The EFL Championship is regarded by many to be the best league in world football. That’s because of its unpredictability, it’s almost impossible to know what will happen on a weekly basis.

The 2025/26 Championship season is a good example of that. At the start of the campaign, Leicester City were tipped by many to bounce straight back up to the Premier League. They ended up having a dismal season and suffered relegation to the English third tier.

Hull City, on the other hand, were one of the favourites for relegation to League One. The Tigers defied the odds to finish in a playoff berth, before beating Middlesbrough in the playoff final to book their place in the Premier League.

With the 2026/27 Championship season on the horizon, GiveMeSport have asked GrokAI to predict the final table, and it thinks it knows where all 24 teams will finish.

Relegation Battlers (17-24)

Blackburn Rovers and Portsmouth both narrowly escaped relegation in the 25/26 campaign. They are expected to do the same again in 26/27 as they are tipped to finish 17th and 18th respectively.

Watford follow in 19th, while Bolton Wanderers, who sealed their return to the Championship with a 4-1 victory over Stockport County in the League One playoff final, are expected to survive in their first season back in England’s second tier.

Queens Park Rangers are expected to accumulate just 42 points in 26/27 campaign, but that will be enough for them to survive the drop.

Cardiff City are being predicted to finish in 22nd and go straight back down to England’s third tier, alongside Charlton Athletic and Lincoln City. The latter amassed 103 points in League One in 25/26 as they blew everyone away, but are being tipped to struggle following the loss of manager Michael Skubala to Bristol City.

Mid Table (9-16)

Millwall came so close to promotion to the Premier League in 25/26. They narrowly missed out on an automatic promotion spot before losing to Hull in the playoffs. They are being predicted to finish 10th in the upcoming campaign, a place behind Norwich City.

Derby County and Stoke City are expected to complete the top half and finish 11th and 12th respectively.

James Morrison led West Bromwich Albion to safety in 25/26, and they are expected to be a lot better in the upcoming campaign. They are being tipped to finish 13th, a place above Skubala’s Bristol City.

AI thinks Vítor Matos’ Swansea City will amass 54 points and finish 15th, a place above perennial mid-table side Preston North End.

The playoffs will be expanded in 26/27, with the top eight now qualifying. Southampton will start the season with -4 points after being found guilty of spying on multiple teams during the 25/26 campaign. Despite that disadvantage, they are expected to finish 8th and qualify for the playoffs.

Sheffield United are being tipped to bounce back from a dismal 25/26 season and finish 7th, behind Wrexham, Middlesbrough and Birmingham City.

AI thinks the three clubs that have dropped down to the Championship from the Premier League will finish in the top three.

Burnley are expected to amass 82 points and finish third as they just miss out on automatic promotion. AI thinks Wolves and West Ham will return to the Premier League at the first time of asking, with the latter finishing seven points clear of Rob Edwards’ side to be crowned champions. Grok wrote about the Hammers:

Liverpool have been given a huge boost in their attempts to sign an Diomande from RB Leipzig this summer, according to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano.

Diomande is in high demand this summer after an impressive season in the Bundesliga and wants to join Liverpool, according to reports.

The 19-year-old had 23 goal involvements – scoring 13 and assisting 10 – as the German side finished third in the Bundesliga, qualifying for next season’s UEFA Champions League.

That qualification for the Champions League could make things more difficult for interested parties to negotiate a deal, given Diomande would have elite level football to look forward to at Leipzig, but Liverpool are in talks with the German side to complete a deal.

Liverpool have competition to sign the teen star

However, they are not the only ones.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Romano said: “Many of you asking what’s happening with Yan Diomande, is he going to Liverpool or not? Look, Liverpool are in negotiations with Yan Diomande’s camp, so Liverpool are on it for sure.

“Paris Saint-Germain are on it as well, they are speaking with the player’s camp, they have genuine interest in Yan Diomande, so the battle is on.”

Diomande will be heading out to the United States of America, Canada and Mexico for the 2026 World Cup with the Ivory Coast this week, ahead of the tournament starting next week, and that throws a spanner in the works of any plans to thrash out a deal.

Liverpool would need to get a deal done quickly, before the tournament starts, or face having to wait until the African nation are knocked out to pick up negotiations again.

Romano revealed Diomande’s preference with transfer talks.

Can Liverpool get a deal done quickly for Diomande?

He added: “I can tell you that the preference from the player and the player’s camp would be to do the deal fast, before the start of the World Cup for the Ivory Coast so Yan Diomande can go to the World Cup without thinking about Liverpool or PSG. This is the feeling, they will try to accelerate the Diomande deal before the World Cup.

“I don’t know if it’s going to be possible because this will depend on Leipzig and it’s never easy to negotiate with Leipzig, we saw that with many players, they are tough, but Liverpool and PSG are both working on this one, both are involved.”

Leipzig have put a huge €120million (£103million) price tag on the young forward’s shoulders, which is another obstacle to overcome in a short space of time.