EFL League One gets underway on Saturday (7th August) and it should prove to be an interesting one given the number of relatively big clubs in it, all clamouring to start their climb back towards the top. With the Salary cap withdrawn one would expect the bigger clubs to dominate, but the likes of Accrington Stanley and Wycombe Wanderers have shown that wage budget is no guarantee of success at this level.
EFL League One Winners
Sunderland. The Black Cats have been languishing in this division for too long and given that head coach Lee Johnson has had a full offseason to get the squad right we are pretty confident that they will be playing in the Championship in 2022-23. The Stadium of Light can be an intimidating place for opposing teams and they should have the crowds in place too. They have not spent much but have picked up some intriguing free transfers especially Alex Pritchard who if he is fully fit could be exceptional at this level given his Premier League experience.
Automatic Promotion
Ipswich Town, like Sunderland, are historically a big club and although this is no guarantee of success we expect them to push Sunderland for the title. Like the Black Cats their manager, Paul Cook is in his second season and they have spent big (for this level anyway). We think Conor Chaplin should excel at this level and Rekeem Harper will add a bit of quality to the midfield.
Playoff Contenders
The race for the playoffs looks wide open again this year and we could make a case for a number of teams. Of the three relegated teams we think that the Yorkshire duo, Rotherham United & Sheffield Wednesday are likely to compete for an instant return. Wycombe who went down with them massively overachieved last season and we think they will most likely spend this season consolidating.
Sheffield Wednesday lost a couple of their better players to Celtic in the offseason which is never good. However, we like the signing of Northern Ireland Goalie Bailey Peacock-Farrell and Marvin Johnston will add a bit of experience to the left side of the midfield.
Rotherham have been quiet in the offseason but their squad looks good enough to challenge for a quick return to the Championship. It will be interesting to see how Hakeem Odoffin gets on as he played quite well in the Scottish Premiership last season. They should figure prominently although we think they will just fall short.
This brings us to Portsmouth who has been knocking on the promotion door of late having just missed out last season and making the playoffs the preceding two seasons. They have the crowds and now that administration is a thing of the past the financial muscle to finally get themselves back to the Championship.
How Will the Newly Promoted Teams fare?
Badly we fear. Of the four promoted teams, only Bolton look likely to stay clear of the Relegation zone. The other three could easily find themselves making an immediate return. This leads us to…
EFL League One Relegation candidates
There is a good chance that three of the four promoted teams will be heading straight back down. Our bottom four are:
Cambridge United
AFC Wimbledon
Cheltenham Town
Morecambe
EFL League One Final Table Prediction
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- Sunderland
- Ipswich Town
- Rotherham United
- Charlton Athletic
- Portsmouth
- Lincoln City
- Sheffield Wednesday
- Bolton Wanderers,
- Oxford United
- Wycombe Wanderers
- Wigan Athletic
- MK Dons
- Accrington Stanley
- Fleetwood Town
- Crewe Alexandra
- Doncaster Rovers
- Plymouth Argyle
- Burton Albion
- Gillingham
- Shrewsbury Town
- Cambridge United
- AFC Wimbledon
- Cheltenham Town
- Morecambe
Playoff Final
Portsmouth over Rotherham
So there we have it, our predictions for what looks like being an open division in 2021-22. Why not check out our most recent League One posts while you are here or have a go at one of our growing bank of Football Quizzes.
Scotty ✅
