Gareth Vincent
BBC Sport Wales at the Swansea.com Stadium

It feels like a big day at the Swansea.com Stadium, where the home club are suggesting there could be a new record attendance today.

There have been plenty of sell-outs since Swansea City moved to this ground 21 years ago, but it may be that the highest previous gate of 20,972 - for a Premier League game against Liverpool in 2016 - is surpassed this afternoon.

Tickets have been hard to come by for what on paper looks like one of the games of the season so far in the Championship.

We wait to see if it lives up to that billing.

Both teams have made a single change to their teams for this fixture - Jimmy-Jay Morgan comes into the side for West Brom, while Andri Gudjohnsen starts for Tony Mowbray's Blackburn.

Norwich have made one change as Jovon Makama replaces the benched Mathias Kvistgaarden up front.

Portsmouth go with the same side which started Wednesday's win over Sheffield United.

Dan George
BBC Sport at St Mary's

Image source, BBC Sport

A very good afternoon from St Mary's for today's Championship game between Southampton and Bolton.

There is a real bite of cold in the air and it is quite windy inside the ground as you can see from the photo where the sprinklers are being blown up into the air.

The ground looks full as we kick off, plenty of fans are still celebrating last weekend's derby win over Portsmouth.

Birmingham have named the same side which started the midweek hammering of Preston.

QPR are without Alfie Lloyd today while Nicolas Madsen drops to the bench with Kwame Poku and Jake Clarke-Salter starting.

There are six changes to the Southampton side which started Wednesday's win at Norwich.

Flynn Downes is out while Ryan Manning, Zach Abbott, Samuel Edozie, Kuryu Matsuki and Lewis Dobbin are on the bench.

Top-scorer Cyle Larin starts, as do James Bree, Welington, Cameron Bragg, Tom Fellows and Leo Scienza.

Bolton bring in Luca Stephenson, Xavier Simons and Sam Dalby with Ethan Erhahon, Sam Iling-Junior and Theo Bair among the substitutes.

If our lunchtime games are anything to go by, this afternoon should be a barnstormer.

We are under way up, down and across the land.

Let's see what new storylines emerge in the next couple of hours.

BBC Local Radio

Your BBC Local Radio station will have commentary on today's games.

We will bring you a flavour of their coverage as part of our live text service.

Laura Kenyon
BBC Final Score reporter at the Swansea.com stadium

SO much intrigue around this game in South Wales.

Two Portuguese managers meeting for what, on paper, looks to be an enthralling head-to-head.

The Championship's strongest defence in Swansea, against its most prolific attack in West Ham.

Some players to watch: Lawrence Vigouroux has been a huge presence between the sticks for the Swans. Clean sheets in 50% of his appearances this season.

For West Ham - besides the obvious threat of talisman, Jarrod Bowen - multiple goals have come from defenders. Centre-half Konstantinos Mavropanos has scored five in all competitions. One to watch from a set-piece.

Swansea's promotion credentials are set to be given their sternest test yet as West Ham head west this afternoon.

After winning four straight games the Swans start the game top of the league after Middlesbrough were held by Cardiff just now, and will seek to continue their unbeaten run at home, taking 11 points from five games so far and conceding only twice.

The Hammers - who lie four points behind their hosts in the standings - are the country's leading scorers with 29 goals across 10 matches, six of those coming in a midweek win at Lincoln, which made it nine points from five games unbeaten on their travels.

They have a poor record at Swansea, however, winning just once in their past six visits, almost 10 years ago, and the Swans have made their best start to a season in 103 years.

Mark Poyser
BBC Radio Wales commentator at Swansea.com Stadium

It's a beautifully sunny, crisp afternoon in SA1 and this is one people have been looking forward to all week.

West Ham were expected to be at the top of the table before a ball was kicked in the summer, but Vitor Matos' Swansea have surpassed all expectations with their best start to a season in 103 years.

And the fans have voted with their feet this afternoon.

The Swansea.com Stadium is a sell out and there could be a record crowd today, surpassing the 20,972 that squeezed in here to see the Swans beat Liverpool in May 2016.

And if they see a Swansea win they might just start to believe that the Welsh side could be the real deal this season.

These two have waited a while for a return to the top flight - 15 and 11 years respectively to be precise but could this be their time?

Birmingham are enjoying their best start to a Championship season since 2016 while QPR have lost just once in the league this season and are one of only two sides unbeaten on their travels.

"I'm definitely excited," Blues boss Chris Davies told BBC Radio WM. "We've looked like a really good team this season. We've looked strong, we've looked competitive and we've looked together. We can play and we can do the fighting."

Both sides have lost just one of their past six games to be up among the early frontrunners. A win for either today might have those around them casting a nervous eye in their direction.

West Bromwich Albion welcome former manager Tony Mowbray and Blackburn Rovers to The Hawthorns this afternoon, in a meeting between two sides who claimed impressive victories on the road in midweek.

The Baggies were trailing until late at Wrexham but managed to turn the game on its head in the final 15 minutes to emerge 2-1 winners, while Mowbray's Rovers collected three more points at Ashton Gate when they edged out Bristol City.

Mowbray has had two previous spells in charge of Albion - he led them to the Championship title in 2008, but his second spell in 2025 did not go according to plan by comparison.

He will be met by one of his former players in the opposing dug-out when he embraces James Morrison pre-match. Morrison told BBC WM this week that he still refers to Mowbray as his 'gaffer'.

Derby will seek to kick-start their season when Stoke head to Pride Park, still licking their wounds from Tuesday's dramatic defeat by Middlesbrough.

The second-bottom Rams have taken just two points from their past six games and were humbled 4-1 at QPR on Wednesday night, while they remain winless at home, drawing two and losing four of their six matches in all competitions.

The in-form Potters suffered a last-gasp 3-2 defeat at home to Boro last time out, having taken 16 points from their six previous matches, but remain ninth and within striking distance of the top three - should results go their way.

They have also claimed 12 points from their past six visits to Derby, remaining unbeaten since February 2007, and have conceded only once in that span.

Bristol City boss Michael Skubala admits that he must solve the issues that the Robins appear to have on home soil this season.

The club, under Skubala's management since the summer, have lost three of their five home matches so far this season and were turned over 1-0 by Blackburn Rovers on Tuesday evening.

They welcome Sheffield United to the West Country this afternoon - and the Blades are in need of a positive result of their own too in the wake of their disappointing reverse away at Portsmouth in the week.

These two sides are in the middle cluster of the Championship table, separated only by three places and two points and such afternoons can often act as an pointer to where these teams may expect to finish come the end of the campaign.

After the Spygate kerfuffle and an opening-day defeat by Watford, Southampton seem to be slipping seamlessly into promotion gear.

One defeat from their past nine games and five wins from five at home is one way to answer their off-field critics plus there was a first away victory of the season at Norwich on Tuesday.

Bolton provide interesting opposition - one minute they are losing at home to 10-man Stoke, the next putting on something special to win at Wolves.

"It's another huge test for us against a team who I believe are probably the best in the division," Wanderers boss Steven Schumacher told BBC Radio Manchester this week.

"When you have performances where you've done well and got a good result it can give you confidence but we also understand to get another good result it'll take a huge amount of effort from everyone and it's not easy because there'll be some tired bodies."

Tired or not, Southampton will know Bolton are not to be taken lightly as these two meet in the league for the first time in 21 years.

Wrexham will seek to get back on track as they welcome basement boys Preston North End to the Cae Ras.

The Red Dragons conceded twice late on to slip to a 2-1 home defeat by West Brom on Tuesday and lie 17th, three points clear of the drop zone, though under pressure boss Phil Parkinson they are actually better off than at this stage last season and believes they are on track for the play-offs.

With four points from 10 games North End have made their worst start in over a century and were thumped 4-0 at Birmingham on the same night meaning they have taken just one point from their past four matches.

They have lost both under Graham Alexander without scoring to sit effectively five points from safety already and to make matters worse have won on just one of their past eight visits to Wrexham.

Image source, Shutterstock

Norwich City and their fans are in deja vu territory.

This time last season they had eight points from their 10 games and were 20th, one point clear of the relegation zone. It was the kind of form which eventually cost boss Liam Manning his job in mid-November.

Roll forward 12 months and, apart from having one point extra on their tally, the story is the same. Having dragged them all the way up to a ninth-place finish last season, all eyes are on the Canaries boss Philippe Clement as he works to perform another turnaround.

"We need players who step up, who get fuel out of the disappointment. We need to build, like we did last season, when the team was in a much worse state than it is now," he said after Tuesday's defeat by Southampton, although the cold hard facts are the situation was not that much different last year.

Manning was sacked after picking up just one more point from a further five games at which point this season a further comparison may be required.

Portsmouth arrive in Norfolk unbeaten in their past four visits to Carrow Road, although having failed to score on the road for two games.

Only Watford (2) have scored fewer than Pompey's four away goals this season but, given Norwich's leaky defence (20 goals conceded) will expect to improve on that figure this afternoon.

Image source, PA Media

Norwich City and their fans will pay tribute to former joint-owner Michael Wynn Jones before today's Championship match against Portsmouth.

Mr Wynn Jones, along with his wife Delia Smith became majority shareholders of the Canaries in 1997 before going on to a role as honorary life president.

A period of applause will be held before kick-off at Carrow Road this afternoon following his passing at the end of last month.

Paul Mortimer
Former Charlton midfielder on BBC Radio London

I think Millwall will be delighted with a draw. Lincoln will be gutted because they'd think they should have got something out of it.

Did Millwall deserve the point? Probably not. They'll be disappointed with four points from their past three games and the way that they've come.

They were dreadful for an Alex Neil side in the first half. Second half was better.

You got two dressing rooms. Lincoln will be gutted and Millwall will be fuming.

For the neutral, it was a great game.