Southampton, Leicester City and Leeds United are among the teams battling for promotion after dropping down to the Championship at the end of last season, but they’ll have competition
Despite it only feeling about six hours since the last domestic campaign came to an end, Friday night marks the return of the EFL when Sheffield Wednesday host Southampton.
And with a new season, comes a newly programmed ‘supercomputer’. This one has backed Leicester City and the Saints to bounce back to the Premier League at the first time of asking, but expects Leeds to fall short.
All three relegated sides have switched manager after suffering relegation last term. Leeds now have Daniel Farke in charge, with Enzo Maresca at Leicester and Russell Martin taking over at St Mary’s.
All three have also been active in the transfer market, with Leeds loaning out a number of members of their expensively-assembled squad, but their rivals have held on to big names. With the likes of Jamie Vardy and Che Adams gearing up for a season in the second tier, as well as Leeds talents Patrick Bamford and Illan Meslier, it’s all to play for.