There aren’t many managers with a better profile than Kieran McKenna, who has been linked with jobs at Manchester United, Chelsea and Brentford in recent summers, so Ipswich Town are blessed to still have him in charge at Portman Road.
The Tractor Boys were relegated from the Premier League last season after winning just 22 points but he led them to back-to-back promotions in the previous campaigns and retains the nucleus of a squad which should be too strong for a relatively mediocre Championship.
Losing leading goalscorer Liam Delap in a £30million transfer to Chelsea is a significant blow but the addition of former Manchester United star Ashley Young will add experience and there could be new arrivals before the transfer deadline.
Five of the last six favourites to win the second tier in English football have taken the title and Ipswich can celebrate an immediate return to the top flight with McKenna enhancing his reputation by leading them to top spot.
They are crying out to be backed even though they are no better than 3/1 with William Hill, bet365, BetVictor, Betfred and many others to be champions while the 11/10 with the first two bookmakers that they are promoted is money in the bank and the bedrock for pre-season accumulators.
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Southampton will have their followers who believe they can also bounce straight back to the Premier League despite being absolutely awful last season when they collected just one point more than Derby County’s record low of 11 but, although new manger Will Still has a solid reputation, he has yet to prove himself in this country, and he may yet lose his better players like midfielder Tyler Dibling and central defender Taylor Harwood-Bellis to irresistible offers.
Leicester City were about to embark on their historic 5,000/1 fairytale story ten years ago but the 2015/16 Premier League champions were dismal last term and new manager Marti Cifuentes faces a possible points deduction for previous breaches of the financial fair play rules. Losing iconic striker Jamie Vardy’s goals is a huge blow and the Foxes can be discounted from the promotion and play-off races.
Sheffield United amassed 92 points last season when they finished third and then surrendered a late lead as they were stunned by Sunderland in the play-off final at Wembley, costing manager Chris Wilder his job. New boss Ruben Selles has his work cut out to maintain those standards, leaving the other automatic promotion place to be filled by new boys Birmingham City.
Last year’s League One winners collected 111 points and despite losing impressive striker Alfie May to Huddersfield they have added former Celtic finisher Kyogo Furuhashi from Rennes and he’s worth an each-way bet at 16/1 with bet365 to be the division’s top goalscorer. Hull are 3/1 with the same firm and Betway to be relegated.
FedExCup golf odds
No golfer has won successive FedExCups but world No.1 Scottie Scheffler is no ordinary player and can take a huge step towards creating history by winning the end-of-season play-offs for a second year in a row with victory at the St Jude Championship in Memphis.
He’s taken time off since winning the Open at Royal Portrush and is 3/1 with Sporting Index and SpreadEx to top the leaderboard at Southwind on Sunday evening.
Matt Fitzpatrick has returned to form with a bang, finishing tied eighth, tied fourth twice and tied eighth again in his last four starts and appeals each-way at 20/1 with BoyleSports while Russell Henley is the same price with the same firm, who offer Aaron Rai at 25/1.
Cricket odds
Oval Invincibles can live up to their name for the third year in a row by retaining their men’s The Hundred crown at 10/3 with bet365, Betfred and BetVictor with Jason Roy worth an each-way dabble at 20/1 with Ladbrokes and Coral to be the top batter.
The Oval Invincibles won the women’s title in 2021 and again 12 months later and can regain their crown at 17/4 with Betway.