Boro tipped for top-six finish next season

MIDDLESBROUGH are once again being tipped for a top-six finish next season as bookmakers make their early predictions for next season's Championship after the full field was confirmed.

- By CRAIG JOHNS

With EFL play-off finals taking place over the weekend, Sheffield United and Charlton Athletic were confirmed as the final two teams in next season's Championship, with Southampton, Leicester City and Ipswich Town already relegated from the Premier League.

The Blades remain in the second tier after losing to Sunderland at Wembley, while Charlton beat Leyton Orient to earn promotion.

At Boro, there remains much uncertainty over how things will be looking at the start of the new season as reviews continue following last season's disappointing tenth-placed finish.

While the feeling is that Michael Carrick will remain in charge next term, that is ultimately still to be determined as the post-season inquiry continues.

Despite that, Boro have been placed as joint-fifth favourites to earn promotion next season alongside old foe Coventry City, as bet365 named Ipswich Town as their favourites.

Unsurprisingly, they also have Southampton as a close second after they appointed Will Still at the weekend, but it is Sheffield United (still in receipt of parachute payments next season) and then newly-promoted Birmingham City who make up bet365's top six.

Leicester City are only tipped for a seventh-placed finish, while Wrexham's unprecedented run of three straight promotions is expected to end without a fourth.

Boro's 7/2 odds are another indication of the standing with which the club have within the division, despite their disappointing eight-year absence from the top flight. That said, last season's frustrations mean they're not as favoured as this stage last term, where they were heavily tipped to disrupt the top two and challenge for automatic promotion after ending the 2023-24 campaign with one defeat in 13.

Bet365's early promotion odds