Credit: Manh Tung, Breaking Media

Daniel Lewis

Wed 6 May 2026 16:00, UK

West Bromwich Albion endured a torrid 2025-26 campaign, but things could have turned out a whole lot differently.

The Baggies finished one place above the relegation zone in 21st, having found themselves in the bottom three with around a month of the campaign to play.

James Morrison guided Albion on a 10-game unbeaten run, culminating in a 0-0 draw with Ipswich Town, to ensure they stayed up despite a two-point deduction.

That rendered last weekend’s 2-1 loss away at Sheffield Wednesday meaningless, with thoughts already turning to next season.

And it appears West Brom have plenty to positive about next season if a new reveal on the ‘real’ Championship table is anything to go by.

West Brom should have been pushing for playoffs

As easy as it is to forget now that the dust has settled on the season, West Brom were fifth in the Championship after 10 rounds of games.

They plummeted from that point on under Ryan Mason and then Eric Ramsay, before Morrison took over and steadied the ship in some style.

Fans could often be forgiven for sounding like a broken record in suggesting their side deserved more from matches, but that was indeed the case.

Indeed, Opta Analyst has published what the Championship table would look like after 46 matches has things gone as expected.

This is based on an expected points model simulated by the number of goals scored by each side based on their expected goals (xG) of each shot taken.

Every match is simulated 10,000 and the expected points for each game added accordingly.

Based on that metric, West Brom – incredibly – would be seventh in the final standings, just outside the playoff zone.

How would the rest of the Championship have looked?

That is a differential of 14 places for West Brom, which is easily the biggest increase of any team. In terms of the biggest decrease, Hull City should have finished in 23rd place and not sixth.

The top two are as they were, just in a different order as Ipswich Town should have finished first and Coventry City second.

Middlesbrough, Southampton, Sheffield United and Birmingham City are the other sides that were expected to finish above the Baggies.

The bottom three, incidentally, would have been Sheffield Wednesday, Hull – as mentioned – and Preston North End.

This is not an exact science, of course, but it gives a rough indication as to where West Brom should have finished – and it certainly was not as low as 21st.

It goes to show just how fine the margins are in the second tier, and Albion perhaps do not need as much rebuilding as possible over the summer.