Sonny Carey has been quick to call Southampton goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu into action.

The effort from a tight angle is easily dealt with.

And the positive start from the hosts leads to a corner, but no real threat comes from the set-piece.

Bright start for Bristol City.

The ball is cut across to Anis Mehmeti, who weaves his way into the box to get a clear sight at goal and fires off a shot.

It's not too far off but slices just wide of the goal.

It's a grey, murky day in the Midlands - one of those where it doesn't feel like we have full daylight, oh and it's chucking it down as well.

Just to help with the visibility, we had some pyrotechnics ahead of kick off so we have some thick smoke still hanging in the air!

It’s been 14 years since Charlton and Southampton met in a league game.

And back in 2011 it was a League One meeting that Saints won 2-0. Since then these two sides have yo-yoed the divisions.

Saints have managed to soar to the Premier League a few times – and even got themselves into Europe for a while there - while Charlton have bounced between the second and third tiers.

While Southampton crashed back into the Championship this term and Charlton came back up from League One, it’s the Addicks that have come to grips with life back in the second tier quicker. They are ninth in the table and nine places above the Saints at the start of this game.

The early kick-offs are afoot.

Get Involved
Scroll to the top to get involved

Do West Bromwich Albion have a chance at upsetting the league leaders this afternoon at the CBS?

Will Charlton Athletic boss Nathan Jones get one over the club he spent a short three month spell with in Southampton?

Will Vitor Matos like what he sees from his new Swansea City side as he watches on?

Let us know your thoughts by scrolling to the top of the page and getting involved - don't forget to leave your names!

Image source, Opta

Coventry are without Haji Wright for this one as he's returned from USA duty with a thigh injury while Brandon Thomas-Asante, fresh from making his first international start for Ghana, is on the bench having been in Japan and South Korea.

Into the starting line-up come Josh Eccles and Ellis Simms.

Also among the substitutes is Jack Rudoni who is back after a two-month injury lay-off.

Ryan Mason makes four changes to his West Brom side from the one which beat Oxford a fortnight ago.

In come George Campbell, Chris Mepham, Jayson Molumby and Aune Heggebo.

Callum Styles, Alfie Gilchrist, Ousmane Diakite and Josh Maja are on the bench.

Image source, Opta

Image source, BBC Sport

At the start of October these two sides were 2nd and 4th respectively and separated by only two points.

Fast-forward another seven games and suddenly there's a 13-point gap with Coventry leaving West Brom eating dust.

In fact, Opta this week fired up another one of their computer thingies to predict the final Championship table with the Sky Blues given an 84.2% chance of winning automatic promotion - just for the record the next highest Is Middlesbrough on 30.8% - you see how dominant the leaders have been.

Eight of the past nine teams with as many as Coventry's 34 points at this stage of the season have gone up automatically (Watford are the exception when finishing 6th in 2008).

So, stop the season now and we'll all find something else to do shall we?

Well, maybe not, given how West Brom's early-season form has nosedived, albeit they are still only four points shy of the top six.

The Baggies chances of automatic promotion are 2.1% - a play-off place is a 15.5% shot.

What does all this mean? Probably that some statisticians have received a pre-Christmas bonus and we have something to talk about.

Fortunately we can spend more of our time talking about actual football - the boffins and their computer may be right, they may be wrong, but let's at least have some fun watching...

Image source, Opta

Charlton boss Nathan Jones has shuffled his side after the defeat they suffered at Wrexham before the international break.

Onel Hernandez, Rob Apter, Miles Leaburn and Greg Docherty all come in.

Charlton: Kaminski, Ramsay, Jones, Gillesphey, Apter, Coventry, Carey, Docherty, Hernandez, Leaburn, Campbell.

Substitutes: Anderson, Berry, Fullah, Gough, Knibbs, Laqeretabua, Mannion, Olaofe, Rankin-Costello.

There is just the one change for Southampton following their last outing, with Cameron Bragg coming in as Flynn Downes drops to the bench.

Southampton: Bazunu, Stephens, Wood-Gordon, Harwood-Bellis, Manning, Jander, Bragg, Fellows, Scienza, Armstrong, Azaz.

Substitutes: Aribo, Downes, Downs, Edwards, Fraser, McCarthy, Quarshie, Robinson, Welington.

Image source, Opta

Charlton Athletic boss Nathan Jones says that having his old club Southampton visit does not any provide extra motivation for a victory.

Jones managed the Saints in the Premier League for just three months before being sacked, joining up with the Addicks the following year.

However, Jones' mind is fully focused on his current club and what their fans can bring to the game, with Charlton currently enjoying a more fruitful season than the visitors.

"We are really looking forward to the game," Jones told BBC Radio London.

"Not because it's Southampton, not because it's an ex-Premier League side, but because it's the next league game where we play at The Valley with an excellent crowd.

"There is an ambience in there that is conducive to win games and that's what we have at The Valley."

Meanwhile, interim boss Tonda Eckert remains in the dugout for Southampton after overseeing back-to-back wins before the international break.

Dafydd Pritchard
BBC Sport Wales at Ashton Gate

Swansea City are close to appointing Vitor Matos as their new head coach, with his current club Maritimo confirming his departure.

Former Liverpool elite development coach Matos emerged as Swansea's top target after they missed out on Kim Hellberg, who is poised to take over at Middlesbrough.

Matos, 37, has only been a head coach since taking over at Portuguese second-tier club Maritimo in June.

But having failed to appoint Hellberg, Swansea have decided Matos is the best candidate to succeed Alan Sheehan, who was sacked last week.

In a statement on Instagram, Maritimo said: "Coach Vitor Matos will leave CS Marítimo to take charge of Swansea City, after the club activated a €1 million (£881,900) release clause on Friday."

Swansea have still not confirmed the news but we're expecting Matos to be here at Ashton Gate today for the match against Bristol City.

Image source, Opta

Cameron Pring and skipper Jason Knight are named on the bench for Bristol City.

Knight has missed out on eight games with an abductor injury, while Pring is yet to make his first appearance this season after picking up an ankle problem in pre-season.

Mark Sykes is also listed as a potential substitute after missing out on the game at Watford.

Meanwhile, the Robins make a double change to the XI as Neto Borges and Emil Riis replace Haydon Roberts and Fally Mayulu.

Cameron Burgess will don the captain's armband for Swansea as Ben Cabango misses out.

Josh Tymon also doesn't make the trip, while Goncalo Franco, Melker Widell, Zeidane Inoussa and Zan Vipotnik all move to the bench.

In comes Eom Ji-Sung, Ronald, Liam Cullen, Kaelan Casey and Adam Idah.

Marko Stamenic is straight into the starting XI after a three game absence to complete the Swans' six changes.

Image source, Opta

Swans may be known to be elegant on the water but Swansea's search for a new boss has gone anything but swimmingly.

Since sacking boss Alan Sheehan following a 4-1 drubbing to Ipswich Town, they appear to have lost out on Hammarby boss Kim Hellberg to second placed Middlesbrough and conversations with Maritimo's Vitor Matos stilted for another blow.

Undeterred, the Swans look to have gotten Matos over the line but fans will need to wait a while longer to see what their new era will echo in.

For now, assistant boss Darren O'Dea will pick up the pieces for a first and, hopefully, final time this season to try to get a result against a Bristol City side who are seeing their burdening injury list finally begin to find some relief.

Today will mark O'Dea's first time in charge at senior level - will his introduction to the world of managing a first team flow smoothly or will the Swans struggle to keep afloat?

• Bristol City v Swansea City
• Charlton Athletic v Southampton
• Coventry City v West Brom

Image source, Norwich City FC/Shuttershock

With the final international break before Christmas done and dusted we have a full EFL schedule across the weekend.

There are plenty of stories to keep an eye on and we have picked out just five you might be interested in.

Image source, BBC Sport/Getty Images

Preston missed the chance to move up to second place last night with their 2-1 home defeat by Blackburn.

North End could well find themselves out of the top six come five o'clock this evening.

A win for Coventry against West Brom this lunchtime would put them a whopping eight points clear at the top ahead of the later games.

Norwich City and Sheffield United could swap places in the bottom three but the Canaries would remain in the relegation zone even if they can win at Birmingham in Philippe Clement's first game in charge.

Image source, Shutterstock

Saturday's Championship action returns - have you missed it? We know we have but the second tier is back with a bang.

Starting strong, we will see Charlton Athletic boss Nathan Jones reuniting with his former club Southampton, while the West Midlands heats up with West Bromwich Albion making a short hop east to visit league leaders Coventry City.

Later on, many eyes will be on Philippe Clement as he makes his first appearance as the new Norwich City boss - but can he impress with a win at the fortress of St Andrew's against Birmingham?

We have all the build-up starting... NOW!