Charlton beat Cheltenham 3-1 in Carabao Cup first round last week
Derby were dumped out of the League Cup by Lincoln
Recommended bet: Charlton to win, over 2.5 total goals and Sonny Carey over 1.5 shots on target @ 10/1 with LiveScore Bet
After a 19th-place finish last season, Charlton will be seeking a big improvement in the Championship in 2026-27 and they start the campaign at home to Derby, who only missed out on the play-offs last term by just four points.
The two teams experienced contrasting fortunes in the Carabao Cup last week — Charlton seeing off Cheltenham 3-1 in the first round, while the Rams were dumped out by newly-promoted Lincoln.
Team news
Josh Edwards, Charlie Kelman and Kayne Ramsay are all on the injured list for the Addicks, while Micah Mbick has been working his way back to full fitness over the summer and could be involved.
Patrick Agyemang, Rhian Brewster and Derry Murkin are still absent for the Rams, who are also set to be without Corey Blackett-Taylor and Matt Clarke for the league opener.
The latest Charlton vs Derby odds are available on LiveScore Bet
The stats
Charlton finished 19th last season, six points clear of the relegation zone.
Derby came eighth last term, four points behind the top six.
Derby won 2-1 at The Valley in the league last season, while the meeting at Pride Park ended 1-1.
There were over 2.5 goals in both teams' Carabao Cup games last week.
Sonny Carey netted eight league goals for Charlton last season and scored the second in the cup win over Cheltenham.
The latest Charlton vs Derby odds are available on LiveScore Bet
Prediction
Charlton ended up 16 points worse off than Derby last season as the two clubs had contrasting campaigns with the Rams chasing a play-off place while the Addicks were involved in the relegation scrap.
However, a new season brings fresh hope and the hosts are fancied to start with a victory to nicely follow up their League Cup win at Cheltenham last weekend.
Derby's involvement in that competition is already over for another year after they lost 2-1 at home to Championship new boys Lincoln and the Rams could be in for another difficult day when they get their league campaign up and running.
The Addicks are tipped to come out on top but it should be a closely-fought opener with at least three goals expected at The Valley, following on from their respective cup ties last week which produced a total of seven goals.
And Carey is favoured to cause the Derby defence problems as he looks to build on last season's encouraging season, during which he bagged eight league goals.
Carey is already off the mark this term as he scored in the win over Cheltenham and he was particularly sharp in that cup success, recording five shots, four of which were on target.
Score prediction: Charlton Athletic 3-1 Derby County
