Supercomputer re-predicts final Championship table, West Ham's margin for error 'considerably smaller'

Twelve of the 46 league games have now been played, meaning we're just over a quarter of the way through the 2026/27 season and, unsurprisingly, the table is beginning to take shape.

Nuno Espirito Santo's side currently sit third on 22 points, three behind leaders Middlesbrough and one behind second-placed Swansea City. The Hammers have also scored a league-high 32 goals and boast the best goal difference in the division at +17.

Saturday's 3-2 defeat to Southampton brought West Ham's nine-game unbeaten league run to an end, but it hasn't changed the fact that they're firmly in the promotion picture after a difficult opening few weeks of the campaign.

So, with the first quarter of the season now behind us, it feels like the perfect time to ask our supercomputer to take another look at how the Championship might finish in May.

Supercomputer makes fourth Championship prediction

We've been asking our own supercomputer to predict the final Championship table at various checkpoints throughout the season, taking into account squad quality, results, performance data, form and transfer activity.

Once the summer transfer window closed and the first four league games had been played, that was revised to 87 points, although the Hammers remained champions.

That last prediction had West Ham and Middlesbrough taking the automatic promotion places, with Wolves, Southampton, Swansea, Millwall, Birmingham City and QPR occupying the six play-off positions.

Championship table prediction - 21st September 2026

But another four matches have been played and we've learned considerably more about almost every team in the division.

Middlesbrough have continued to justify their place among the title favourites, Swansea are still refusing to go away, Southampton's underlying position looks increasingly dangerous and teams such as West Brom, Stoke City and Blackburn Rovers have all forced a rethink.

Meanwhile, the starts made by Norwich City, Burnley and Preston North End are becoming increasingly difficult to dismiss as merely early-season struggles.

So here's what the supercomputer had to say this time...

Supercomputer's Revised Championship Prediction Reasoning3

And here's the latest prediction in full...

Predicted Championship table - Octover 27th

The biggest climbers this time around are Blackburn Rovers.

They were predicted to finish 22nd with 47 points in September but are now up to 10th in the real Championship table after collecting 18 points from their first 12 matches. That's enough for the supercomputer to move them nine places up its final prediction to 13th on 60 points.

Sheffield United also climb six places from 18th to 12th, while West Brom and Stoke both jump five positions after much stronger starts than previously anticipated.

West Brom are perhaps the most interesting of those three. They currently sit fifth with 21 points, level with Wolves, and have consequently gone from being predicted to finish 13th to being backed to secure the final play-off position in eighth.

The biggest fallers are Norwich City, who drop six places from ninth to 15th. Eight defeats from their opening 12 league games simply can't be ignored, even if their squad suggests they should eventually climb away from the bottom end of the table.

Burnley have also fallen another five places. They were originally considered promotion contenders before the season began, were downgraded to 16th in our previous prediction and are now tipped to finish just one place above the relegation zone in 21st.

But the most dramatic change at the bottom concerns Preston.

They were predicted to finish 19th with 52 points last time around, partly because their underlying numbers offered hope that their poor start could eventually improve.

Instead, they have won just once in 12 league matches, collecting only five points while conceding 25 goals. They're now predicted to finish bottom on 36 points.

For West Ham, though, the overall verdict remains unchanged.

The Hammers are still predicted to win the Championship, albeit with their projected total dropping slightly from 89 points to 87.

Middlesbrough remain second on 86 points, while Southampton move above Wolves into third after their impressive opening quarter of the campaign.

That means the supercomputer has only changed the order of two teams in its predicted top five since September - Southampton and Wolves.

Given how unpredictable the Championship has already proven to be this season, that's perhaps the strongest indication yet that a clear group of promotion favourites is beginning to emerge.

The encouraging thing for West Ham is that, despite an inconsistent opening three matches and Saturday's defeat to Southampton, they're still right at the front of it.

For now, anyway.