EFL Midweek Preview: Rooney Eyes Home Advantage as Championship Action Intensifies

Plymouth manager Wayne Rooney is counting on securing another victory at home against Portsmouth. November presents a mix of positive and negative developments for Championship supporters. The downside is the impending international break. However, the upside is the scheduling of six rounds of second-tier football around this period, all before the start of December. Furthermore, fans can look forward to six consecutive days of Championship matches, commencing on Tuesday evening. Let’s explore the week’s upcoming fixtures. Portsmouth’s John Mousinho is aiming for a win to lift his team from the bottom of the Championship standings. Is the crucial encounter between Plymouth and Portsmouth on Tuesday night the most significant game of the week in the second tier? The Pilgrims have accumulated only one point and scored a single goal in their seven away fixtures, indicating that their remaining 11 points have been secured from their six matches played at Home Park. Argyle boss Wayne Rooney, who contended with numerous injuries and adjusted his squad for Saturday’s 3-0 loss at Leeds, informed BBC Radio Devon: “We had one eye on the game on Tuesday. We have to prepare right for it, and get ready for it, because it’s a big game, and another game at Home Park, which we’re looking forward to.” Portsmouth’s away performance has been considerably stronger than their displays at Fratton Park, having collected four points from their last three road games, including a comeback draw at Hull on Saturday. Manager John Mousinho told BBC Radio Solent: “We definitely should have won the [Hull] game but the performance level was brilliant. The big challenge now for us is that we react on Tuesday as if we lost the game and get after Plymouth.” The last occasion Portsmouth defeated Plymouth was in September 2018, a time when Rooney was a DC United player and earned his 120th and final England cap in a friendly victory over the USA at Wembley. Since then, Portsmouth has been winless in seven matches against Argyle and has failed to triumph in their past six visits to Home Park. Should they manage to end this streak, Mousinho’s team, currently at the bottom, would surpass Plymouth, who could potentially fall to the foot of the table themselves, depending on QPR’s outcome. Regardless of the scoreline, spectators are advised not to disengage prematurely. Plymouth has a history of scoring decisive goals in the 90th minute or later in three of their last four home fixtures, securing wins against both Sunderland and Blackburn, and equalizing against Preston after being 3-1 down in the 82nd minute in their most recent outing. Three consecutive 1-0 victories have propelled Neil Harris’s Millwall to the periphery of the play-off positions. While Sunderland and Leeds occupy the top two spots in the division, Cardiff and Millwall, two less anticipated teams, lead the form table over the past month. Interim Bluebirds manager Omer Riza has orchestrated a remarkable turnaround, accumulating 14 points from his last six games following Saturday’s dramatic win over Norwich. The question remains whether this will be sufficient to secure him the job permanently. Cardiff travels to Luton on Wednesday without an away win in eight matches but could ascend into the top half of the table if they can inflict a third defeat in four games on Rob Edwards’ struggling Hatters, who are currently outside the relegation zone only on goal difference. Neil Harris has been quietly overseeing Millwall’s progress, but Sunday’s 1-0 win over Burnley, the Lions’ third consecutive victory by that score, has elevated them to seventh place, drawing increased attention to The Den for Leeds’ visit on Wednesday. “We’re disappointed we’re not higher up the league – we should have a lot more points than we have,” Harris stated to BBC Radio London. “We feel we are a team going in the right direction, but we haven’t come across a team better than us yet.” Leeds stands alongside Liverpool, Nottingham Forest, and Notts County as the only unbeaten away teams across the top four tiers of English football, despite having drawn four of their six away matches and keeping four clean sheets. Leaders Sunderland will kick off 15 minutes later than their rivals Leeds on Wednesday as they journey to Preston, a fixture the Black Cats may not particularly anticipate. They have secured only four wins in the past 17 meetings between the two sides and have collected just four points from their most recent five visits to Deepdale. Only Manchester City boasts a longer unbeaten streak in midweek home matches across the top four tiers than North End, who have amassed 41 points from 21 league games played under the lights at Deepdale. Could this offer an opportunity for Sheffield United, who might narrow the gap at the top to a single point if they can achieve a victory at Bristol City on Tuesday? Chris Wilder’s team has earned 13 points from their past six visits to Ashton Gate, although the Robins are in excellent home form, being unbeaten in 11 matches and collecting 23 points, despite having drawn their last three. Carlos Corberan’s West Brom has managed to score just four goals during a seven-game winless streak. Which three teams currently hold the longest Championship winless streaks? QPR is one, with nine games without a win, though they have recorded three consecutive draws before Tuesday night’s match against an unpredictable Middlesbrough, who have displayed inconsistent form recently, alternating between impressive victories and meek defeats. Oxford United is another, winless in eight games and having lost their previously strong unbeaten home record. They will aim to start a new streak on Tuesday with the visit of Hull City, a team that has not won at the U’s since November 1975, a span of 13 matches. The third side without a win since 21 September is West Brom. The Baggies have netted only four goals in their last seven games, yet they have drawn five consecutive matches before their trip to Burnley on Thursday. They fought for a 1-1 draw at Luton on Friday, and boss Carlos Corberan told BBC Radio WM: “You can criticise the way we tried to play. But you cannot criticise the effort. We just need to play with more quality.” Burnley has also scored just four goals in seven games since 21 September, though they still managed to gather 10 points during that period to maintain fourth position before their nine-game unbeaten run concluded at Millwall on Sunday. EFL top scorer Borja Sainz has nine goals in his last eight appearances, but Norwich has fallen to 10th place. Sheffield Wednesday and Norwich have collectively scored a remarkable 23 goals in their past five encounters ahead of Tuesday’s clash at Hillsborough. Both teams will be looking to recover from defeats on Saturday, with City losing 2-1 at Cardiff in the final moments and Wednesday suffering a 6-2 home defeat to Watford. Vakoun Bayo will look to add to his tally of four second-half goals from that game as Watford travels to Swansea, aiming to climb into the top four on Tuesday. The Swans ended a six-match goal drought with a victory at Oxford on Saturday, but only six goals in total have been scored across Swansea’s past five home games. Coventry will seek to achieve three straight wins and move into the top half of the table when they host Derby on Wednesday. The Rams have secured just two points from their seven away fixtures. Following back-to-back defeats and three games without scoring, Blackburn is striving to return to winning ways against Stoke at Ewood Park. The Potters have scored only once away from home, which occurred in August, and have taken one point from five road games surrounding that 1-0 victory at Plymouth. Additionally, two significant League One matches are scheduled for Tuesday night, with implications for both the top and bottom of the table. Winless bottom-placed team Burton narrowly defeated Scarborough in the FA Cup first round on Saturday and will aim to build on that momentum as fellow strugglers Crawley visit the Pirelli Stadium. Crawley required extra time to win at Maidenhead on Saturday but understands that a victory would be sufficient to lift them out of the relegation zone, subsequently pulling Leyton Orient below the dotted line. Stockport was another team that needed an additional 30 minutes to avoid an upset, with Kyle Wootton’s goal securing a win over Forest Green at Edgeley Park. The Hatters return to league action with a crucial match against Wycombe, who would draw level with leaders Birmingham at the top with a win. County would move to fourth place, within two points of Wanderers, if they emerge victorious. The BBC Sport website will provide live text coverage of the EFL action every evening from Tuesday to Friday, and again on Saturday and Sunday afternoons.