With the New Year fast approaching, I decided to take a look at the season so far and make some educated (but probably wildly incorrect) predictions on who I think will be going up and down come the 4th of May.

We’ve seen a lot of matches so far, and it’s safe to say that there are a few teams who, after under/overachieving to begin with, have had a change to their fortunes and the table is very much beginning to take shape. Early front-runners Peterborough have fallen away slightly after a shaky run of form recently, and after a very poor start to the season for Oxford, Karl Robinson’s men seem to be on the up, with 1 loss in their last 11 matches. With that being said, who do I think will be in the top 6 and bottom 4 this season?

Top Six

1 – Portsmouth

Portsmouth have been right up at the top since the first game, and I really can’t see them falling away anytime soon. I said at the beginning of the season that Kenny Jackett would get a third promotion from League One, and I wholeheartedly stand by that. Jackett has got Pompey playing some of the best football we’ve seen so far and I fully believe they’re the best team in the league.

2 – Sunderland

The only EFL side to score in every league game so far this season, my club Sunderland have had a great start to life in League One (sorry, I had to get a good stat in there), but there are mixed opinions on where exactly the Wearsiders will finish in their first Third Division campaign in 40 years. On the one hand, you have people saying we will dominate and can’t see us finishing outside the top two, but others saying that the stats show we’re overperforming and shouldn’t be as high as we are. I see both sides, but for me, if the results keep coming then I have no complaints. We have enough to finish in the automatics, and I believe we’ll do just that.

3 – Charlton

Karlan Grant and Lyle Taylor have been firing on all cylinders so far this season, and if they stay fit and on form, then nothing can stop Charlton from pushing for promotion this season. They may not be at the top of their game just yet, but I can see a late-season surge in form propelling the Londoners into a 3rd place finish in May.

4 – Luton

One of my favourite teams so far this season, Luton have been absolutely smashing it since coming up from League Two, and the supposed pipe dream of back-to-back promotions seems like a reality now. If they can keep their unstoppable home form up, there’s absolutely no reason they can’t get a playoff spot this season. I have been thoroughly impressed with the team-spirit from Nathan Jones’ men this season, and with them currently occupying 2nd position in the league, the sky’s the limit.

5 – Barnsley

Being one of the three sides to be relegated from the Championship last season, there were definitely many question marks surrounding Barnsley’s season in League One and how they’d actually fare. They occupied many a top spot in pre-season predictions, and that’s hardly surprising given the quality the Tykes have at their disposal. An impressive start to the season confirmed this, but Barnsley haven’t been in the top two since the second game of the season, and after just 3 wins in their last 9 games, they currently sit in 7th place. Despite this, I definitely see the Yorkshire club securing a playoff spot this season and getting a shot at being promoted at the first attempt.

6 – Fleetwood

Here’s the point in the article where I anger fans of clubs such as Peterborough, Blackpool and Walsall as I pick a bit of an outsider to take the final playoff spot, and I feel I must explain. Firstly, I think Peterborough have been overperforming so far this season, and after an absolutely electric start to the season, they’ve fallen away slightly with just four wins in their last 13 games. I still see them finishing close to the play-offs, but I simply don’t think they have enough to go the whole way. Fleetwood are perhaps an odd choice, I know, but they have the 5th best defensive record so far, and with some strong attacking players, I can definitely see them challenging for a top six spot. Some slightly shaky form recently leaves them 10th, but some squad bolstering in January could very much see them shoot up the table.

Bottom Four

21 – Rochdale

After some great escape type heroics last season, Rochdale got another shot at life in League One, but it’s got off to a shaky start, with them repeating similar form this season to the season which almost saw them drop to the 4th division. Ian Henderson is key to proceedings at Spotland, and any injury to him would surely see Rochdale struggle. I can only see them struggling this year.

22 – Scunthorpe

You’d be forgiven for mistaking this Scunthorpe side as a different team to the one that almost gained promotion to the Championship last season, but Stuart McCall’s men have had a torrid time of it recently, losing eight of their last 10 games. It is possible that fortunes could turn around at Glanford Park, but I just don’t see that happening without some money being spent in January.

23 – Bradford

Bradford have been struggling since the opening day, and I simply cannot see that changing anytime soon. Some off-field troubles have hardly helped proceedings, but I just don’t see enough quality in this Bradford side to stay up this season. Without significant investment in January, it looks like it’ll be curtains for the Yorkshire club.

24 – Plymouth

An absolutely torrid start to the season left many wondering if Plymouth have what it takes to seriously compete in League One this season, but even after a slight upturn in form recently, I’m still not convinced. I’ve been highly impressed with Ladapo so far with him scoring 12 of Argyle’s 26 goals, but an injury to him could seriously handicap Plymouth and from then on it’s a dangerous game. Of course, there’s still a long way to go, but I just don’t have a great feeling for Plymouth this season.

So that was my season predictions as we approach the halfway mark. It’s important to note that I am no sort of expert and wouldn’t be at all surprised if these predictions were completely off come the end of the season, so don’t take it to heart if I’ve not put your club where you wanted! January is a massive factor in determining where clubs finish, and we always see clubs hit either amazing or awful runs of form in the second half of the season. There’s a long way to go, and nothing is decided yet.

words Alex Gardner, D3D4 Sunderland correspondent