Derby County kick off 2021 in the Sky Bet Championship as they visit Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough in a huge relegation showdown.
Wednesday can climb out of the relegation zone with a win at Nottingham Forest’s expense, whereas Derby can move six points clear of the drop with victory and up to 19th for at least 22 hours.
Team News
Joost van Aken and Adam Reach are unlikely to feature after respective groin and hamstring injuries forced the pair to sit out Tuesday’s win over Middlesbrough.
Aden Flint (hamstring), Cameron Dawson, Massimo Luongo (both knee), Dominic Iorfa (Achilles) and Julian Borner (facial) are still absent.
Derby have no fresh injury concerns after Tuesday’s victory at Birmingham City, although they do remain without Martyn Waghorn as he serves the second of a three match ban.
Curtis Davies (Achilles) and Tom Lawrence (ankle) remain absent.
Stat Attack
- Sheffield Wednesday have won just one of their last six meetings against Derby (W1, D2, L3).
- Derby are unbeaten in four of their last six trips to Hillsborough (W2, D2, L2).
- Four of the Owls’ last five home goals have come in the first-half.
Prediction
Sheffield Wednesday produced a clinical display to defeat Boro on Tuesday despite facing a late match attacking onslaught from the Teessiders, of which they withstood the pressure.
Derby meanwhile were just superb against Birmingham with a proper attacking energy about them, from creative play to pouncing on defensive errors and defended well which should boost their confidence further.
This therefore should be a good encounter between two teams who should be battling higher up the table, but I can’t see past a Derby win because they just seem to have a new-found confidence about them that the Owls won’t be able to stop.
Prediction: Sheffield Wednesday 0-2 Derby
Result: Sheffield Wednesday 1-0 Derby
Leave a Reply