The Sky Bet Championship Play Offs start here as sixth-placed Derby County host third-placed Fulham at Pride Park.
Derby booked their place here with an emphatic home win over Barnsley, whilst Fulham missed out on promotion with a 3-1 defeat at Birmingham City, ending their 23 match unbeaten run.
Team news
Derby could be without defender, Marcus Olsson to a knee injury for the first leg.
Fulham meanwhile have a full squad available after Matt Targett recovered from illness.
Sheyi Ojo (knock) and Floyd Ayite (hamstring) are also available for this match.
Form
Derby come here unbeaten in last three, having lost their previous three beforehand and haven’t kept a clean sheet of any of those six games.
During this late run of form, Cameron Jerome has hit his stride, netting four goals in his last three games.
Fulham meanwhile enter this game, having seen their 23 league match unbeaten run come to an end on Sunday.
Since returning from March’s international break, the Cottagers have kept five shutouts in eight games but conceded in three of their last four.
Stat Attack
- Fulham are still yet to win a play-off tie, having lost their three previous appearances at this stage.
- Derby have suffered just two home defeats in last 12 against Fulham (W7 D3) with the Cottagers winning here in March by a 2-1 result.
- Derby are making their seventh appearance in the Championship play-offs, only claiming promotion once in previous six attempts.
- The team who finished 3rd in league has been promoted on 10 occasions from this route, whilst Derby face a uphill struggle because the sixth-placed team has only been promoted once in last 12 seasons.
- Derby’s Matej Vydra is the Championship’s top scorer but Fulham’s Aleksandar Mitrovic has scored 12 goals since February, more than any other player at this level.
Prediction
Fulham will come here expecting to produce a reaction to Sunday’s performance whilst Derby are playing themselves into form at the right time.
I am going to go for a draw here with Fulham getting that away goal, which could be pivotal in the second leg on Monday night.
Prediction: Derby County 1-1 Fulham
Result: Derby County 1-0 Fulham
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