Supercomputer predicts who will be relegated from the Championship in the new season
Opta has once again predicted which teams will be relegated ahead of the 2026-27 campaign.
Multiple sides are looking to avoid the drop this season, especially the likes of Lincoln City, Cardiff City and Bolton Wanderers, who have just come up from League One.
However, many Championship sides could end up looking over their shoulder over the coming months, especially after suffering a disastrous run of form at the backend of the 2025-26 campaign.
Few sides were poorer than Stoke City in the final matches of last season, with the club losing five out of their last six games.
After being forced to settle for a 17th-place finish, the supercomputer believes that the Potters could now be set for a return to League One.
Mark Robins’ side had a good pre-season and beat Oldham Athletic 2-0 in the Carabao Cup first round on the weekend.
Stoke City favourites to be relegated from the Championship this season
Opta’s pre-season predictions for who will be relegated from the Championship this season are perhaps bold.
The supercomputer has insisted that Stoke City are the heavy favourites to be relegated this season, with a 31.1 per cent chance of finishing the campaign in the bottom three.
Following this is Charlton Athletic, who have a 26.2 per cent chance of being relegated, with Watford the third-favourites at 25.3 per cent.
Preston North End are being tipped to narrowly avoid the drop, with a 25 per cent chance of going down.
Newly promoted Bolton and Cardiff have just a 23.1 per cent and a 22.8 per cent chance of finishing the campaign in the drop zone.
Following this, Opta believes that Queens Park Rangers and Bristol City, have an outside chance of going down at 19.6 per cent and 17.7 per cent.
Blackburn Rovers and Lincoln should be safe according to the supercomputer, having just a 15.1 per cent and 14 per cent chance of returning to League One.
How accurate was Opta’s relegation predictions last season?
Opta only got one of the three relegated sides right in their last pre-season predictions.
This was Oxford United, who were the favourites to go down in their model last year.
However, they were unable to predict Sheffield Wednesday’s bottom-place finish, as the supercomputer could not foresee their off-field issues.
On top of this, it did not believe Leicester City had a realistic chance of going down and placed the odds at 3.9 per cent.
This was another prediction it clearly got wrong, and it remains to be seen if Opta is able to be more accurate this season.