QPR go close to an opening goal at Deepdale.

Josh Scowen wins a free-kick and takes it himself, the ball dipping just over the crossbar.

The Tigers threaten now, as Fraizer Campbell sends a half-volley over the bar after the ball fell nicely for him after a corner in the area.

The first chance of the day in the Championship's London derby goes to Fulham.

Neeskens Kebano wins the ball and picks out Tom Cairney, whose shot is parried away to safety by Brentford keeper Dan Bentley.

Good start for the visitors.

First action of the game at Hillsborough comes as Sheffield Wednesday's Adam Reach drags a shot wide of goal.

Wednesday are unbeaten in their last six games, while Hull are six without a win.

Image source, Rex Features

Sunderland boss Chris Coleman was forced into a late change to his starting XI against Reading.

Paddy McNair picked up an injury in the warm-up and was replaced by Darron Gibson.

There's a big round of applause at the Stadium of Light for visiting keeper Vito Mannone, the ex-Black Cats keeper whose mother recently had a stroke.

It's 15:00 GMT - and that means only one thing.

Kick-off up and down the country in our eight Championship games.

Where will the first goal come?

Although rights restrictions prevent us from streaming live audio commentary of today's EFL matches, you are still able to tune in to your local BBC radio station for extensive coverage of your team.

You can click here for the complete list of BBC local radio stations and frequencies.

Image source, .

It's a reunion of sorts in the derby match at Pride Park this afternoon.

Nigel Clough, in his second spell in charge at Burton Albion, returns to former club Derby.

The 51-year-old managed 213 league matches for Derby between 2009 and 2013, winning 72 of those games at a ratio of 34%, before being reappointed by the Brewers after an 19-month spell at Sheffield United.

Current Rams boss Gary Rowett was Burton bos for over two years, leading them to the League Two play-off final in 2014 before leaving for Birmingham later that year.

Who will come out on top today?

Image source, .

Form

• Sunderland: DLDLW | Reading: WLDDW

Stat of the day

• Sunderland became the first side in English football history to fail to win in 20 successive home games in all competitions the last time they played at the Stadium of Light

SAM's prediction

• Sunderland win 47% | Draw 27% | Reading win 26%

Sunderland XI: Ruiter, Matthews, Browning, O'Shea, Oviedo, Cattermole, McManaman, Honeyman, McNair, McGeady, Grabban.

Reading XI: Mannone, Gunter, Bacuna, McShane, Moore, Van den Berg, Kelly, Edwards, Aluko, Barrow, Kermorgant.

Image source, Getty Images

Chris Coleman takes charge of Sunderland for the third time today, having lost his first game at Aston Villa and then beaten Burton Albion last time out.

But today is a special occasion as the former Wales boss oversees his first home game as Black Cats manager.

Usually clubs prefer playing at home, but Sunderland go against the grain.

They became the first team in English football history to fail to win in 20 successive home games in all competitions after drawing against Millwall two weeks ago.

Can Coleman get Sunderland fans enjoying their trips to the Stadium of Light again?

Image source, Rex Features

Away from the Championship and League One action, there have been two EFL Trophy games today.

Bury and Portsmouth have made the third round in the Northern and Southern sections respectively.

Nicky Ajose got both the goals for the Shakers in a 2-1 win at Walsall, while efforts from Gareth Evans and Stuart O'Keefe earned Pompey a 2-0 victory against visitors Northampton.

They're just three games away from a glamour final at Wembley now...

Image source, .

As well as following this afternoon's English Football League action via this live text feed, you can also watch as the goals go in on BBC's Final Score programme.

You can tune in to the show, which is now under way, by clicking the play icon at the top of this page.

Image source, .

Form

• Sheffield Wed: WWDDD | Hull: LLDDL

Opta's stat of the day

• This is the first meeting between the teams since the 2016 Championship play-off final, which Hull won 1-0 with a goal from Mohamed Diame

SAM's prediction

• Sheff Wed win 55% | Draw 25% | Hull win 20%

Sheffield Wed XI: Westwood, Palmer, Loovens, Van Aken, Fox, Matias, Butterfield, Bannan, Reach, Fletcher, Hooper.

Hull XI: McGregor, Tomori, Dawson, Mazuch, Clark, Larsson, Stewart, Bowen, Henriksen, Irvine, Campbell.

Image source, Getty Images

Leonid Slutsky hasn't had the happiest time since becoming Hull City boss in the summer.

The former Russia manager has won just four of his 19 Championship games in charge of the Tigers.

It looked like they were going to end a five-match unbeaten run against Bristol City last weekend, but let a 2-0 lead slip at home and lost 3-2 to the Robins.

Today, they travel to Sheffield Wednesday and a defeat could well spell the end for the 46-year-old.

“I feel that everybody in the team supports me and if that wasn’t the case I would have finished here maybe one month ago, although I understand that support isn’t enough and results are needed," Slutsky told the club website., external

"We can change the situation and if I wasn’t sure that we could do it, I wouldn’t be sitting here now."

Image source, .

Form

• Preston: LLDWD | QPR: WLLLD

Opta's stat of the day

• QPR are winless in 16 away league games (D5 L11), their worst run outside of the Premier League since September 1999 (also 16)

SAM's prediction

• Preston win 50% | Draw 26% | QPR win 24%

Preston XI: Maxwell, Fisher, Huntington, Clarke, Davies, Gallagher, Browne, Pearson, Barkhuizen, Robinson, Hugill.

QPR XI: Smithies, Wszolek, Baptiste, Robinson, Bidwell, Wheeler, Scowen, Luongo, Chair, Mackie, Washington.

Image source, .

Form

• Millwall: LLDDL | Sheffield Utd: LWWLD

Opta's stat of the day

• Blades striker Leon Clarke has scored nine goals in his last four Championship games - as many as he had scored in his previous 68 appearances in the competition

SAM's prediction

Millwall win 33% | Draw 28% | Sheffield United win 39%

Millwall XI: Archer, Romeo, Hutchinson, Cooper, Meredith, Wallace, Tunnicliffe, Saville, Ferguson, Gregory, Morison.

Sheffield Utd: Blackman, Carter-Vickers, Stearman, O'Connell, Basham, Lundstram, Duffy, Fleck, Stevens, Clarke, Brooks.

Image source, Getty Images

With the FA Cup second round in full swing today - which you can follow by clicking here - we've only got a couple of matches to bring you from the lower two thirds of the English Football League.

Both of those games are in League One, with Southend hosting Oldham and Rotherham visiting Bristol Rovers.

The Pirates will be hoping to put an end to a three-game losing sequence this afternoon - although they're probably unlikely to do so by drawing.

That's because Rovers haven't drawn any of their past 30 league fixtures, a run that stretches back to February and one that, ironically, comes on the back of six successive stalemates. Talk about going from one extreme to the other.

We'll have updates from both of those games during the next couple of hours.

Image source, .

Form

• Ipswich: WDDLW | Nottm Forest: LWLWL

Opta's stat of the day

• Nottingham Forest are the first team in the second tier of English football to have not drawn any of their first 19 league games in a season since Stoke City in 1955-56.

SAM's prediction

• Ipswich win 44% | Draw 28% | Forest win 28%

Ipswich XI: Bialkowski, Iorfa, Spence, Webster, Knudsen, Connolly, Skuse, Huws, Ward, Celina, Waghorn.

Forest XI: Smith, Lichaj, Mancienne, Worrall, Traore, Dowell, Bridcutt, Vaughan, Osborn, Murphy, Walker.

Image source, .

Form

• Derby LDWWL | Burton LWLDL

Opta's stat of the day

• Derby have not lost any of their past 15 league matches in December (W9 D6) since a 2-0 defeat at Middlesbrough in 2014.

SAM's prediction

• Derby win 73% | Draw 17% | Burton win 10%

Derby XI: Carson, Baird, Keogh, Davies, Olsson, Thorne, Ledley, Weimann, Vydra, Lawrence, Martin.

Burton XI: Bywater, Akins, Naylor, Turner, Flanagan, Brayford, Buxton, Palmer, Miller, Sordell.

Image source, .

Form

• Brentford: WWLDD | Fulham: LLDWW

Opta's stat of the day

• Brentford (18) have lost more points from winning positions in the Championship this season than any other team.

SAM's prediction

• Brentford win 50% | Draw 26% | Fulham win 24%

Brentford XI: Bentley, Clarke, Bjelland, Egan, Barbet, Canos, Mokotjo, Woods, Yennaris, Vibe, Watkins.

Fulham XI: Button, Fredericks, Kalas, Odoi, Sessegnon, McDonald, Norwood, Cairney, Ojo, Johansen, Kebano.