Cardiff City and Swansea City are about to embark on yet another gruelling Championship campaign.
Pre-season has not been plain sailing for either team.
The Bluebirds' results have been indifferent and their injury and coronavirus scares have been frequent, however Swansea's preparations have been far from smooth given their turbulent search for a new manager and the loss of so many key players.
Russell Martin is the man who will lead the Swans into the new campaign, with Mick McCarthy readying himself for his first full season in charge of the Bluebirds.
There has been far less spending in this window compared to previous summers, making this campaign particularly difficult to call.
The three relegated teams from the Premier League, boosted by parachute payments, appear best placed to have a right go once again, but it is so rare that all three teams bounce straight back up to the top flight.
But, the bookmakers have Fulham, West Brom and Sheffield United installed as the top three teams before a ball has been kicked.
The Cottagers are tipped to be crowned champions, narrowly followed by the Baggies and then the Blades.
Unsurprisingly, Bournemouth are also in the mix, with the bookies having Scott Parker's men in fourth place.
Cardiff finished in the play-off spots the season before last but lost out to Fulham in the semi-finals and the Welsh capital city club are tipped to make the top six once again after an eighth placed finish last time out.
Middlesbrough are the other team back to make the play-offs after Neil Warnock's recruitment drive up on Teesside this summer.
Swansea, themselves tipped for a top six spot just a few weeks back after reaching the play-off final against Brentford, are now tipped for a mid-table finish.
The Swans are in joint-10th place with the bookmakers after a summer which has seen boss Steve Cooper leave after the impressive work he did at the Liberty and the managerial post having a huge question mark around it until the last few days.
The five-way scrap to avoid the drop is expected to include Coventry, Derby, Preston, Blackpool and Peterborough.
How the 2021/22 Championship table is expected to finish
Here is how the final standings are expected to look, along with the bookmaker's odds on the team winning the league.
- Fulham (5/1)
- West Brom (5/1)
- Sheffield United (6/1)
- Bournemouth (8/1)
- Middlesbrough (14/1)
- Cardiff City (16/1)
- QPR (18/1)
- Barnsley (20/1)
- Nottingham Forest (20/1)
- Millwall (25/1)
- Stoke City (25/1)
- Swansea City (25/1)
- Reading (33/1)
- Blackburn Rovers (40/1)
- Luton Town (40/1)
- Birmingham City (50/1)
- Bristol City (66/1)
- Huddersfield Town (66/1)
- Hull City (66/1)
- Blackpool Town (80/1)
- Coventry City (80/1)
- Derby County (80/1)
- Preston North End (80/1)
- Peterborough United (100/1)
(Courtesy of SkyBet, correct at time of publication)
