Derby face Stoke in a massive showdown in the race for Championship survival on the final day of the 2024-25 season.
Victory would see either Derby or Stoke secure survival although a draw would be enough for the Potters to stay up, whilst the Rams in that scenario would need results elsewhere to swing in their favour.
Defeat for either team would then require at least one of Preston, Luton or Hull to not win in order for safety to be assured.
Team News
Callum Elder could return for Derby after a month out with a knee injury.
Jeff Hendrick (calf) is a doubt but Dajaune Brown (hamstring), Ryan Nyambe (hamstring), Lars Jorgen-Salvesen (knee), David Ozoh (thigh), Curtis Nelson (ACL), Jacob Widell Zetterstrom (cheekbone),
Stoke have no fresh injury concerns to report after their 2-0 home loss to Sheffield United.
Eric Bocat, Enda Stevens (both calf) and Jordan Thompson (ankle) remain absent.
When is Kick-Off?
Derby entertain Stoke at Pride Park on Saturday 3 May at 12:30pm BST, live on Sky Sports+ Red Button in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Derby have lost two of their last five meetings against Stoke (W2, D1, L2).
- Stoke have won just one of their last five trips to Derby (W1, D2, L2).
- The Potters are seeking their first league double over Derby since 2006-07 season, when they won 2-0 both home and away.
- Sondre Langas has been booked in each of Derby’s last two home games (D1, L1).
- Stoke have avoided defeat in four of five away meetings against teams currently below them in the table (W3, D1, L1)
Prediction
Although it is likely that both teams will survive, Derby and Stoke realistically have to go for the win just to be sure given the potential for final-day curveballs elsewhere so this should be a good game if both clubs bring the fight given their pretty evenly-matched recent head-to-head record.
Derby though will be buoyant by how resilient and clinical they were at Hull after Luton’s win earlier that day put the pressure back on them, so this is a chance for them to try and finish the season on a strong note in front of their home crowd.
Stoke meanwhile were just clinically outplayed by Sheffield Utd in front of a pretty embarrassingly sparse crowd for their last home game of the campaign, so I would like to see them bring a more polished performance because they had been on a good run until their last two games against two of the top three teams.
A draw though feels like a fair call given the current quality within both teams at present.
Prediction: Derby 1-1 Stoke
Result: Derby 0-0 Stoke
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