gordon strachan is not the most popular middlesbrough manager there has ever been, which may prove troublesome throughout the season

Of course, it is far too early to tell what is going to happen this year in the English leagues, but there have been some useful indicators.

The three leagues below the Premier League have started off as they promised – incredibly tight and difficult to predict.

However, already we have seen a few things that will enhance our betting this season.

Portsmouth

Perhaps they may feel that a hard fought victory over Stevenage is enough to wipe away the memory of a rather toothless display at Coventry, but it remains a long season for the beggars of the Championship.

They have just 14 players – at least one of which is going to be sold to pay their creditors by the end of this week.

Any hope that they can buy new faces in before the end of the transfer window is pure fantasy. Of course, they will get some bodies in, but with no money their transfer activity will be more akin to a League Two club than the decadence they have been used to.

Middlesbrough

I think Gordon Strachan’s McBoro is a project well and truly still on track, despite a 3-1 defeat to Ipswich, but the fans and the sheer number of players unused to Championship football could mean a late charge will be the order of the day.

The fans are the big problem. While they have faith in their owner Steve Gibson, Strachan was not a universally popular appointment after the much-loved Gareth Southgate – and with fans expectations sky high, the pint-sized Scot is going to have to do it the hard way.

They’ll come good, though, and there may be some value in backing them now for the league as the price has waned once more.

Leicester

Going 3-0 down on the opening game of the season is not ideal, but the way that Leicester fought back and the menace they showed towards the end of a tricky away game at Crystal Palace has me thinking that the 7/2 on offer for The Foxes to finish in the top six is extraordinarily good value.

Southampton

League One favourites Southampton lost at the weekend and, as suspected, were incredibly toothless without Rickie Lambert up front. There are always going to be doubts about their manager Alan Pardew as well. What is most worrying for them is second favourites look capable of scoring hatfuls this season – and my sources say that they won against Dagenham & Redbridge on Saturday without being particularly impressive.

That is the stuff of champions.

Port Vale

Watch Port Vale rapidly take League Two by storm this season. Very little should be read into their 3-1 win over QPR in the Carling Cup other than they are an extremely organised side with a very impressive striker up top in Justin Richards.

Footbet tipped them at 16/1 prior to the start of the season, they are now as low as 9/1 – and could be a lot lower by the end of October.