The Saints confirmed their place back in the Premier League by winning the Championship play-off at the end of May, but thoughts are already turning to the new season and here are the teams bookmakers believe will be in the battle to go up in the 2024/25 season.
2023/24 Championship Promotion Odds
Odds courtesy of bet365, correct at the time of publishing and subject to change.
Team | Odds |
Leeds | 11/10 |
Burnley | 9/4 |
Luton | 7/2 |
Middlesbrough | 4/1 |
Coventry | 9/2 |
All other teams | 5/1 or above |
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Leeds @ 11/10
Leeds fans will have considered their team extremely unlucky not to have secured automatic promotion after accumulating 90 points during the regular Championship season and it is little surprise to see them at the head of the promotion market.
The fact they lost the play-off final 1-0 to Southampton was a huge disappointment and they will not want to extend their stay in the second tier any longer after that blow.
Daniel Farke’s side lost three of their final four games of the season which allowed Ipswich to slip away, but the way they dispatched Norwich 4-0 in the play-offs shows they have the potential to see off any Championship challenger.
Burnley @ 9/4
Burnley were expected to do well in the Premier League after cruising to the Championship title in 2022/23, but it did not turn out like that for the Clarets, whose poor home record helped consign them straight back into the second tier.
Manahcer Vincent Kompany has left the club after he was surprisingly handed the job at Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich and it will be interesting to see how the Lancashire club get on without their manager.
However, they showed they had all the right ingredients to claim second-tier success when they won by 10 points two seasons ago and, with much of the squad still intact, they will have their supporters at 9/4.
Luton @ 7/2
If anything, Luton put up a more spirited fight to try and stay in the top flight after gaining promotion to the Premier League for the first time.
It did not prove enough in the end as their defensive frailties were exposed too often, but they have not had a taste of the big time and will fancy their chances of an immediate return under young boss Rob Edwards.
Middlesbrough @ 4/1
Middlesbrough were expected to make a big push for promotion last season having reached the play-offs in the previous campaign under Michael Carrick.
However, they were unable to fully recover from failing to win any of their opening seven games, although their faith in Carrick was rewarded by a run of just one defeat from their final 12 championship outings.
They were four points adrift of sixth spot in the end, but could hit the ground running, especially with Carrick having signed a new three-year contract..
Coventry @ 9/2
Coventry continue to make progress under Mark Robins, even though last season’s achievements came more in the FA Cup than in the league, 12 months after they had lost to Luton in the play-off final.
The Sky Blues pulled off a stunning quarter-final win at Wolves with two late goals and then came back from 3-0 down to Manchester United to force penalties in the semi-final at Wembley.
That should give them huge confidence that they can make their presence felt in the Championship next season, having finished ninth last season.