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Big game, this, in a bonkers division which sees the top 18 teams separated by just 10 points.

The Imps lie sixth but are having a wobble of late, their 3-0 defeat at Rotherham last Saturday was a third in five games, from which they have taken just four points and scored a solitary goal.

Despite that, Michael Skubala's side have the chance to go top if they can win by two goals, a position they have not held in the third tier in nearly five years.

After a fast start to the season following promotion saw them second after seven games with 15 points, Grant McCann’s Rovers are on even worse run of late, the 2-1 defeat at Barnsley last time out made it just two points and no wins from their next eight to slip to 18th.

They have also dropped 12 points from winning positions already this season.

Rovers have however won 1-0 on their past two visits to Lincoln and are unbeaten in five against the Imps, earning 13 points and keeping clean sheets in the past four games.

Something's got to give at the LNER Stadium today.

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Jack Wilshere's Luton will seek to close on the League One play-off places when in-form Rotherham come to town.

The Hatters lost Wilshere's opening game at home to Mansfield Town, but have bounced back strongly and scored 11 goals in four games in all competitions since then as well as keeping consecutive clean sheets in the league.

Saturday's 3-0 win at leaders Stockport County lifted the Hatters within three points of the top six.

"I still feel we need to find more consistency but we're starting to see things now," Wilshere told BBC Three Counties Radio.

The Hatters have taken 27 points from their past 16 encounters with the Millers, but Matt Hamshaw's men have taken eight from the last four at Kenilworth Road.

United are also unbeaten in six games, taking 14 points, to bounce out of the drop-zone and within four points of the play-offs - their best run since March 2022.

Can they keep the run going?

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This feels like a big game for Port Vale and especially Darren Moore.

Vale have scored just one goal in their past five games and have lost the past three, shipping eight goals in the process.

Their 11 goals scored through their opening 15 matches is the joint-fewest in their history, along with 1951 and 1984.

The Valiants' only three wins of the season came in successive games in September and they have taken just five points from seven home games so far.

Wycombe are just six points better off, with an away record which matches Vale’s home record exactly, but it feels like they have turned a corner under Michael Duff, taking 14 points from seven games since he was appointed in September and scoring seven across their past two matches against Huddersfield and Leyton Orient.

The Chairboys are also unbeaten in seven games against Vale, claiming 13 points, dating back to 2012 and are seeking a fourth straight win at Vale Park.

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Leyton Orient were so close to winning promotion to the Championship last season after narrowly losing 1-0 in the play-off final to Charlton - but they’re facing a very different task right now.

The O’s are just two points above the relegation zone and facing a scrap to stay in the division, having won just two of their previous eight league games (D1 L5).

But those with a good memory will rightly recall they were in almost exactly the same position at this stage of last season, so there is still plenty of time for boss Richie Wellens to turn the tide once again.

Orient face an Exeter City side with whom they are tied on 17 points, though the Grecians have lost just one of their past eight games in all competitions - a run stretching back to the beginning of October.

There were eight goals the last time these two met as Orient ran out 6-2 winners at St James Park in January. More of the same entertainment again today? Yes please.

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After pulling off a great escape to narrowly avoid relegation from League One last season, everyone at Burton Albion would have probably bitten your hand off to be 15th and four points clear of the drop zone a third of the way through the campaign.

The Brewers endured another difficult start, winning just one of their first eight games (D2 L5), which came on the opening day against Mansfield.

But Gary Bowyer’s side have put together an excellent run since then to steady the ship, winning four of their past seven, including an excellent 2-1 victory at Bradford last time out, and losing just once (D2).

Blackpool’s new boss Ian Evatt won his first three games in charge - including an FA Cup first-round win over Scunthorpe - since taking over from veteran manager Steve Bruce, who was sacked after seven defeats from the opening 11 games left the club second from bottom.

Evatt says he’s seen the confidence of his players improve but the 43-year-old believes the Tangerines, who are are two points from safety, are still at “ground zero”.

"We just want to keep our feet on the ground, try to ignore the exterior noise and excitement because we're still only three games into a huge process and journey, and we're right at the very start of that,” he told BBC Radio Lancashire.

Adam Lanigan
BBC Sport reporter at Brunton Park

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Leagues One and Two occupy our attention, but there is a vast pyramid of football below English football's top four divisions.

Today is the showcase of the National League's 3UP campaign as they fight for a third promotion spot into the EFL.

Carlisle were relegated from League Two in May, but are currently top of the fifth tier although just three points separate the top six in a very competitive division.

Over 10,000 are expected at Brunton Park this afternoon as Mark Hughes' side face Eastleigh looking for three more points to remain in pole position.

This is set to be the highest crowd at this level since April 2024 and proof that dropping out of the EFL is far from a death knell for clubs.

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Walsall and Swindon look to establish clear water at the top of the League Two table with the pair level on points but Mat Sadler's side topping the pile on goal difference.

Of the two, Walsall look to have the more comfortable game today entertaining 16th-placed Colchester at home while Swindon face a trip to Pete Wild's Fleetwood Town.

Sixth-placed Grimsby will try to close the gap on the top against a Chesterfield side whose own charge is being hampered by draws with five of their last eight ending level.

Third-placed Notts County are starting to motor with four wins in five unbeaten and will fancy their chances against a Harrogate team which has lost its last five.

Bristol Rovers are in similar freefall having lost all five league outings since September but will look to halt that against an Accrington side a point above the relegation zone with one win in their last seven.

Crewe can close to within a point of the top if they can find a way past Micky Mellon's Oldham at Boundary Park as can Gillingham if they can beat Crawley at home in the early evening fixture.

Looking to the bottom, 18th-placed Tranmere host Cheltenham, who sit four spots down in 22 and bring with them the joint leakiest defence in League Two (27 goals conceded) and the worst goal difference (-16).

With regard to middle of the table action Bromley welcome Barrow and Cambridge United entertain Barnet.

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A big clash at stadium:mk between title challengers MK Dons and Salford City offers both the chance to turn the heat up on the League Two leaders.

Both drew last time out in the league, hosts MK Dons 2-2 with Barnet and Karl Robinson's Salford 0-0 with Cambridge and both will be looking to extract maximum points from a tricky test.

Paul Warne's side won four on the bounce from September into October bagging 12 goals in the process and goals have not been a problem all season.

Alongside Grimsby the Dons go into this clash as the league's joint top scorers with 29 in the 'for' column.

That could be tested against Salford have been fairly tight at the back this season. Since conceding three against Crewe on the opening day of the campaign, no team has got past two and they have conceded just one in their last three games.

MK Dons have not played at home in the league for nearly a month and although they have won only two of their last six there, it was the last two against Gillingham and Crewe.

Salford come in unbeaten in five in all competitions and with recent history on their side having won both of last season's MK Dons fixtures 1-0.

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Bit early in the season for a relegation six pointer? With just 15 games of a 46 match season tucked away quite possibly.

But there can be no doubting the importance of today’s clash between basement dwellers Shrewsbury and visitors Newport at Croud Meadow.

Michael Appleton’s Salop hold bragging rights over bottom-placed Newport County but only by two points – a situation that could obviously flip with an away win.

Neither side enter this fixture with any great momentum but neither have they abandoned hope.

Shrewsbury were on a run of four unbeaten until losing at Crewe last weekend while Newport, who have taken just seven points from their last 39, have at least posted two wins in their last four league outings.

Appleton says it is a “massive” game for both clubs calling on his side to kick on to two or three wins on the bounce.

Newport boss David Hughes, who appeared at a loss this week to know why he was being given the time to turn things round, is nevertheless determined to do so.

"There's a number of clubs down the bottom end with similar points totals and what we have to do is claw ourselves away from it," he said.

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It's never been easier to have your say on the footballing events of the day.

Just click on the shiny yellow button at the top of the page and get it off your chest, we are listening... and we'll publish the best comments right here throughout the day.

As it is the international break, let's get the ball rolling by asking whether your EFL side has had any notable internationals in their ranks?

Lincoln have top-spot in League One in their sights this afternoon, the last time they were that high in the ladder in February 2021 they had Morgan Rogers and Brennan Johnson in their side.

Which players in action this season might be representing their country in five years from now?

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The pumpkins are firmly in the compost, the last firework has fizzled out and it is the final international break before Christmas.

So, while countries scrap it out for those remaining automatic World Cup spots or a place in the play-offs, League One and League Two can take some of the spotlight.

We could have new leaders in the third tier while in League Two an old face rolls into Milton Keynes and the manager with surely the safest job in the EFL might just be feeling the heat.

Here are five things you may want to keep an eye on during this weekend's EFL action.

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Elsewhere across the country today, more than 100 games - including all 12 National League fixtures - are kicking off three minutes later than usual at 15:03 GMT.

It is part of the 3UP campaign by non-league clubs who are ramping up the pressure on the EFL to increase the number of promotion places into League Two from two to three, therefore adding an extra relegation spot to the fourth tier.

"Non-league has completely changed," Forest Green Rovers boss Robbie Savage told BBC Sport.

"The National League is a League Three. Most teams are professional."

Read all about the National League's 3UP campaign and the EFL's current stance on the issue here.

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With the top five not in action this afternoon, there is the chance for Lincoln City to take over at the top of the third tier, if they can come up with a two-goal win at home to Doncaster.

They have not claimed the summit of the division since 22 February, 2021, when they had Morgan Rogers and Brennan Johnson in their ranks, and they have not played in the second tier of English football since 1961.

Luton could close on the play-off places if they beat Rotherham at Kenilworth Road, though the Millers would go eighth themselves with a victory.

There are some tasty games at the foot of the table as Blackpool head to Burton and Port Vale host Wycombe, seeking to climb away from the foot of the table and haul their opponents back towards trouble, while fifth-bottom Leyton Orient welcome Exeter, above them on goal difference alone, in another big clash.

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Notts County climbed five places from eighth to third with a 2-1 win at Cheltenham Town on Monday night, showing just how tight it is in League Two.

Only five points separate Walsall at the top from Chesterfield in 10th, while there is little to split a cluster of teams in the survival scrap.

Some big games in the relegation fight today as bottom two Shrewsbury and Newport meet, Tranmere welcome fellow battlers Cheltenham and Accrington take on Bristol Rovers.

Salford's trip to MK Dons might well be the pick of the bunch in the promotion race.

What we do know is that it promises to be all change once again this afternoon as the fourth tier looks to replicate the unpredictable drama of last season.

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Burton v Blackpool

Leyton Orient v Exeter

Lincoln v Doncaster

Luton v Rotherham

Port Vale v Wycombe

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Accrington v Bristol Rovers

Bromley v Barrow

Cambridge United v Barnet

Fleetwood v Swindon

Grimsby v Chesterfield

MK Dons v Salford

Notts County v Harrogate

Oldham v Crewe

Shrewsbury v Newport

Tranmere v Cheltenham

Walsall v Colchester

Gillingham v Crawley (17:30 GMT)

Image source, Rex Features

Good afternoon!

While half the planet is looking ahead to the World Cup in North America next summer, we remain fully focused on domestic affairs this afternoon.

While international call-ups for far-flung fixtures have seen a swathe of postponements, 34 of the EFL's 72 clubs are still in action this afternoon, despite the best efforts of Storm Claudia, and we will bring you every kick, header and handball.

There are matters affecting the top and bottom of League One to address and we have a full programme in League Two to look forward to, with the added bonus of an evening kick-off too.

There's no time to waste so let's dive in for a traditional old-school Saturday afternoon of football.