An exciting weekend of Championship action will be headlined by a fiery South Wales Derby. Table topping Cardiff City will play host to bitter rivals Swansea City who currently sit in third place.

Queens Park Rangers will be looking to keep the pressure on Cardiff as they look for victory against playoff contenders Reading. Derby and Portsmouth will also face off in a clash between two of the Championship’s most in-form teams.

At the other end of the table, the league’s two bottom clubs will clash in a vital game at the Riverside Stadium as Middlesbrough play host to Crystal Palace. Bristol City will also be hoping to escape the relegation zone as they play host to fellow strugglers Preston North End.

Norwich City and Burnley go head to head at Carrow Road in a battle of two playoff contenders. Norwich currently sit in fifth place on 23 points, with Burnley only two points and three places behind them.





Norwich were comfortably beaten 3-1 last week at league leaders Cardiff and will be looking to bounce back quickly here. Norwich have received a major lift knowing that Captain Grant Holt and Wes Hoolahan will be able to play. Adam Drury, Zak Whitbread and Michael Nelson will all be sidelined.





Burnley have yet to win on the road but produced an impressive away performance last week when they held high flying QPR to a 1-1 draw, they will be looking for a similar result here.





Jack Cork, Andre Bikey, Wade Elliott and Danny Fox could all play for the Clarets after recovering from illness.



Second place Queens Park Rangers will be looking to keep the pressure on league leaders Cardiff City as they play host to 6th place Reading. QPR are undefeated this season but are currently riding a streak of four consecutive draws, they will want to return to winning ways here.





QPR have a healthy backline and will want to add to their league record 10 clean sheets. Further up the field Heidar Helguson and Akos Buzsaky will be sidelined with injury.





Reading have scored four goals in each of their last two games and will look to give the impressive QPR defense a thorough examination. Simon Church scored in both games and will be an important figure for the Royals in this game.





Reading have doubts over the fitness of leading goal scorer Jimmy Kebe, Noel Hunt and Brynjar Gunarsson.



Sheffield United will hope to climb away from the relegation zone when they play host to Ipswich Town, who are only one point away from the playoff places.





The Blades have won only one of their last seven games and are struggling to find the net. United are the lowest scorers in the Championship and have scored only nine goals in their 14 Championship games this season, they have also been shut out in their last three games.





Things got worse for Sheffield last week when inspirational Captain Chris Morgan was rules out for the rest of the season with a knee injury. Nick Montgomery and recent loan signing Andy Reid could start this game.





Ipswich have suffered three consecutive away defeats, and have not won since beating rock bottom Crystal Palace in August. They will look to end that streak here. Mark Kennedy and Darren O’Dea will be out, while David Norris will receive a late fitness test.



Watford and Nottingham Forest will go onto battle at Vicarage Road with both teams in touching distance of the playoff spots. Watford are one point away from the playoff places with Forest two points further behind.





Watford started the season well but have just lost consecutive games for the first time all season. They will need to play well to end that streak here, and will not be helped by the fact that they have yet to register a clean sheet at home this season.





Forward Danny Graham could play despite a back injury, but Lee Hodson and Don Cowie are ruled out.





Forest are having few problems finding the net, having scored in each of the last seven games. However, the Tricky Trees are on a terrible run of away form. They have won only one of their last 20 away matches dating back to last season.



Sven Goran Eriksson and Leicester City travel to Barnsley with both teams floating just above the relegation zone. A win for either side will be a welcome boost in what have been difficult seasons so far.





Barnsley are coming off a 1-1 draw with Hull in a game that featured a wonderful goal from Adam Hammill. Hammill will be an important presence in this game, but the Tyke’s will be without defenders Matt Hill and Chris Wood who are struggling with injury.





Leicester achieved a home win over Preston last week courtesy of a Paul Gallacher goal. Eriksson has also had some good news on the personnel front ahead of this game. Lloyd Dyer and Curties Davies are likely to return. Also recent signing Darius Vassell, who played for England under Eriksson is likely to play some part.



The division’s two bottom teams will clash in a hugely important game at the Riverside Stadium. The winner will receive a morale boost and possibly move out of the bottom three, while the loser will be left to ponder another defeat and will sit rock bottom of the division.





Tony Mowbray has received a very nostalgic and warm welcome from Boro fans, but after taking the lead through Kris Boyd he saw his new team fall to a 2-1 defeat last week at the hands of Bristol City.





Boro currently are riding a seven game winless streak, the longest in the football league. Defeat here would see the club experience their worst sequence of results for 10 years. They will not be helped by question marks over the fitness of Julio Arca, Barry Robson, Gary O’Neil and Danny Coyne.





Crystal Palace have failed to find the net in eight games this season, more than any other Championship team. Palace will be hoping former Everton forward James Vaughan can help them to victory here. Anthony Gardner and Claude Davis will be out for the Eagles, while Neil Danns could return.



Bristol City will clash with Preston North End in another relegation struggle. Bristol currently sit in the relegation zone, with Preston only above them courtesy of the goals scored tie breaker.





Bristol City are riding a three game unbeaten streak and last week gained a 2-1 road win at fellow strugglers Middlesbrough. Things are not going quite as well off the field, as this week the club reported an annual loss of 11.8 million pounds for the financial year ending May 2010.





Christian Ribeiro, Nicky Maynard and Sam Vokes will all be out, while midfielder Cole Skuse could return from a heel injury.





Preston have lost three of their last four games and must avoid defeat to avoid sliding into the bottom three here. They will be boosted by the return of leading goal scorer Jon ‘The Beast’ Parkin who was suspended for last weekend’s defeat at Leicester. Josh King and Chris Brown will miss the game with injury.



Struggling Hull City will play host to Scunthorpe as the Tigers look to climb away from the relegation zone. To do so Hull must snap a six game winless streak against a Scunthorpe team that has won consecutive away games.





Hull could be lifted by the return of midfielder James Harper, and Liverpool loanee Daniel Ayala. Hull also have recent history on their side, having won four of their last five games against the Irons.





Scunthorpe are one of the few teams in the division who play significantly better on the road. Scunthorpe have won five league games this season, four of which have been away from home.





Goalkeeper Joe Murphy could return, but Rob Jones and David Mirfin will be out with injury.



Coventry currently sit in 4th place courtesy of back to back wins over Barnsley and Sheffield United, they will look to continue their dominance over Yorkshire when Leeds United come to town. Scottish forward Gary McSheffrey has scored in three consecutive games and will be looking to continue that streak here.





Aidy Boothroyd urged Coventry fans to come out and support the team hinting at future success. “People need to start thinking that there might be something happening down there at the rIcoh this season,” the manager told BBC Sport. Boothroyd could be boosted for this game by the return of long term absentee’s Freddy Eastwood and Chris Hussey.





Leeds were hammered 4-0 two weeks ago by Cardiff but bounced back last week with an impressive 4-1 win at Scunthorpe, a game in which Captain Jonny Howson netted a 15 minute hat-trick.





Winger Lloyd Sam is in contention for a place, as is forward Billy Paynter who would be making his first start.



Millwall travel to Doncaster knowing a win for either side will move them closer to the playoff battle. Both teams are currently tied on 19 points, three points away from the playoff spots.





High scoring Doncaster have netted 10 goals in their last four games. They have lost star striker Billy Sharp to injury, but this game could see the debut of Northern Ireland international David Healy.





After a good start to the season, Millwall have won only two of their last 10 matches. They will hope striker Steve Morison can help them to victory here. The Lions may be boosted by the return of striker Neil Harris.



Derby and Portsmouth will clash at Pride Park with both clubs in good form. Derby will be looking for their fifth consecutive home win and are the Championship’s leading goal scorers at home. Portsmouth come into the game riding a seven game unbeaten streak and have won their last four.





Scottish midfielder Kris Commons has been in excellent form for Derby and will be a key player in this game. Alberto Bueno, Luke Moore and Russell Anderson will all be missing for the Rams.





Portsmouth endured a miserable start to the season but have had a resurgence. Liam Lawrence, who was brought in from Stoke has been a key figure in their turnaround. Ricardo Rocha is ruled out for Pompey, with Ibrahima Sonko his likely replacement.



Table topping Cardiff City will host a fiery derby on Sunday when they play host to arch rivals Swansea City. While Cardiff have a two point lead at the top of the Championship, Swansea are in third place and will be looking to challenge for the top two slots.





Both teams enter this fixture in good for, but for opposite reason. During the month of October Cardiff were the leading goal scorers in the Championship, while Swansea conceded the fewest goals.





Cardiff are riding an eight game unbeaten streak and are looking for their sixth consecutive win. They must do so without the league’s leading goal scorer, as Jay Bothroyd is serving a one match suspension.





Swansea will be looking for their third consecutive win, and are unbeaten in six games. The Swans will travel to Cardiff without influential midfielder Darren Pratley, who is also suspended.