Dean Smith reveals pre-season prediction on Burnley, Sheffield United, Watford, West Brom and Norwich City | OneFootball

Norwich City boss Dean Smith believed his side, Burnley, Sheffield United, Watford and West Bromwich Albion would all be at the top end of the Championship at the end of the season, revealing his pre-season prediction to the Eastern Daily Press.

The Clarets have been the best side in the division so far this season, losing just one of their opening 19 league games of the season and looking destined for promotion under Vincent Kompany at this stage.

Paul Heckingbottom’s Blades have also done well and remain in third position despite an injury crisis affecting their performances and results, with their slip-up not costing them too much at this stage.

The big weekend Norwich City quiz – Can you score 16/16?

1 of 16

In what year were Norwich formed?

1902 1912 1922 1932

However, there are some teams that will be disappointed with their current position, even Norwich and the Hornets who currently sit in sixth and seventh place respectively with the duo enduring some low points this season.

West Brom have endured the worst season of all the teams listed though, still finding themselves in the relegation zone going into this afternoon’s round of second-tier fixtures following a poor start to the campaign under Steve Bruce.

Not only did Smith reveal his prediction – but also claimed that his side were still in a decent position at this point despite only being in the play-offs at this stage because of their goal difference.

He said: “I looked at the league before the start of the season and felt that ourselves, Burnley, Sheffield United, Watford and West Bromwich Albion are the teams that would be up there come the end of the season. We are firmly in that shout.”

The Verdict:

Although there were departures at Bramall Lane in the summer, the Blades have done reasonably well to retain stability and seem to have most of the ingredients needed to sustain another promotion push.

Norwich didn’t rebuild their squad in the summer either so you would think that would benefit them, although they may need to freshen things up in January based on some of their performances.

Under an experienced manager like Slaven Bilic, the Hornets should also be at the top end of the table when the end of the season comes around, especially with Joao Pedro and Ismaila Sarr currently at the Croatian’s disposal.

There’s a considerable amount of work for West Brom to do though, with Carlos Corberan needing to focus on getting his side out of the relegation zone before they can start looking further up the table.

Burnley, on the other hand, have done extremely well considering the fact they were forced to adapt to a new manager and underwent a rebuild during the summer transfer window.