{"id":307969,"date":"2025-08-01T01:11:19","date_gmt":"2025-08-01T01:11:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/307969\/"},"modified":"2025-08-01T01:11:19","modified_gmt":"2025-08-01T01:11:19","slug":"ipswich-to-make-immediate-return-birminghams-premier-league-quality-striker-luton-to-bounce-back-predicting-2025-26-efl-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/307969\/","title":{"rendered":"Ipswich to make immediate return, Birmingham’s Premier League quality striker, Luton to bounce back – Predicting 2025\/26 EFL season"},"content":{"rendered":"

Predicting any English league is hard enough, but three at once? Well that\u2019s just silly.<\/strong><\/p>\n

However, that\u2019s the task we\u2019ve given to four of our best EFL<\/a> experts ahead of what promises to be another enthralling campaign across the country.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

7<\/p>\n

The EFL is back and bigger than ever with clubs across the country hoping for a Charlton-style trip to Wembley for promotionCredit: Getty<\/p>\n

While the Premier League remains the world\u2019s envy for domestic league football, the same can also certainly be said of the rest of England\u2019s top four professional tiers.<\/p>\n

No other lower leagues across the world have so much focus on them or money injected, raising the stakes and intrigue to levels never seen before.<\/p>\n

Like it or not, the EFL now has Hollywood\u2019s glamour too.<\/p>\n

NFL icon Tom Brady is in at Birmingham and he’s been joined in promotion to the Championship by Ryan Reynolds\u2019 Wrexham.<\/p>\n

The impact has been huge, and the highs have been enormous, but the same can be said in the other direction too, with downward spirals like back-to-back relegations for Luton a cautionary tale.<\/p>\n

All of this means we\u2019ve had to look to four of our best EFL experts to give their predictions, with some surprise uniformity on two categories in particular.<\/p>\n

They are former Arsenal man Adrian Clarke, who played at every level from the top flight to the Conference South, former Championship superstar Darren Ambrose, the vastly experienced 18-club former striker Chris Iwelumo and talkSPORT\u2019s encyclopaedic commentator Ian Danter.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s get started shall we?<\/p>\n

Championship winner<\/p>\n

Danter<\/strong>: It has to be Ipswich Town. I know it\u2019s a fairly straightforward thing to say that a relegated side has a great chance of going straight back up, but in Ipswich\u2019s case a lot of that squad that won promotion from the Championship is still there and a lot of quality has been added.<\/p>\n

In my mind they\u2019ve only really lost Liam Delap<\/a> from the Premier League assets that they had so unless a load more players get shipped away between now and the end of the window I think it\u2019s going to be very hard to catch them, particularly when you look at the two other relegated sides. Southampton are an unknown quantity under Will Still and Leicester look in all sorts of trouble.<\/p>\n

Iwelumo<\/strong>: Sheffield United. I think Ruben Selles coming through the door<\/a> as manager has brought a very clear identity and he has a fantastic football philosophy as well. He\u2019s inherited a very, very strong squad that\u2019s full of goals.<\/p>\n

\"It's<\/a><\/p>\n

7<\/p>\n

It’s almost unanimous that McKenna is the man to do promotion all over again at IpswichCredit: Rex<\/p>\n

Clarke<\/strong>: Ipswich Town. The manager, Kieran McKenna, is outstanding, he\u2019s been there and done it and got them promoted before with a squad that was vastly inferior to the one he\u2019s got to work with this time around. He\u2019s lost a couple of players but they have an all-star Championship squad and I just can\u2019t see a side with their players failing to bounce back at the first attempt.<\/p>\n

Ambrose<\/strong>: My former club Ipswich Town. I know they struggled last season and although they lost Delap and Sam Morsy I just feel like they\u2019ve got a great squad for this division and along with Kieran McKenna leading them I think they can have a great season and bounce back immediately.<\/p>\n

Ipswich are 7\/2<\/a> favourites to win the Championship, while Sheffield United are third at 6\/1<\/a> with talkSPORT BET.<\/strong><\/p>\n

League One winner<\/p>\n

Ambrose<\/strong>: I know Luton Town have had back-to-back relegations and I know how difficult it is to get promoted from League One, only five of the last 21 teams have managed to bounce back up at the first time of asking. But I covered a couple of their games at the back end of last season and I just thought they performed really well, full of confidence and were unlucky not to stay up. I\u2019ve played with the manager Matt Bloomfield and he\u2019s a real student of the game, so with him in charge again I think they\u2019ll have a successful season.<\/p>\n

Clarke:<\/strong> I think it will be Huddersfield Town, managed by Kieran McKenna\u2019s former number two Lee Grant, he\u2019s a highly rated young coach who will be really hungry to succeed. He\u2019s spent all summer rebuilding a team that has been in the doldrums, but now, everywhere you look they\u2019ve got quality and strength in depth with a lot of guys that should be playing in the Championship. Yes he\u2019s a rookie coach but I think he\u2019ll bring great energy to the team.<\/p>\n

\"Luton<\/a><\/p>\n

7<\/p>\n

Luton could stop the rot, and then some, with an emphatic promotion campaign under BloomfieldCredit: Getty<\/p>\n

Danter<\/strong>: Luton Town, they\u2019ve got parachute payments from the Premier League for another season, even though they\u2019re down in League One after successive relegations they\u2019ve got so much budget to play with, they should be a really tough nut to crack. But maybe keep your eye on Huddersfield Town who made a lot of changes over the summer, they\u2019ve just bought Alfie May who is a proven goalscorer at League One level, he may well help them make the difference and give Luton a run for their money.<\/p>\n

Iwelumo<\/strong>: Luton Town – I think Matt Bloomfield showed his adaptability and he\u2019s now had a pre-season and brought in some players and recruited really well. He\u2019s brought in the likes of Nahki Wells, George Saville, Kal Naismith, added experience and used the loan market well. There\u2019s a lot more quality in depth.<\/p>\n

Luton are League One favourites at 3\/1<\/a> with Huddersfield in second at 6\/1<\/a> via talkSPORT BET.<\/strong><\/p>\n

League Two winner<\/p>\n

Danter<\/strong>: MK Dons. A lot of us would\u2019ve said them this time last season but they had a pretty disastrous campaign and didn\u2019t play particularly well before finishing in the lower reaches which astonished us all. But I think new manager Paul Warne is a really smart cookie, and he\u2019s won promotions from League One with Rotherham and Derby. They\u2019ve also signed Aaron Collins who\u2019s too good for that level as an attacking player.<\/p>\n

Iwelumo<\/strong>: MK Dons. With Paul Warne as manager and four promotions in his young career. I like the way he holds himself and his philosophy. There will be a lot of pressure on him with the budget they have but they\u2019ve recruited well. For me they\u2019re the team everyone will be chasing.<\/p>\n

Clarke<\/strong>: MK Dons. Paul Warne is a master at getting promotion from League One so why can\u2019t he go and do it at the first attempt in the division below? It will be a shift in style but what we know he\u2019ll bring is a clear identity and he knows how to foster the togetherness to get promoted. It\u2019s a squad that should be winning League Two this season.<\/p>\n

\"It's<\/a><\/p>\n

7<\/p>\n

It’s all about the manager again in League Two, with Paul Warne backed for a fifth career promotionCredit: Getty<\/p>\n

Ambrose<\/strong>: I think it will be MK Dons and that\u2019s purely based on the manager Paul Warne. He\u2019s very used to promotions having won three with Rotherham and his fourth with Derby. He\u2019s got a good squad to work with and I feel this could be his fifth promotion.<\/p>\n

It’s no surprise that the odds also make MK Dons League Two favourites at 5\/2<\/a> via talkSPORT BET.<\/p>\n

Player to watch in the Championship<\/p>\n

Danter: <\/strong>I\u2019m sorry to go route one but I\u2019ve got to go with my club Birmingham City and our recent capture of Kyogo Furuhashi from Celtic, a genuinely two-footed striker. He\u2019s Premier League quality and I don\u2019t know how we\u2019ve got him but we have. He\u2019s going to be part of a very strong Birmingham front line and will surely get the goals that made Celtic fans fall in love with him very quickly.<\/p>\n

Clarke<\/strong>: I\u2019m most excited about Kwame Poku, he was sensational for Peterborough and I think QPR fans are going to love his dribbling skills and his creativity. They\u2019ll also like his end product as well, he scored 12 goals and made eight assists last season despite missing half of the campaign and at 23 he\u2019s getting better and better and I think he\u2019s ready to take the Championship by storm.<\/p>\n

\"Furuhashi's<\/a><\/p>\n

7<\/p>\n

Furuhashi’s form in Scotland will surely translate to the English second tierCredit: Getty<\/p>\n

Iwelumo<\/strong>: Finn Azaz at Middlesbrough<\/a>. He\u2019s a very, very technical player, brings goals and is nice on the eye and comfortable receiving the ball in tight areas where he makes things happen. Some of his goals last season were outstanding and made from absolutely nothing. He also has good awareness and is very much a team player as well.<\/p>\n

Furuhashi is fourth in the odds to be the Championship’s top scorer with odds of 10\/1<\/a> with talkSPORT BET.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Player to watch in League One<\/p>\n

Clarke<\/strong>: Central midfielder Ethan Erhahon has just been signed by Bolton from Lincoln City and he\u2019s a composed, quality holding midfielder who can get the ball and give it and orchestrate play from deep. He can do a little bit of everything and win the ball back with great efficiency too. Bolton will be up there in the promotion mix and I expect Erhahon to be absolutely one of their main men.<\/p>\n

Ambrose<\/strong>: This may surprise a few people as it\u2019s a defender, but it\u2019s Luton Town\u2019s Christ Makosso. Every time I watched him play last season he was solid, he\u2019s only 21 and 6ft 4in and hardly ever gets beaten. He formed a great partnership with Mark McGuinness.<\/p>\n

Danter<\/strong>: Malik Mothersille has left Peterborough United<\/a> to go to Stockport and they\u2019ve got a good chance of getting amongst the play-off pack this year. He\u2019s only 21 years of age, I saw him coming through at Peterborough where he scored some fantastic goals and he\u2019s a really good, strong and physical target man who scores good goals too.<\/p>\n

Iwelumo<\/strong>: Isaiah Jones of Luton Town. I think they\u2019ll be very dominant in the league and he\u2019ll be seeing a lot of the ball. He\u2019s very direct and has great energy up and down the flanks and he brings goals to the game as well, he\u2019s a very exciting player.<\/p>\n

\"LONDON,<\/a><\/p>\n

7<\/p>\n

Mothersille is being backed to become another Peterborough find to shine elsewhere, like Ivan Toney and Sammie SzmodicsCredit: Getty<\/p>\n

Huddersfield’s Alfie May is the favourite for League One’s top scorer award at 5\/1<\/a> with talkSPORT BET.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Player to watch in League Two<\/p>\n

Danter<\/strong>: I\u2019ve already mentioned him, but Aaron Collins going to MK Dons. He\u2019s won League One Player of the Year before and I think he\u2019s far too good for League Two. He should be pulling the strings and helping MK Dons have a much, much better season than they did last year.<\/p>\n

Ambrose<\/strong>: Aaron Collins – he signed for an undisclosed fee which could be a club record and he\u2019s really comfortable at this level.<\/p>\n

Iwelumo<\/strong>: I think Aaron Collins is an absolute coup. Brought in from Bolton with 19 goals scored, I think he will deliver. He\u2019s technically very, very good, as is his movement and the positions he takes up. He\u2019s clinical in front of goal and he\u2019s going to get a lot of chances in this MK Dons side, so I think they will run away with the league with the firepower and experience they\u2019ve got.<\/p>\n

\"Collins<\/a><\/p>\n

7<\/p>\n

Collins should be going up a league, not down oneCredit: Getty<\/p>\n

The bookies agree on Collins, who is 5\/1<\/a> favourite to be League Two’s top scorer with talkSPORT BET.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Predicting any English league is hard enough, but three at once? Well that\u2019s just silly. However, that\u2019s the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":307970,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7820],"tags":[855,748,23712,24457,24458,393,4884,37795,1926,112918,101,4239,16,15,18833],"class_list":{"0":"post-307969","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-birmingham","8":"tag-birmingham","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-efl","11":"tag-efl-news","12":"tag-efl-updates","13":"tag-england","14":"tag-great-britain","15":"tag-huddersfield-town","16":"tag-ipswich-town","17":"tag-mk-dons","18":"tag-premier-league","19":"tag-sheffield-united","20":"tag-uk","21":"tag-united-kingdom","22":"tag-wrexham"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114950851086346601","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307969","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=307969"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307969\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/307970"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=307969"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=307969"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=307969"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}