The Championship is widely regarded as the toughest league in the world – which means predicting it is even harder.But thankfully, talkSPORT Breakfast host Jeff Stelling and EFL expert Adrian Clarke have as much experience as anyone of the second tier.Coventry ended their 25-year absence from the Premier League in style by lifting the title last seasonGettyThe pair have run the rule over which teams are most likely to lift the title come May, and the ones who should already be fearing the drop.Don’t forget, talkSPORT and talkSPORT 2 is your home of the EFL, with our coverage getting underway on Friday night. Wolves against Blackburn will be on talkSPORT. Then on Saturday, it’s GameDay Live from 12 o’clock; Adrian Durham presents commentary of Bolton’s return to the Championship against Preston.Then from 2.30 on Saturday, all the goals as they go in from the EFL, while Middlesbrough against Lincoln can be found on talkSPORT 2 at 3 o’clock.That’s followed by Sheffield United against Birmingham at 5.30pm. And then on Sunday, more action for you.Watford against Southampton at 1.30pm. Burnley against West Ham at 4pm, both on talkSPORT 2 – And the Championship weekend concludes with Cardiff against Wrexham at 8 o’clock on talkSPORT 2.But without further ado, Stelling and Clarke have put their encyclopaedic knowledge of the EFL to good use below…ChampionsJeff Stelling – Middlesbrough “I’m going to go for Middlesbrough to win the league,” he told Gabby Agbonlahor on talkSPORT Breakfast.“They have spent, Steve Gibson, I don’t know where he keeps digging into his pockets, £36.5 million so far.“A lot of money for the Championship. Will Lankshear, hopefully, will get goals for them.“Radek Vítek, signed in goal from Manchester United; they’ve got a couple of Americans…Kyle Joseph, I think this will be Boro’s year; I like the manager. Kim Hellberg a lot as well.”Middlesbrough are amongst the promotion contenders ahead of the new seasonGettyAdrian Clarke – West HamEFL expert said on the talkSPORT Daily Podcast: “It could be quite a fun year for Jarrod Bowen, for the West Ham squad, for the West Ham supporters, because the last few seasons, it’s been a bit miserable. They’ve lost a lot of games. It’s been very, very flat.“They’ve taken some absolute batterings. This time around, they could be the ones dishing it out. And as a player, I wouldn’t be that upset to be a part of that. And I think it speaks volumes about Bowen’s personality.“And the thing is, if you’re in the West Ham dressing room and you think, ‘I wish I was in the Prem,’ right, and then you look, and you see Jarrod Bowen next to you, you think, well, ‘I can’t ask to leave, can I?’ If he’s staying, I’ve got to stay. “I think it has a knock-on effect for [Valentín] Castellanos, Pabloand [James] Ward-Prowse and others, I think, you know, most of them are going to stick around.“And that makes West Ham favourites for me, clearly. Jarrod Bowen marked the news that he will remain at West Ham this season with a goal against PortsmouthGetty“They’ve brought in some good players as well, with [Joël] Veltman coming in, Manor Solomon as well. Yeah, they look exceptionally strong, and they’ve got a manager that’s done it before.“I remember Nuno’s Wolves in the Championship, and they were unbelievable. One of the best teams I’ve seen with my own eyes get promoted from the Championship to the Premier League. “West Ham fans have got plenty to look forward to.”Automatic promotionJeff Stelling – Wolves“I think Wolves might go up automatically too. I think they might need to spend again.“They’ve got a lot of experience in Kieran Trippier and Raúl Jiménez, and you saw Raúl Jiménez at the World Cup; he looks well capable of scoring goals in the Championship.”Wolves booked their spot in the Carabao Cup second round with a convincing win over Port ValeGettyAdrian Clarke – Middlesbrough“West Ham, that is a stone cold, they’re going up prediction. I don’t see a world where they fluff their lines. I really don’t.“I think West Ham have the players, they have the manager, they have a big crowd as well. They’re going to have a lot of support.“So West Ham, I think, will win the title. Who’s going to go up with them? There’s two that really spring to mind, and that’s Middlesbrough, who were so close last year.“Great coach in Kim Hellberg. They’ve signed some good players. They signed a good striker in Will Lankshear. Really good prospect, I think he is. They’ve signed a great goalie in Radek Vítek as well from Man United.“So strengthened at both ends of the pitch. The other one Norwich.“Norwich were the team with a big momentum at the end of last season under Philippe Clement. “I think they’re definitely heading in the right direction, but I’ll go for Boro. Boro alongside the Irons.”Lankshear struck a brilliant winner on his competitive debut for MiddlesbroughGettyPlayoffsJeff Stelling“West Ham I’ve got in the playoffs; I think they’ve lost too many and not enough incoming. I’ve got Wrexham there as well. “Spent a lot of money, and they’ll keep on spending. They’ve brought a new goalkeeper, Anthony Patterson from Sunderland.“A couple of decent players as well have signed for big money. Ben Whiteman has come in, Preston captain. So Wrexham for the playoffs for me. “Norwich finished last season brilliantly, absolutely brilliantly. They won 16 and drew 2 of the last 25 last season. That’s promotion form really. “Southampton lost a couple of players. They’ve brought in Divin Mubama. Didn’t set the world alight at Stoke. I think a lot of Stoke fans liked him. Lost Shea Charles, big loss to them. But I think they’ve got enough to make the playoffs. “I think Birmingham City have got enough to make the playoffs as well. I thought they might make the playoffs last season. “They spent £6.5m on a young midfielder from Girona. So a lot might depend on him.”When asked if Birmingham need to finish in the top eight, Stelling said: “Yeah, and I think they will: An opportunity knocks. Millwall, just because they’re Millwall and they always finish in the playoff places, don’t they?”Wrexham narrowly missed out on the playoffs last season and will fancy their chances in their second Championship seasonPAChampionship dark horseAdrian Clarke – Bristol City“Norwich is one of them. But I don’t know how dark a horse they particularly are at the moment. Obviously, you’ve got your Birmingham’s and Wrexham. Massive ambition.“I think of teams that haven’t really been in the mix for a while, keep your eye on Bristol City. “I know that they got off to a bad start, getting knocked out of the Carabao Cup, but they’ve got the manager Michael Skubala from Lincoln, clearly a manager on the rise. “They’ve signed the two best League One strikers.“I know it’s a division below, but Lorent Tolaj from Plymouth and the guy [Dom Ballard] from Leyton Orient as well. Excellent players. “And there’s one or two other good acquisitions there.“So maybe Bristol City can make that step up from sort of being nearly boys to a side that can challenge for promotion. “But it’s going to be Wolves, Burnley, these sort of teams, Norwich, Southampton maybe, Birmingham, Wrexham. But they’re the teams that I expect to be there. Bristol City would be a surprise, along with sort of a Swansea City or someone like that.”Bristol have hired Skubala from newly-promoted Championship side LincolnGettyWhich manager is under the most pressure?Adrian Clarke – Chris Davies, John Mousinho and Chris Wilder“Chris Davies at Birmingham, definitely. I think what happened with the ownership at Birmingham, with the owner, you know, he’s a great guy, Tom Wagner, and he suffered a stroke, didn’t he? “I think he’s focused on his recovery, which is the right thing to do. And I think that probably helped Chris Davies when they were struggling a bit towards the end of last season.“They’ve decided not to do anything. But I do feel that if Birmingham get off to a poor start, then he’ll be under pressure, which for me feels harsh because of the good stuff that he has done. But I think that is probably a fair comment.“You’re probably looking at Portsmouth, at John Mousinho as well. There’s a lot of speculation around his future. “There’s even a lot of talk that he might choose to leave Pompey in the summer. He didn’t. He stuck around.“And then you’ve also got Chris Wilder at Sheffield United. Terrible season for them last year, really. “If it’s going to be bland again, if it’s going to be a nothing campaign, maybe they might make that change. “And of course, I shouldn’t forget Watford. I mean, any manager that signs a contract to be the Watford head coach is immediately under pressure, right? “I mean, how many coaches are going to have that season? It’s in the contract. I reckon it’s going to be between three and four coaches again this season down at Vicarage Road.”Birmingham were in 17th place in mid-April, but a late-season surge saw them finish 10thGettyRelegationJeff Stelling – Lincoln, Charlton and QPR“You never want to do this. Lincoln, I mean, they ran away. They ran away with League One last season. “So you can understand why their supporters would be optimistic. I just don’t necessarily see it. “Charlton, sorry boys. I know we’ve got a lot of Charlton listeners. Six from bottom last season. They haven’t really strengthened particularly. “And I’m going to offend every QPR fan. I think this could be their time. Having said that, Tariq Lamptey – brought him back into the Championship, I really hope he does well, because he’s a kid with a lot of talent. Had so many injuries over the years. “Dennis Cirkin from Sunderland is a good bit of recruitment from them as well. But I’ve got them down as third from bottom.“I hope that I’m absolutely miles out. But those are my views.”Lamptey only made two appearances and 25 minutes for FiorentinaGettyAdrian Clarke – Blackburn, Preston and Portsmouth“Blackburn, I’m afraid. I’ve watched Blackburn a fair bit for talkSPORT and talkSPORT 2, and they haven’t been good.“Whenever I’ve seen them, they’ve sort of looked a bit flat and disappointing, especially going forward. They’re fairly solid, but they don’t inspire.“It’s great that Tony Mowbray’s back. It’s a lovely story. But as far as I’m aware, they’ve only signed one player this summer. “So, there’s a feeling that they’re treading water a little bit. There’s a little bit of worry about Preston as well. “Another team that’s sort of been stuck in the Championship for a while. Are they sort of on a downward turn? “You probably look at Portsmouth as well. Personally, I think Lincoln might be all right. I know they’re favourites to go down, but…even so, they were such a good team last year together.“They’ve got momentum. They’ve got great spirit. I think they can get some points on the board, particularly early on.”Mowbray is back in action after over a year outGettyChampionship standout transfer signingsAdrian Clarke“The ones at Middlesbrough do stand out in Lankshear and Vítek. I’m looking elsewhere. I think that Jimmy-Jay Morgan coming in at West Bromwich Albion could be a really smart acquisition. “He’s got off to a flyer at the weekend. He’s a player from Chelsea. He was on loan last year at Peterborough.“And I think he’s absolutely flying at the moment. So Jimmy-Jay Morgan is a name to keep your eye on. So maybe West Bromwich Albion will be a bit stronger this year.“I think Swansea, Simon Ross-Stewart from Southampton, proven player at Championship level if he can stay fit.“The other one that they’ve signed is the guy, you might remember him from the World Cup, Elijah Just. He was terrific for New Zealand in the World Cup finals. Obviously, they weren’t there long, but he made quite a big impression. So, yeah, there are a few that I like.“Southampton, obviously, I think it’s really important that they got the goalie on a permanent deal, [Daniel] Peretz. “They also got Cyle Larin, another World Cup player from Canada. He’s signed permanently too. So the Saints squad’s looking good.“It’s just like, what on earth is going to happen with Tonda Eckert? Like, we just don’t know.“That’s why I find it hard to talk about Southampton until we know whether the manager’s got a long ban or not.”Championship on talkSPORTtalkSPORT will bring you unmatched live and exclusive coverage of the Championship’s opening weekend. Just look at what we’ve got in store!FRIDAY 14th AUGUST Wolves v Blackburn – 8pm (talkSPORT)SATURDAY 15th AUGUSTBolton v Preston – 12.30pm (talkSPORT)Around the Grounds with Adrian Durham – 2.30pm (talkSPORT)Middlesbrough v Lincoln – 3pm (talkSPORT 2)Sheffield United v Birmingham – 5.30pm (talkSPORT 2)SUNDAY 16th AUGUSTWatford v Southampton – 1.30pm (talkSPORT 2) Burnley v West Ham – 4pm (talkSPORT 2)MONDAY 17th AUGUST Cardiff v Wrexham – 8pm (talkSPORT 2)