majority of their best players. Leroy Lite, Steven Hunt and Kevin Doyle have all stayed at the club with their only big departure being Glen little to Portsmouth. They have started fairly well and are in 6th position after 4 games. They have enough quality to regain their premiership status and we expect them to be in the play-off’s come the end of the season.

Sheffield United
Players In: Greg Halford, Sun Jihai, Darius Henderson, Justin Haber, David Cotterill
Players Out: Chris Lucketti, Rob Hulse, Ben Starosta, Luton Shelton, Johnathan Stead, Michael Tonge, Chris Armstrong,
Key Player: James Beattie
Prediction: 11th A disappointing season last term saw them finish in 9th. They are a club expected to push for promotion each season but are very inconsistent. They did well to keep hold of James Beattie who scored 21 league goals last season. Even with Kevin Blackwell at the helm i can’t see them mounting a promotion challenge this season and will have to settle for another average campaign in mid-table.

Sheffield Wednesday
Players In: James O’Connor, Tony McMahon, Jimmy Smith
Players Out: Burten O’brien
Key Player: James O’Connor
Prediction: 24th Sheffield Wednesday seem to struggle each season and were tipped for relegation last season. They do lack fire-power in front of goal and with no recognised signings they will be in for another difficult campaign and a dogfight at the foot of the table looks inevitable.

Southampton
Players In: Chris Perry, Lee Holmes, Paul Wotton, Tommy Forecast, Morgan Schneiderlin, Anthony Pulis, Jack Cork
Players Out: Cedric Baseya, Andrew Davis
Key Player: Bradley Wright-Phillips
Prediction: 20th Another former Premiership club on the decline. After their stint in the top flight they have seriously struggled for results in the championships and were very fortunate not to go down last season and their survival went down to the last day of the season which saw Leicester take their place in the last relegation spot. A team who lack goals and confidence and if they get off to a bad start, their could be no way back for the Saints.

Swansea
Players In: Ashley Williams, Mark Gower, Federico Bessone, Albert Serran, Fabien Brandy, Stefan Morrision
Players Out: Kevin Austin, Kevin Amankwaah, Darryl Duffy, Darren Way
Key Player: Jason Scotland
Prediction: 18th Last season League one champions will be hoping to avoid a relegation fight but with a lack of depth within the squad they could have one on their hands. Despite manager Martinez making some signings over the summer they do lack a potent striker and could struggle somewhat for goals. Going on their first couple of performances they should have enough to pull off survival though.

Watford
Players In: Jon Harley
Players Out: Nathan Ellington, Jordan Stewart, Toumani Diagoura, Steve Kabba, Darius Henderson, Moses Ashikodi, Danni Shittu
Key Player: Tommy Smith
Prediction: 16th After a great start to last season which seen them top of the league at Christmas, they fell off the pace and only just managed to get the last play-off spot. They went out at the first hurdle to eventual play-off winners Hull City. Their does seem to be cash problems at the club also with Boothroyd being forced to sell several key players with Nathan Ellington, Steve Kabba and Darius Henderson all departing the club. With very little coming into the club they look in trouble. They are widely tipped to struggle this season and we reckon they will finish 10 places behind their position last season in 16th.

Wolves
Players In: Sam Vokes, Richard Stearman, David Jones, Chris Iwelumo, Matthew Hill
Players Out: Freddy Eastwood, Matt Bailey, Seyi Olofinjana, Elliott Bennett, Lee Collins, Jay Bothroyd, Charles Mulgrew
Key Player: Michael Kightly
Prediction: 1st Manager Mick McCarthy has made some decent signings over the summer in a bid to improve on last seasons finish of 7th. Wolves had a disappointing season last term and were fancied to at least get a play-off spot. Welsh international Sam Vokes looks a decent proposition for the future while Chris Iwelumo should be what they need to get the goals to push them higher up the league. They have made the best start to the season out of any of the championship clubs and with them currently in first place, we fancy them to remain their aslong as they keep up the good performances.