Derby vs Hull: Goals at a premium at Pride Park

“This selection has paid out in six of Derby’s most recent 11 games, as well as 21 (72%) of Hull’s overall 29 contests”

Derby remain defiant

Derby continue their ongoing battle to survive (on and off the pitch) this midweek with the Rams taking to the field against Hull. County sit seven points adrift of safety in the Championship despite having faced set-back after set-back this season. In administration since September, the club’s future remains in the balance without any guarantee.

Financial issues have resulted in Derby being dealt a 21-point deduction, as well as a transfer embargo with strict restrictions. Despite all this, however, the Rams have shown immense character and fight under the tutorship of Wayne Rooney, giving the group a slither of hope that they could potentially avoid a seemingly inevitable relegation.

Rooney has remained defiant throughout the process, and when asked whether County could avoid the drop, he said: “I believe that 100%. I believe we will stay up.”

The strugglers return to action after a 2-0 reverse to Huddersfield last time out, extending the club’s winless streak to three (W0-D1-L2).

Hull suffer home defeat

It’s been a busy fortnight on Humberside. New Hull owner Acun Ilicali sacked Grant McCann, brought former Rangers striker Shota Arveladze into the managerial hot-seat just 48 hours later, and recruiting three players on transfer deadline day. The Tigers have also had time to secure a welcome success over Swansea before a disappointing 1-0 home defeat to Preston.

City played their part in a frenetic first-half against PNE on Saturday with both goalkeepers forced into numerous smart saves. But Hull were caught cold early in the second period and were then unable to find an equaliser in the final 40 minutes despite the best efforts of Keane Lewis-Potter, Tom Eaves and deadline day loan signing Marcus Forss.

The loss ended a three-game winning streak for the Tigers with Arveladze saying, “We have to do better (with the goal). We tried second half to push and use all of our power to make an equaliser, but give them credit, too, they defended well. We worked hard and could have equalised, but that’s football and the pain only makes us stronger for the next games.”

Derby have relished the most recent meetings with Hull having taken top honours in nine of the duos past 12 meetings across all competitions (W9-D1-L2). The Rams were 1-0 winners in the reverse encounter back in August and have also won each of the last four head-to-head league showdowns with the Tigers at Pride Park without conceding a goal.

Derby 2.447/5 would be sat just four points off the top-half if their 21-point penalty hadn’t been imposed (W8-D12-L9). Wayne Rooney’s outfit have only twice suffered consecutive league defeats and boast a gutsy W6-D6-L2 return at Pride Park – both losses arriving against top-six teams. County also own one of the best home defences in the division.

Hull 3.45 appeared to be heading for an immediate return to League One after a concerning opening 16 games. However, the Humbersiders have since posted W7-D2-L4 to move clear of danger. The Tigers have returned W5-D3-L2 against fellow bottom-10 teams and are unbeaten in their four road trips against the same standard of opposition.

No Championship club has seen fewer goals per-game on average this season than Derby or Hull. The Rams’ matches have produced a measly 2.00 goals per-game, with City posting only 1.97 goals on average across their 29 tussles. Unsurprisingly, 40 (69%) of the pairs overall 58 league outings have seen Under 2.5 Goals 1.635/8 backers collect.

Goals could therefore be at a premium on Tuesday. With Under 2.5 Goals too short to support, we can instead grab a much more appealing 1.9010/11 by taking Both Teams To Score ‘No’. This selection has paid out in six of Derby’s most recent 11 games, as well as 21 (72%) of Hull’s overall 29 contests. Just three of the Tigers’ 14 away days have delivered BTTS.