Former Sunderland striker and pundit Kevin Phillips believes Norwich City and Swansea City will be two of the Championship’s dark horses this season.

West Ham United, Wolverhampton Wanderers, and Middlesbrough were among the promotion favourites entering the season, but following an uncertain start to the new season, the Championship appears to be the most open for some time.

Norwich City and Swansea City have different Championship starts.

Norwich were in the relegation zone when Clement joined in November, having not won a game in nearly three months, but the Belgian had an incredible impact at Carrow Road.

Clement not only kept the Canaries out of trouble, but they were also one of the best teams in the division in the second half of last season, finishing ninth and only seven points behind the play-offs.

Despite expectations that Norwich would be among the promotion candidates, the club has had a bad start to the season, losing three of their first four league games after falling 1-0 to Stoke City at the bet365 Stadium on Tuesday night.

Vitor Matos, like Clement, inspired a big turnaround last season, guiding Swansea to safety after taking over from Alan Sheehan in November.

As they attempt to improve on last season’s 11th-place result, the Swans had an intriguing summer transfer window, bringing in the likes of Stephen Eustáquio, Elijah Just, Moussa Yeo, Joseph Opoku, and Ross Stewart, and their recruitment push appears to have paid off.

Swansea have 10 points from their first four games, and Matos’ side moved to the top of the Championship table with a 2-0 win over Watford at the Swansea.com Stadium on Tuesday night, with a Welsh derby against Wrexham coming up on Saturday.

Championship table (as of 3rd September)

P

GD

Pts

1

Swansea City: 4 points, 6 points, 10 points, 2 points, QPR: 4 points, 4 points, 10 points, 3 points, Charlton Athletic: 4 points, 3 points, 10 points, 4 points, Wolves: 4 points, 3 points, 7 points, 5 points, Middlesbrough: 4 points, 2 points, 7 points, 6 points, Bristol City: 4 points.

Kevin Phillips issues Championship prediction involving Norwich City and Swansea City

Despite a slow start to the season, Phillips remains optimistic about Norwich’s chances of promotion, citing striker Mo Toure’s impressive 13 goals in 17 appearances since his arrival in the winter window.I predicted them to be one of the dark horses at the start of the season, but it’s still very early.

According to Phillips, the team is dominating games and creating opportunities, which is encouraging for both them and Clement.At some time, it will click. Of course, they must stop conceding goals.”If they can do that, they know they have goal-scoring players.”I mentioned Toure frequently both last and this season.

He has already scored three goals in all competitions, so we know he has goals in him. “They had a good win against Burnley, so don’t panic.”I believe they will be in and around the new playoff system today, with the number of teams reduced to eight, so they have a tremendous shot. They just need to get their next win sooner rather than later.”

Phillips has been impressed by Swansea’s early season performance and believes that with Matos’ attacking talent, they can maintain their momentum.Wow, what a way to get started. Phillips expressed excitement about the prospects for the future after watching highlights.

They have some quite offensive spots. “They have some players who can hurt you and score goals.”This is exactly what they have done.I suggested Norwich as a dark horse, but Swansea may also be considered.Every season, we have one club that takes off right away.

But why can’t Swansea keep that up?They kept last season’s best goal scorer, Vipotnik, but they also have Opoku and Idah, who have scored some goals. “They have exciting players.So if they can maintain that consistency, there’s no reason why they can’t be there this season.”

Philippe Clement facing early Norwich City pressure as slow start continues

Given their outstanding performance in the second half of the previous season, Norwich were widely expected to do well this season, with some even tipping them to win automatic promotion, but their start has been extremely disappointing.

The Canaries demonstrated their potential with a 4-1 victory over Burnley on Saturday, but they followed it up with a midweek loss to Stoke, who had failed to pick up a single point in their first three games.

There is still plenty of time for Norwich to turn things around, and it would not be surprising if Clement’s side finished in the extended play-off spots, but they cannot afford to slip too far behind Swansea and the other early pacesetters.