At 4-4, the Raiders are second in the divisional standings behind the Kansas City Chiefs, with the Chargers half-a-game further behind by virtue of having lost one more game so far this season.

Both Oakland and Los Angeles remain firmly in the hunt for a wildcard place and Thursday night’s matchup will in all likelihood have a major impact on both teams’ hopes of reaching the postseason.

The Raiders got their season back to .500 with a 31-24 win over the Detroit Lions in Week 9 and there are tangible signs of improvement in Jon Gruden’s second year in Alameda County.

Oakland was 1-7 at this stage of the season a year ago and while the Raiders may not play football in January, they are certainly on an upward curve.

“It’s pretty obvious, we’re building our team,” Gruden was quoted as saying by ESPN.

“I’m just going to continue to hit that chord. We want to win every week, we’d like to go to the Super Bowl and win it for our fans, and our players, and everybody included. But we’re building a team, and I like some of the blocks we’ve got in place.”

Rookies have had a big impact so far in Oakland this season, none more so than Josh Jacobs. The running back rush for 120 yards and two scores in Week 9 and leads all rookies in yards from scrimmage, rushing yards and rushing touchdowns entering Week 10.

The Chargers, meanwhile, appear to be coming into form in time to keep their postseason hopes alive.

At 2-5 the Bolts looked done two weeks ago, but consecutive wins against Chicago and Green Bay have injected a new lease of life into their season.

If the one-point win against the Bears could be classified as a fortunate result against a struggling team, the 26-11 win over the Green Bay Packers in Week 9 was the Chargers’ best performance of the season.

“For whatever reason, we do better when the Chargers don’t have a chance,” Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers said in his press conference on Sunday.

“I don’t know why. I wish we did better when everybody thought we were good, like they thought when we were going into the season. I don’t know if anyone gave us a chance today and the guys […] did a heck of a job.”

The Chargers amassed 442 total yards and it is no coincidence their offense got rolling on the day Melvin Gordon racked up a season-high 109 yards from scrimmage and two rushing touchdowns.

The running back had looked a shadow of himself since ending his holdout but he’s slowly coming returning to form, which is absolutely crucial for the Chargers’ chances.

Here’s all you need to know ahead of Thursday.

When and where is the game?

The Oakland Raiders host the Los Angeles Chargers at the Oakland Alameda County Coliseum in Oakland, California, on Thursday, November 7.

Kick-off is scheduled for 8:20 p.m. ET.

TV coverage

Live stream

Form

Oakland got its record back to .500 with a 31-24 win over the Detroit Lions in Week 9.

The Chargers, meanwhile, improved to 4-5 after beating the Green Bay Packers 26-11 at home to secure a second consecutive win.

Series record

The Raiders have a slight lead in the all-time series, with 62 wins to Los Angeles’ 54.

The Chargers, however, have won the last four meetings between the two, defeating the Raiders 20-6 in the last game in Oakland a year ago.

Odds

According to Oddschecker, the Chargers are one-point favorite and are 19/20 to cover the spread, while the Raiders are even odds to win.

The over/under line in terms of total points scored is set at 48.