EFL preview: Lions chase leading pack, Steel City derby is headline act

They say a week is a long time in politics, but my goodness itâ€TMs not as long as three days in the EFL.

Itâ€TMs been a pretty extraordinary midweek, even by Championship standards, with shock scorelines, surprise sackings and historic records broken.

We have one more full programme of EFL fixtures this weekend before the final international break of 2024 pops up next week.

Letâ€TMs have a look at whatâ€TMs in store...

The Championship weekend begins with Watford welcoming Oxford United to Vicarage Road on Friday evening.

Sheffield United were the only top-six side (and one of two clubs in the top 10) to win in midweek, which has given the table an incredibly tight look when coupled with the fact that six of the bottom 11 sides picked up three points.

It all means just seven points separate fifth-placed West Brom, who have drawn a club record six in a row, from Plymouth Argyle, sat in 22nd and in the relegation zone.

Des Buckinghamâ€TMs Oxford could end the weekend anywhere from third-bottom to ninth while the Hornets, by contrast, could sit anywhere from 4th to 11th.

With a further eight games to follow on Saturday, the action is set to build to a crescendo in Sheffield on Sunday afternoon as Wednesday visit United for the first Steel City derby in nearly six years at 12:30 GMT.

The Blades might potentially be in position to go top of the table with a win while three points for Wednesday might well haul them to the fringes of the play-off pack.

West Brom head to Hull City and Burnley host Swansea the same afternoon to bring the curtain down on a potentially huge round of games.

You can check out all the weekend's EFL fixtures here.

Saturday lunchtime has thrown up some eye-catching fixtures in the second tier with Cardiff City and Blackburn Rovers seeking to bounce back from midweek losses, Middlesbrough and Luton Town seeking to build on midweek wins and Stoke City hosting Millwall, who have won four straight games by the same 1-0 scoreline to leap into the top six.

Lions boss Neil Harris says the defensive structure of his team is a big part of their meteoric rise up the table, telling BBC Radio London: "For us, it's about discipline, being as organised and structured as we can be and then finding a way to score at the other end. I'm very proud of the players."

Millwall are six unbeaten and seeking a fifth-straight win as they head to the Bet365 Stadium and Harris added: "It just shows what momentum can give you, what a top culture can give you and identifying what our strengths are as a team and a club."

The intrigue doesnâ€TMt end at lunchtime, at 15:00 GMT Leeds will seek to bounce back from their defeat at The Den at home to lowly QPR and leaders Sunderland will host Coventry City, who sacked Mark Robins, the EFLâ€TMs longest serving manager, on Thursday hours after their home defeat to Derby, whose manager Paul Warne is now the longest tenured in the division.

The Rams return home having ended their away hoodoo and will host former manager Wayne Rooney, whose Plymouth side are the worst travellers in the whole EFL with one point and one goal across their seven games away from Home Park.

host Preston North End at Fratton Park in a clash between bottom and fifth-bottom.

Pompey havenâ€TMt won at home, taking three points from six matches, while North End havenâ€TMt won away, also taking three points from their half-dozen away games.

Nailed on draw or has something got to give?

The other 15:00 GMT game is a fascinating one as injury-plagued Norwich host equally physically-hamstring Bristol City at Carrow Road.

Donald Trump isnâ€TMt the only high-profile American waiting anxiously to be welcomed back to familiar surroundings in January, Canaries forward Josh Sargent is sidelined until the New Year after surgery on a groin problem â€" the USA international is one of 11 players currently not at boss Johannes Hoff Thorupâ€TMs disposal due to injury.

"It's a crazy situation that we're in but we'll deal with it and we'll support each other, but of course we'll look at it and see if we can make any changes - are we doing something wrong here?" Thorup told BBC Radio Norfolk.

Bristol City, who sit a place and a point above 12th-placed Norwich, have a defensive crisis of their own with as many as five players missing through injury at the back and Robert Dickie suspended.

"It's not something new and not specific to us," Manning told BBC Radio Bristol in regards to their injury-hit season so far. "I think it's something, across the game, that we have to really look into and analyse why.

"(We're) a little bit stretched this weekend but after that, I'm hoping to have a few more bodies back"

It might mean an opportunity for Championship-leading scorer Borja Sainz to add to his 11-goal tally, although without Sargent he has to carry a lot of the attacking burden on his own shoulders.

Norwich are winless in five, conceding 10 in those games and losing the past two, however they are back at home on Saturday where they havenâ€TMt lost for more than a year â€" a run of 24 matches in all competitions.

The League One weekend also begins on Friday night with a whopping South Yorkshire derby between Barnsley and Rotherham United at Oakwell.

A win would take the eighth-placed Tykes level on points with third-placed Wrexham before the Saturday games, while the newly-relegated Millers are looking for three points to get back into the top-half of the third tier after just one win in five in all competitions.

Game of the weekend might just be fourth-placed Mansfield Town heading to third-placed Wrexham for the lunchtime kick-off on Saturday, however.

The hosts have won five and drawn the other of their six home games this season, but the Stags have won four of their five on the road themselves and would go above the Red Dragons, with a game in hand, if they come out on top at Stok Cae Ras.

Free-scoring Wycombe Wanderers are now top of the pile after their stunning win at Stockport on Tuesday night and they return to the north west on Saturday afternoon to visit lowly Wigan Athletic.

Second-placed Birmingham City host Northampton Town as they seek to at least keep pace at the top while at the other end basement-boys Burton Albion host second-bottom Shrewsbury Town with both sides having ousted their managers in the past fortnight.

There are some tasty-looking games on the slate in League Two as fourth-placed Doncaster Rovers, who have been fantastic at home over the past 12 months, host third-placed Notts County, who are one of the last three remaining unbeaten sides on the road in the top five divisions of English football along with Liverpool and, er, Nottingham Forest.

Four points above the chasing pack, leaders Port Vale head to Gillingham, who have slipped to 11th having led the way themselves just five games ago, while second-placed Walsall host Crewe Alexandra, two points back in fifth.

The EFLâ€TMs bottom side, Morecambe, head to Harrogate for a lunchtime kick-off seeking to close an effectively six-point gap to third-bottom Swindon Town and safety.

Town are on the road at play-off chasing MK Dons while second-bottom Carlisle United head to 12th-placed Salford City, who are also eyeing the top six this weekend.