Derby v Cardiff
Friday September 13, 19:45
Live on Sky Sports
Derby looking for a reaction
Phillip Cocu will hope stinging criticism of his Derby players in the aftermath of back-to-back 3-0 defeats will provoke a response ahead of Friday night’s fixture. The Rams resume their Championship programme following a thumping loss at Brentford before the international break, a performance that led the Dutch head coach to question the squads attitude.
The former PSV boss said he felt ashamed about County’s first-half display at Griffin Park, saying “What we saw in the first half, we can never show it again – not for the club, not for the team or the fans”. The result saw Derby enter the international break in 19th having picked up six points from a possible 18 after winning one of their opening six matches.
The Rams have fluctuated between a 4-1-4-1, 4-3-3 and 4-2-3-1, with the latter being the most heavily relied upon. Similar to last season, there seems to be an emphasis on looking to dominate possession of the ball, although invention and creativity has been sorely lacking in the County side. Cocu hopes to have Jayden Bogle and Duane Holmes fit to feature on Friday.
Cardiff have sights set on the top-six
Last week Cardiff chairman Mehmet Dalman said the Bluebirds’ minimum aim was to finish in the Championship’s top-six after suffering Premier League relegation last term. But it’s not been the most breezy of returns to the second-tier for Neil Warnock‘s troops, who have won two, drawn two and lost two of their first six league fixtures in 2019/20.
The Welch club had a relatively busy summer transfer window, spending close to £20m on eight players as Warnock aims for a record ninth promotion of his managerial career. However, Dalman warned that any further additions in January would only be sanctioned if Cardiff are in promotion contention, with 70-year-old Warnock set to retire in May.
The international break allowed a number of the Bluebirds’ injured players to step up their recoveries. Neil Etheridge is now close to returning to the first-team, whilst Marlon Pack, Sol Bamba and Danny Ward have progressed well, although none of the four will be involved in Friday night’s encounter. Junior Hoilett and Callum Patterson are hoping for recalls.
Derby have suffered defeat in just two of their last 10 Championship meetings with Cardiff (W4-D4-L2) and the Rams have been beaten only once in their most recent five home league fixtures with the capital club (W2-D2-L1). However, the hosts arrive having failed to secure top honours in each of their last four outings at Pride Park (W0-D2-L2).
Derby [2.56] have returned W13-D9-L4 in league action at Pride Park since the beginning of last season, scoring at least twice on 13 (50%) occasions. Nevertheless, the hosts have only picked up two points from their past five fixtures since seeing the opening weekend and the Rams have delivered below-par performance data figures during Phillip Cocu’s reign.
Cardiff [2.90] registered W11-D5-L8 under Neil Warnock’s watch during their promotion-winning campaign of 2017/18 but the Bluebirds have toiled away from Wales in their first three games as guests back at this level. City have fired blanks twice on their travels already, as well as uncharacteristically conceding three goals in defeats at Reading and Wigan.
Goals could be our best avenue for profit on Friday night. Collectively, the two teams have managed to keep their sheets clean twice in their combined 12 tussles thus far, with eight (67%) of those matches paying out for Both Teams To Score backers, and eight (67%) also breaking the Over 2.5 Goals barrier. A repeat can be backed at [1.87] at Pride Park.
Ten (83%) of the duos combined contests have featured at least two goals, whilst three of the four last meetings between the pair here have produced four goals or more at an average rate of 4.25 goals per-game. There’s enough attacking talent – and defensive vulnerabilities – on show to suggest a similar highs-scoring showdown may await.
Source: Betfair UK English Championship
