Don't look now, but the EFL Championship is already well past the halfway point of the 2025-26 season and the race for Premier League promotion is quickly heating up.
MORE — Premier League table | Premier League fixtures
At the moment, Coventry City are inching toward ending their 39-year major trophy drought (1987 FA Cup) and returning to the top flight for the first time since they were relegated in 2001. The Sky Blues endured years of financial turmoil and looked like they might never climb their way back up the ranks but Frank Lampard's side is simply outscoring anyone and everyone this season, with USMNT striker Haji Wright more than doing his part early in the campaign.
On the flip side, Wrexham are eyeing an astounding fourth promotion in four seasons and are in the thick of both the automatic promotion and playoff races. Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac's (nee: McElhenney) club was playing non-league football as recently as 2023, and the Reds are on the march once again with former Bournemouth striker Kieffer Moore leading the way and threatening to take the Golden Boot this season.
Recently relegated sides Ipswich Town and Leicester City are amongst the more than dozen sides jockeying for position in the top half of the table, while Southampton, who also went down last season, are struggling to find their way back after making a managerial change just 13 games in.
While it's still too early to call the three sides that will be relegated from the Premier League this season, it's never too early to start tracking who will come up and replace them…
Current promotion standings (automatic + playoff places)
1. Coventry City — 52 points, +28 GD — Automatic
2. Middlesbrough — 49 points, +12 GD — Automatic
3. Ipswich Town — 44 points, +18 GD — Playoffs
4. Preston North End — 43 points, +11 GD — Playoffs
5. Millwall — 43 points, -4 GD — Playoffs
6. Watford — 41 points, +8 GD — Playoffs
Teams in the playoff race
7. Hull City — 41 points, +2 GD
8. Stoke City — 40 points, +9 GD
9. Wrexham — 40 points, +6 GD
10. Bristol City — 39 points, +9 GD
11. Queens Park Rangers — 38 points, -1 GD
12. Leicester City — 37 points, -1 GD
13. Derby County — 35 points, 0 GD
