Derby County welcome Sheffield Wednesday to Pride Park in a huge relegation six-pointer on the final day of 2020-21 Sky Bet Championship season.
Victory will see Derby stay up although a point would be enough if Rotherham fail to win at Cardiff, whereas Sheffield Wednesday must win to stand a chance and like Derby rely on Rotherham’s result going their way.
Team News
Beni Baningime could return for Derby after missing their last two matches with a hamstring injury.
Andre Wisdom (groin) is again doubtful and could join Teden Mengi, Lee Gregory (both hamstring), Jack Stretton (calf), Krystian Bielik (knee), Jordan Ibe (fitness) and Curtis Davies (Achilles) on the sidelines.
Sheffield Wednesday could welcome Moses Odubajo back into contention after five months out with a hamstring injury.
Joost van Aken (fitness) and Massimo Luongo (thigh) could also be in contention but Cameron Dawson (knee), Tom Lees (ankle) and Dominic Iorfa (Achilles) remain ruled out.
Stat Attack
- Derby have lost just one of their last five meetings against Sheffield Wednesday (W2, D2, L1).
- Sheffield Wednesday are winless in their last 11 trips to Pride Park (D4, L7), with three of their four draws all finishing 1-1 except for a 2-2 result in August 2012.
- Three of Derby’s last four defeats have been by 2-1 results against Blackburn, Birmingham and Swansea respectively.
- Both of Sheffield Wednesday’s last two away goals have come from Josh Windass.
- Mike Dean is refereeing a Derby home game for the first time since March 2008, when the Rams drew 2-2 against Fulham in a match strewn with six yellow cards.
Prediction
Derby have their fate in their own hands but I don’t have a good feeling about their chances after falling to a sixth consecutive defeat last Saturday at Swansea, especially given the fact that the Rams were relegated the last time they lost six games on the spin during a season.
Saying that, they did show promise in snatching the lead at Swansea but defensive errors and poor man-marking at set pieces proved their downfall, which they cannot afford to repeat here if they want a shot at survival.
Sheffield Wednesday however were lucky to snatch a goalless draw last week at home to Nottingham Forest, having been incredibly wasteful of their chances yet sloppy defensively to concede chances at their own end.
Darren Moore’s Owls also have omens stacked against them because their away form in this fixture has been poor but if there is a time to correct that form, it is now even though their overall away form this season has been awful.
On that note, I am not expecting a thriller given that it is a relegation decider and wouldn’t be honestly surprised if they both go down, but Sheffield Wednesday do look the better team in the last few weeks which might give them the edge.
Prediction: Derby County 1-2 Sheffield Wednesday
Result: Derby County 3-3 Sheffield Wednesday (Sheffield Wednesday are RELEGATED!!!)
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