5 EFL Championship clubs most likely to get promoted this season

The EFL Championship is one of the most competitive leagues in England. It's the second-highest in the four-league system in England, below the Premier League, and above League One. The division is riddled with some of the oldest clubs in English football, such as Birmingham (1875), Bolton Wanderers (1874), Notts County (1862), and Stoke City (1863).

The Championship is also touted by many as one of the toughest leagues in the world; a season lasts for 46 games, which is one long slog for clubs unfamiliar with the division. This is one of the main reasons why teams are so desperate to get promoted. But, of course, what awaits you on the other side of promotion is the Premier League, where TV rights alone can generate revenue in excess of £100m for a club.

Without any further ado, let's take a look at five clubs that could potentially get promoted this season.

#5 Derby County

Derby County have been revitalised under Lampard's managerial tenure thus far, and sit comfortably in 6th place with 51 points. They're in a strong run of form right now, and with their latest signing, Ashley Cole, in at left-back, they could certainly be a force to be reckoned with now we're in the final quarter of the season.

Harry Wilson, on loan from Liverpool, has been outstanding for Derby, scoring 12 goals, despite being a midfielder. He's only 21 years old, but Wilson is playing virtually every game under Lampard, which illustrates just how important he is to the team.

It helps tremendously that Derby County's strikeforce has been on top of their game, with a total of 32 goals coming from their six main strikers so far. In particular, though, Jack Marriott has been leading by example, scoring 10 goals in 20 appearances.

The reason why I believe Derby will get promoted this season is primarily due to their style of play: it's fluid, dynamic and quick, and opposing defences are never quite sure how to stop them. If the strikers don't manage to score, then a midfielder like Harry Wilson will find a way.

#4 Middlesbrough

Another team that has been revitalised thanks to a managerial switch is Middlesbrough, who are currently being guided by Tony Pulis. Pulis is a manager that has jumped ship several times in recent years. He was last in charge of West Bromwich Albion as they began their descent to the relegation zone, and ended up being sacked for showing no signs of improvement throughout the campaign.

His favourite style of play is defensive; he's not averse to instructing almost all players to play drab, tedious football in order to salvage a point, and when he wants to win, he'll aim to grab a goal early then sit back for the remainder of the game. This has made many fans frown upon whichever club he's in charge of, but the fact of the matter is that it works.

Middlesbrough are currently in 5th place with 54 points, only nine points off top spot. One thing that can be said for Boro is that they're consistent, so if they can keep that up until the season's over, they could definitely get promoted, either automatically or through the playoffs.

#3 Leeds United

Marcelo Bielsa may be one of the most controversial coaches in the Championship, but he's also one of the most successful. Bielsa transformed Leeds from a laughing stock into one of the top teams in the league. They play a style of football admired by the likes of Zidane, Pochettino and Guardiola for its exhilarating speed and accuracy.

Bielsa watches the game from a bucket on the sideline because the Elland Road dugout is below pitch level and gives him a better vantage point, or so he says. He may be eccentric, but as long as his methods work, I don't think Leeds fans will have any problem with it.

United are currently in 3rd place with 61 points, just two points off the top spot. They are also one of the highest scoring teams with 53 goals.

Leeds United look set for automatic promotion with the form they're in, which makes them an easy choice for this list.

#2 West Bromwich Albion

West Bromwich Albion's manager, Darren Moore, took over at the end of last season as they tumbled towards the relegation zone. His predecessor, Alan Pardew, was utterly hopeless and failed to fix any of the issues Tony Pulis had caused at the start of the season.

But Moore, despite having zero managerial experience, came in and guided the Baggies to wins over the likes of Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur, almost doing the impossible and keeping them up, but by that point, the damage had been done.

Although teams that are freshly relegated from the Premier League to the Championship are always deemed favourites for promotion, it doesn't always work that way. That can be seen by Stoke City (17th) and Swansea (13th) who also dropped down with West Brom.

WBA are currently in 4th place with 57 points, only six points off the top spot, and with the form they're in right now, they could easily slide into first place and overtake the competition. They have one of the strongest teams in the division, too, with the likes of Dwight Gayle, Jay Rodriguez, Ahmed Hegazi, and Kieran Gibbs in the line-up each week.

One of the main reasons the Baggies look set for promotion right now is due to their attacking style of football, which is topped off by the pairing of Dwight Gayle and Jay Rodriguez - the two stars mentioned above - who seem to be scoring goals for fun. Defensively, there are some issues, but because they're scoring more goals than they concede, they're coming away with three points, and that's all that matters to them.

#1 Norwich City

Norwich City were relegated from the Premier League in the 2015-2016 season and had spent the last couple of years floundering in the Championship. But not anymore; after Daniel Farke joined the club in the summer of 2017, there was an instant impact on the first team and they improved considerably. Although they finished 14th, the fans knew their project was for the long-term, not short.

And yet now, Norwich City find themselves top of the Championship with 63 points from 33 games. Norwich play quick football, exploiting the space in opposing team's defences, which is usually where their top scorer, Teemu Pukki, will collect the ball and charge towards the goal.

At that point, everybody knows what's going to happen next. Pukki has been a revelation for the Canaries, going from obscurity to superstardom with the fans. They'll do well to keep hold of him in the summer, as he's bound to have been scouted by the top clubs in Europe.

Norwich were the most obvious choice for this list, given their incredible form this season, but they'll still need to improve the team drastically if they plan to stay in the Premier League next season.

Edited by Arvind Sriram