The EFL is settling into its rhythm but that hasn't stopped the high-stakes drama from mounting.
After impressive midweek results against respective Championship high-flyers, Reading and QPR face off. Meanwhile, Swansea City found themselves on the opposite side of injury-time fortune while Huddersfield continue to drop defensive anvils on their toes.
In League One, it's basement boys versus promotion hopefuls, while Salford City visit Northampton Town in League Two.
We break down the biggest games of the weekend below.
Championship:
QPR versus Reading:
This is your weekly reminder that Reading are still, against all odds, very much in the play-off mix. And we should all just start getting used to it.
The Royal’s 1-1 draw with Norwich City in the week seemed to cement that mode of thinking, as manager Paul Ince admitted he was disappointed not to come away with all three points against the promotion favourites.
Ince’s disappointment was arguably compounded as QPR could do one better, defeating the other promotion favourite in Sheffield United.
It means both sides head into the fixture in excellent form, with just one point keeping Reading ahead of Michael Beale’s side.
Beale said it’s too early in the season to lump praise on his players, meaning it’s arguably too early to conclude that an outright victory on Friday would decide anything come the season’s end. But football is decided by margins, and this one could be an important one to win.
Swansea City vs Sunderland
This is new territory for Swansea City: scoring an injury-time winner and from a set-piece no less. Russell Martin’s once bottom-table stragglers with a penchant for bottling it are sitting pretty in the play-off spots with consecutive wins in what promised to be their toughest stretch of the season. Never say the Championship doesn’t have romance.
Sunderland will look to put an emphatic end to that happy streak as they visit the Swansea.com Stadium on Saturday. After back-to-back goalless draws, Tony Mowbray’s side could use a rousing away performance.
The scene is set for it: The Black Cats sold out their ticket allocation on Wednesday, despite the daunting 12-plus hour round-trip journey in store for those supporters. The fact further fuels the claim that Sunderland’s support is second to none (albeit, on the pitch, they’re currently second to seven other Championship clubs).
Huddersfield Town vs Hull City:
This season, a six-goal thriller featuring Huddersfield Town generally left Terriers supporters neck deep in the doldrums, but maybe a sign of change is upon us. Manager Mark Fotheringham collected his first point since taking charge of the strugglers with a 3-3 draw away to Luton Town.
Self-inflicted wounds in defence kept Fotheringham from securing that coveted win and supporters are rightfully criticising the now potentially fatal habit.
Hull City will hope to exploit that habit on Saturday as they venture to the John Smith’s Stadium. Hull arrive off the back of a deserved win over Wigan Athletic to staunch a dismal five-game losing streak. Manager-in-waiting Pedro Martins watched on from the stands, meaning he was privy to the palpable moral boost such a complete performance injected into the fanbase as anyone.
Huddersfield’s ongoing woes are looking more concerning as the weeks go by, but Hull will not be accommodating opponents, needing a boost of their own.
League One:
Morecambe vs Ipswich Town
The most we can hope for in football is complete transparency, and Morecambe goalkeeper Connor Ripley has supplied it in folds. Ripley admitted his side need to be “brutal, nasty and horrible” to get a result against second-place Ipswich Town on Saturday.
Whether the home crowd enjoy this sort of Shrimps performance poses the existential football question of style versus result, but last Saturday’s 3-1 defeat at Lancashire rivals Accrington Stanley has arguably left manager Derek Adams with little other option. Morecambe sit bottom of the League One table with just one win, seven points and eight goals to their name after 11 games played.
Second-placed Town, meanwhile, will arrive at the Mazuma Stadium full of confidence following back-to-back home wins against Portsmouth (3-2) and Cambridge United (3-0).
Bring on the brutal, nasty and horrible.
League Two:
Northampton Town vs Salford City
Northampton Town had the unenviable honour of ending Walsall’s 12-game winless run with their 1-0 loss in the week, leaving them two points adrift from the table leaders Leyton Orient and Stevenage.
Town host fifth-placed Salford City, a meaner opponent than the one faced in midweek. Five points separate the teams, but the Ammies will be gunning to secure three points to steady a rocky run of results.
