Mark Robins has made pre-season Stoke City claim look foolish as Ipswich Town suffer shocking decline

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The Championship supercomputer pre-season predictions make a stark comparison to now as Stoke City notably defy the odds.

Stoke City have enjoyed a terrific start to the season, notching nine points in four games.

The Potters have excelled under the stewardship of Mark Robins, who has helped elevate Stoke City to the next level.

Stoke find themselves 3rd in the Championship going into the international break, having already exceeded expectations at this early stage of the campaign.

In stark contrast, recently relegated Ipswich Town have struggled to kick on following their drop from the Premier League. Both teams have proven the supercomputer’s pre-season predictions wrong so far, but for contrasting reasons.

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Stoke City lead the Championship as overachievers

Following the bright start to the 2025/26 Championship season, Stoke City lead the way as the biggest overachievers.

Having initially been tipped to finish 20th by the Opta Analyst supercomputer, the Potters are now predicted to end the campaign in 9th.

Before the season began, Stoke City were handed an alarming 19.4% chance of relegation to League One, but that has minimised to just 6.56% following the incredible start to the season for Mark Robins’ side.

As well as Stoke City, Middlesbrough have also defied expectations after their pre-season prediction of 8th, having now been chosen by the supercomputer to lift the title.

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Ipswich Town suffer under Kieran McKenna as the biggest underachievers

At the other end of the table, it has been a disastrous start for Ipswich Town, who are yet to win a game in the 2025/26 Championship season.

While it would be expected that Sheffield United would be tipped as the biggest underachievers, having been unable to notch a point under Ruben Selles, they are now expected to still recover and finish 8th after the pre-season predictions of a title win.

Ipswich Town, on the other hand, are now predicted to finish 12th after initially being placed 3rd by the supercomputer, making it a larger gap between the Blades’ previous and new prediction.

Sheffield Wednesday have suffered a similar drop-off, now being predicted to finish 23rd instead of the initial call of 14th, but Opta made it clear that the supercomputer did not take into account the off-field issues that have plagued the Owls.

The spotlight has been on Sheffield United so far this season, but Ipswich have clearly been far off the pace. There will surely be pressure resting on Kieran McKenna’s shoulders to turn around the poor start and get his side back on track.