Dafydd Pritchard
BBC Sport Wales at Cardiff City Stadium

This game between Cardiff and Bristol City has the feel of a proper derby.

There's a sizeable crowd in the Welsh capital - with the visiting fans selling out their allocation - and a large police presence around Cardiff City Stadium.

These might not be the two sides' biggest respective rivals, Swansea and Bristol Rovers hold those honours.

But when you consider Bristol City and Bristol Rovers have gone nearly a quarter of a century without facing each other in the league - and the fact Cardiff and Swansea did not play a league game from 1999 to 2008 - you can see why this has become a genuine rivalry.

Cardiff City make four changes from their midweek defeat at Portsmouth. Perry Ng, Rubin Colwill, Will Alves and Anwar El Ghazi all come into the starting XI. Calum Chambers and Joe Ralls both miss out with injuries picked up in the game at Fratton Park.

Bristol City boss Liam Manning has elected not to tamper with a winning formula. The 11 players who started the midweek win over Stoke City all get the nod once more today. Forward Anis Mehmeti got both goals against the Potters to take his tally for the season to 11.

Ciaron Brown plays his 150th game for Oxford in a side with one adjustment from the midweek goalless draw with Derby as Alex Matos is replaced by Ruben Rodrigues.

Gary Rowett is still without defenders Elliott Moore and Ben Nelson due to injury, and forward Tom Bradshaw is also out with a knock sustained in training.

Portsmouth also make one change from Tuesday’s 2-1 win against Cardiff and it’s an enforced one as the injured Conor Shaughnessy is replaced by Hayden Matthews.

Regan Poole is fit enough for a return to the bench, with the subs also including January loan arrivals Adil Aouchiche and Kaide Gordon.

Image source, Opta

Preston make only one forced change from the side that won at Norwich in midweek. Duane Holmes broke his leg at Carrow Road, so Brad Potts comes in.

Burnley head coach Scott Parker resists the temptation to rotate or change despite the swift turnaround from the win over Hull on Wednesday. They are unchanged for the short trip to Deepdale.

Image source, Opta

Image source, PA Media

Cardiff City's survival hopes have been dealt a significant blow in their past two Championship outings.

First the Bluebirds saw their eight-match unbeaten run brought to a shuddering end with a 7-0 shellacking at table-topping Leeds and then a damaging 2-1 reverse at fellow strugglers Portsmouth on Tuesday.

The Welsh side do have a decent recent record against their rivals from across the Severn Bridge though, unbeaten in the past four meetings between the sides.

Liam Manning's side will move up into the Championship's top six for the first time since August if they can take the points back.

Image source, Rex Features

Portsmouth ended a four-game winless streak with a 2-1 win over Cardiff in midweek and will be looking to make it back-to-back victories to pull themselves clear of the relegation fight.

Victory over the Bluebirds was an important one for John Mousinho’s men, allowing them to leapfrog them into 18th. They start the game five points behind fellow promoted side Oxford this afternoon.

The teams drew 1-1 in October’s reverse fixture and there wasn’t much between them last season in League One either, with Pompey winning 2-1 at home and the other match ending 2-2.

Yellows boss Gary Rowett made an immediate impact at Oxford, helping haul the side up the table, and while resolute at the back, the creative spark seems to have left their attack with only one goal in their past four matches.

Three of those games have been draws, with the defeat coming against Burnley, so it’s not as if their form has deserted them, but Rowett will be keen to see his side hitting the back of the net with more regularity.

Image source, Getty Images

It's the question everyone in the Championship is asking - how on earth do we score against Burnley?

No player has achieved that feat in 2025 with the last man to score a league goal against James Trafford coming on 21 December - Kwadwo Baah of Watford.

Now they have clocked up a second-tier record of 10 games without conceding and have shipped only nine in 32 games all season.

Their problem is the 10 goalless draws they have had, which have seen them fall three points adrift of Sheffield United in second and five off leaders Leeds.

Any slip can feel costly and wouldn't local rivals Preston love to deliver one of those. Progress has been slow but steady under Paul Heckingbottom and they may fancy a late season burst towards the play-offs.

North End are unbeaten in eight at home, so this is anything but a foregone away victory.

Image source, Getty Images

It's been quite the week for new Derby boss John Eustace.

On Sunday he took charge of Blackburn for the final time as they lost 2-0 to Wolves in the FA Cup fourth round.

Two days later he was at Pride Park to watch the Rams draw 0-0 with Oxford and on Thursday morning it was announced he would be swapping Lancashire for the East Midlands.

Less than 36 hours later he was taking charge of his first game as Derby boss. It didn't go to plan.

A double from Ilias Chair and goals from Koki Saito and Ronnie Edwards gave play-off chasing QPR a thumping home win.

The Rams remain winless since 26 December and, after a dizzying week, Eustace might well be spending today taking stock of the situation he now finds himself in having swapped a battle for the top six for one to avoid relegation.

Here's how the Championship table looks before today's action begins.

Burnley have the chance to go up to second if they claim a derby win at local rivals Preston in one of the three early kick-offs, while Sheffield United could cut the gap to table-topping Leeds to just two points if they can beat lowly Luton at 15:00 GMT.

With the top four miles clear of the rest it looks like there's just two play-off places left up for grabs and about 10 teams who are still in with a shout of taking them.

Down at the bottom, Derby's weekend could go from very bad to even worse today as wins for Luton and Plymouth would see them slip to the foot of the table after they were batted 4-0 at QPR last night.

• Cardiff City v Bristol City (12:30 GMT)
• Oxford United v Portsmouth (12:30 GMT)
• Preston North End v Burnley (12:30 GMT)
• Blackburn Rovers v Plymouth Argyle
• Hull City v Norwich City
• Luton Town v Sheffield United
• Middlesbrough v Watford
• Millwall v West Bromwich Albion
• Sheffield Wednesday v Coventry City
• Stoke City v Swansea City

Image source, Rex Features

Good afternoon and welcome to Saturday's Championship live text coverage.

We've got three early games for you today and then another seven getting under way at 15:00 GMT.

Promotion-chasing Burnley visit Lancashire rivals Preston in the pick of the lunchtime games with the Clarets looking to extend their unbeaten run, go second and keep a frankly ludicrous 11th successive clean sheet in the league.

Just 30 minutes until the action starts so let's get going.