Preview: Charlton Athletic vs Derby County - prediction, team news, lineups

After contrasting fortunes in the EFL Cup last weekend, Charlton Athletic and Derby County meet at The Valley to commence their respective 2026-27 Championship campaigns on Saturday afternoon.

The Addicks secured a comfortable victory over Cheltenham Town courtesy of an excellent opening 45 minutes, whereas the Rams were dumped out of the competition by second-tier newcomers Lincoln City at Pride Park.

Match preview

After a five-year absence from the level, Charlton Athletic returned to the Championship last season, with an impressive start to the campaign saving them from the drop as they won just one of their last nine matches (D3 L5).

On the contrary, the Addicks kick-started this campaign with a first-half flurry of goals at EV Charger Points Stadium, where strikes from attacking trio Matt Godden, Sonny Carey and Tyreece Campbell sealed EFL Cup progression at the expense of Cheltenham.

Providing an assist in the comfortable victory over the fourth-tier Robins last weekend, Nathaniel Chalobah is one of seven summer arrivals at The Valley, with the midfielder looking to avoid back-to-back relegations following a difficult time at Sheffield Wednesday in 2025-26.

Nathan Jones's side have bolstered their ranks with plenty of Championship experience in the form of Dan McNamara and Karlan Grant from Millwall and West Bromwich Albion respectively, whilst also signing exciting young talent Timothy Ouma.

Charlton have struggled considerably in this fixture over recent seasons, with the Londoners winning just one of their past five clashes against Derby, who were victorious 2-1 at The Valley back in January.

© Imago / Every Second Media

Experiencing a quieter summer on the transfer front with four new faces arriving in the East Midlands, Derby County's chaos has occurred at boardroom level, where a Saudi Arabian group recently pulled the plug on their proposed takeover of the club.

Always one to keep a level head and rally his troops, head coach John Eustace is looking forward to forgetting the off-season drama and commencing their Championship term at The Valley on Saturday afternoon.

Derby have purely second-tier matters to focus on until the middle of January after being kicked out of the EFL Cup at the first-round stage by Lincoln last weekend, when a wonderstrike from Sammie Szmodics was not enough to prevent defeat.

The Rams are competing to improve on last season's eighth-placed finish in the Championship - the East Midlanders' highest since they reached the playoffs under Frank Lampard in 2018-19.

The summer signings of Szmodics and Filip Bilbija from Paderborn have been made to address the potential lack of creativity in the Derby ranks, with Saturday's hosts waving goodbye to both Joe Ward and Callum Elder since the conclusion of last term.

Charlton Athletic form (all competitions):

Derby County form (all competitions):

Team News

© Imago / Imago

Featuring off the bench at Cheltenham last weekend, Charlton pair Ivan Mesik and Milenic Alli are in line for their Championship debuts on Saturday.

Former Millwall man McNamara is a reliable pick at right-back, whilst Amari'i Bell should retain his spot on the left side of defence.

After a lacklustre maiden campaign at The Valley, ex-Reading favourite Harvey Knibbs will be looking to push on this term.

Derby remain without the services of star striker Patrick Agyemang, who picked up a serious injury in April.

Adding to the stresses of head coach Eustace, Matthew Clarke sustained a leg problem during the loss to Lincoln last time out.

Charlton Athletic possible starting lineup:

Mannion; McNamara, Jones, Koumetio, Bell; Coventry, Chalobah, Campbell, Carey, Grant; Godden

Derby County possible starting lineup:

Zetterstrom; Ward, Langas, Sanderson, Taylor; Fraulo, Travis, Szmodics, Clark, Blackett-Taylor; Morris

We say: Charlton Athletic 2-1 Derby County

Despite their last home success over Derby coming four years ago, Charlton will be quietly confident of victory on Saturday.

Last weekend's defeat to Lincoln would have dampened the mood in the Rams' camp and they could suffer another loss this time around.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.