Derby vs Cardiff Predictions

The Championship weekend kicks off at Pride Park on Friday night, as Derby look to end a poor string of results. The Rams are coming under increasing pressure after recent weeks, while some think that Phillip Cocu will be out the door before Wayne Rooney arrives in January. Now Derby face a must-win clash, but they are taking on recently relegated opposition. Following a tough return to the second tier, Cardiff know they need to do better. However, will Neil Warnock’s men bounce back in this visit to Derby?

The hosts have gone five games without a win, which has left them in a worrying position. Their hopes of making the playoffs sparked when they won their opener and signed Rooney, but they have seen confidence fade in the following weeks. It hasn’t been an easy transition for Cocu, who hasn’t exactly silenced the doubters, who predicted that he needed to swot up on his knowledge of the second tier. Will the Dutchman be able to work out this Cardiff side?

The visitors have struggled themselves, with little about their opening six pointing to a promotion challenge from the Bluebirds. Cardiff have won just twice in their first six games, while they went out of the EFL Cup to Luton in a 3-0 home loss. The Welsh side are likely to be low on confidence, having conceded far more goals than we expected from this defence under Warnock.

Cardiff are winless in all three away games following their 0-0 draw at Blackburn last time out. Meanwhile, Derby have failed to win any of their home games so far, which doesn’t suggest that this will be a classic. The pair haven’t exactly astonished up front, with both sides scoring twice in their respective home and away games to date. We’re likely to see a low scoring tie, with two poor sides unlikely to be split on current form.

Overall, we struggle to separate these two sides. Their form of late has been poor, while we can’t see either team turning that around. Cardiff head here without an away win all season, while we expect that to continue given the gap in quality between their home and away performances. Meanwhile, Derby’s struggles at home make the hosts tough to back. The lack of cutting edge or confidence on either side has us expecting that neither will win this one. With Cardiff drawing two of their last three, we are backing these two to share the points. We’re also going with a 1-1 draw, given that both teams have scored in three of Derby’s last four games.