Early predicted Championship table forecasts surprises for Preston, Swansea, Middlesbrough and Sunderland

Preston North End's 2024/25 Championship fixture list was revealed on Wednesday (June 26) and they will start with a home match against Sheffield United.

The Blades, already bottom of the division after being given a two-point deduction, will play at Deepdale on Friday, August 9 at 8.00 pm. It is being shown on Sky Sports Football, with all opening day games across the EFL being shown by the broadcaster.

Supporters will today begin to plan their journeys from August to May, marking off which grounds they would like to visit the most. Fans are advised though to wait until Sky have confirmed their television picks, which should be fully confirmed by September.

North End's start against the Blades will be an interesting one. Chris Wilder has guided them to the Premier League before, and after an horrendous campaign last year, they will want to put things right. A series of experienced players have departed the Yorkshire club however, and with that points deduction in place, they are already playing catch up against their promotion rivals.

Out of the 24 clubs, one is still looking for a manager and that is PNE's Lancashire rivals Burnley. Vincent Kompany left at the end of May, and the Clarets have still not found a replacement, with pre-season beginning in the next few weeks.

A ball hasn't been kicked yet, but already predictions are being made. The advancement of technology means things such as supercomputers are a thing, and that has crunched the numbers to work out where every team will finish this season.

The predictions have been made from a probability model, not determined by human predictions or bias. What happens is the it estimates the outcome of each remaining fixture based on a team’s current strength (based on factors such as league position and form) as well as odds from the market. The machine then simulates the remaining games in a season 1,000 times and constructs an average league table from the 1,000 simulations, to rule out anomalous results.

Thanks to Grosvenor Sports’ super computer, can see where North End are tipped to finish, against the likes of Watford, Norwich City, Swansea and the rest.