Gareth Vincent
BBC Sport Wales at the Swansea.com Stadium

Swansea came into this contest on the back of their poorest performance of the season at Hull City last weekend, while boss Marti Cifuentes reckoned QPR's display on the same day against Preston was their best of the campaign.

But you would not know Rangers, who are unbeaten in seven games, are the team with momentum so far this afternoon.

Swansea have had almost all of the ball and are asking early questions of Cifuentes' rearguard - though we are still waiting for the game's first clear chance.

Watford, who are unbeaten in 10 games at Vicarage Road this season, nearly go ahead after Daniel Jebbison goes through one-on-one but hits straight at Nicolas Schmid in the Portsmouth goal.

Moments later, though, Callum Lang sneaks in at the back post for Pompey but can't divert it home. He'd have fancied that after bagging four last time out.

Josh Murphy then fizzes another across the face of goal for the visitors. Lively start.

Steve Ogrizovic
Ex-Coventry City goalkeeper on BBC CWR

Tatsuhiro Sakamoto does what Frank Lampard wants his winger to do.

The Sky Blues have a dream start, they have taken less than five minutes to take an early lead and they deserve it.

How on earth are Hull not ahead?

Joao Pedro takes a nice touch inside Jack Whamough in the area before firing in a fierce strike which Freddie Woodman parries away to his right.

Regan Slater is lurking, in acres of space, but can only blaze over the bar from eight yards out with the goal at his mercy and Woodman scrambling back to his feet.

Head in hands moment for Tigers boss Ruben Selles, but his side have begun brightly.

No sign of Boxing Day lethargy from Burnley who produce a gorgeous flowing move from right to left across the Blades box before Hannibal Mejbri curls a cross straight into Michael Cooper's breadbasket inside 70 seconds.

Image source, Getty Images

The time for talking is over... whether that's to the family or about this afternoon's upcoming fixtures.

The teams are out, the fans are loud, it's time to lock-in for the next seven hours!

What does Boxing Day 2024 have in store for us? Let's find out...

You can stay up to date with today's Championship happenings by following our live text commentary, which will continue on until after the day's late game between Stoke and Leeds is done.

While online restrictions mean we can't bring you the myriad of BBC local radio commentaries here, you can still tune in to those if you live in the local area.

We do, however, have radio updates from the team at Squad Goals, which you can listen into to at the top of this page.

Image source, Getty Images

QPR are a side that looked to have turned the corner after a tough start to the season.

The Hoops are unbeaten in seven - winning four of their past six - to propel themselves from bottom spot just a month ago up to 14th and seven points clear of the relegation places.

And, whisper it, they're a manageable 10 points outside the play-off spots in 14th.

Swansea sit two points and three places higher than their visitors, but have struggled to string together a big run of wins - two is the best they've managed this season.

A 2-1 loss at Hull on Saturday made it back-to-back defeats, while only two wins have come in their past eight.

The Hoops have won on three of their last four visits to the Swans, but have failed to win away on Boxing Day since 1967 - a fruitless 22-match sequence.

Johannes Hoff Thorup may not be sleeping too soundly after seeing his Norwich side pick up just one point from their past four matches.

The Canaries were beaten 2-1 at Sunderland on Saturday and have managed just two wins in 13, a run which has seen them slip to 12th, nine points outside the play-off berths.

Managerless Millwall are two places and as many points better off but have also failed to spark as autumn turned to winter.

Their ailing league form did at least receive a boost on Saturday when they beat Blackburn under interim manager Doug Livermore - the Lions' first game since Neil Harris’ departure and a first win in seven.

Norwich have lost their last five fixtures on Boxing Day and scored just one goal in that barren run, but there is hope in Millwall's miserable record at Carrow Road.

The Londoners are without a win in their last 20 visits - losing 13 of them - and have not tasted an away win there since 1968. Yikes.

Something has got to give.

Paul Heckingbottom has made two changes to the Preston XI which suffered a late defeat at QPR at the weekend with Ben Whiteman and Andrew Hughes recalled with Liam Lindsay suspended and Stefan Thordarson dropping to the bench.

Ruben Selles has also made two changes from the Hull City side which beat Swansea.

Abu Kamara drops to the bench in favour of Mason Burstow while Charlie Hughes misses out with Sean McLoughlin handed a start.

Image source, Rex Features

Things can change mighty quickly on Planet Championship.

Entering stoppage-time at QPR on Saturday Preston were moments away from making it seven games unbeaten.

They lost 2-1 and now the stat flips to… Preston, with one win in 12 games, host Hull City, who picked up their first win under new boss Ruben Selles against Swansea the same afternoon to climb out of the relegation zone.

The Lilywhites haven’t scored in their past four games against the Tigers, although three of those games have finished goalless, including the past two meetings at Deepdale.

What Paul Heckingbottom would give for a repeat of Boxing Day 2023, when North End beat Leeds 2-1 in front of a packed house.

His side have drawn six of their 11 home games this season, though City have claimed just one point from their past six on the road and both their away victories came in a 10-day span nearly three months ago under Tim Walter.

If they can make it three points today they’ll move within a point of Preston and haul the Lilywhites even closer to the drop zone.

Image source, Rex Features

Two places and two points separate Bristol City and Luton Town is what is just about the most mid-table meeting you could imagine.

You have the consistently, inconsistent Robins coming off a 2-0 defeat by West Brom hosting a Hatters side that have motored away from the drop zone with two wins from their past three games.

Another win for Luton today will see them move above Bristol, and if results elsewhere go their way they could even edge into the top half of the table.

Boxing Day football is a bit of a mixed bag for these two.

Bristol City won 4-1 against Watford on Boxing Day last year but haven't won on December 26 in consecutive years since doing so in 2013 (1-0 v Walsall) and 2014 (2-1 v Yeovil).

Meanwhile, Luton have won four of their last six league matches on Boxing Day, winning in each of the last two years against Norwich (2-1 in 2022) and Sheffield United (3-2 in 2023).

Hamish Marshall
Final Score

Two home games against relegation contenders in three days and six wins in their last seven at home means Watford could be right in the play-off battle come Sunday night.

Injury-hit Pompey moved out of the bottom three with Callum Lang inspired win over Coventry.

Some of their fans I have been speaking to think getting anything here will be a bonus.

Image source, Rex Features

Plenty at stake at Vicarage Road where Watford host Portsmouth, with both sides having very different priorities.

Tom Cleverley’s Hornets might have struggled on the road but they are unbeaten at home since March and have picked up 26 points from their 10 games at the Vic this season – another three could see them rise from eighth and back into the play-off places this afternoon.

John Mousinho’s Pompey have managed to haul themselves out of the relegation zone with a run of 11 points from their past six matches, but they have still only won once on their travels all season.

They have also lost on their past three visits to Watford, though the last one came more than 13 years ago, and suffered defeat in their two previous Boxing Day meetings with the Hornets, 1-0 in 1988 and 2-0 in 1994.

Plenty of eyes are sure to be on Blues forward Callum Lang (pictured) who bagged all four goals against Coventry on Saturday, a feat which matched that of Watford’s Ivorian forward Vakoun Bayo who also scored four in the Hornets win at Sheffield Wednesday last month.

Shourjo Sarkar
Final Score

It’s a first sell out of the season at The Riverside as Middlesbrough look to keep pace amongst the top six… they’ve only managed one win in the last four.

And while manager Michael Carrick acknowledged his team’s tenacity at coming back three times to draw 3-3 at Plymouth on Saturday, he was very unhappy with their first half showing there.

Sheffield Wednesday come here in the mood to spoil the party, with four wins in their last six.

Wednesday boss Danny Rohl wants the club to “attack” the January transfer window. Surely that’s also a message to his own players as well as the board, that they need to keep their foot on the gas.

Image source, Getty Images

Is it the joy of coach travel, the delights of the service station stop-off, or a swift game of cards on the train?

Whatever the reason or mode of transport, Sheffield Wednesday are a team enjoying their travels.

The Owls have won five of their last six on the road - beating Oxford, Derby, Hull, Portsmouth and Coventry along the way. Their only blip came when they stayed in Sheffield for the Steel City derby at Bramall Lane.

Can they add Boro to their list of away day scalps this afternoon?

Danny Rohl’s men looked set for another season of Championship struggle after picking up four points from their first six, but are now just three points off the play-off spots after a run of four wins in six.

Middlesbrough’s form has been hit or miss of late, with just two wins in their last six, but they are clinging on to the final play-off spot and will move up to fifth if they win and Blackburn fail to beat Sunderland.

Michael Carrick’s have at least begun to find their feet at the Riverside. They've won three of their last four and picked up back-to-back victories there for the first time this season when they beat Millwall 12 days ago.

Only second-placed Leeds (41) have bettered Middlesbrough’s tally of 38 Championship goals this season, but only today's opponents Wednesday (30) have conceded more goals among the Championship’s top 12 than the 28 Boro have let in.