Waterford vs Derry City Predictions, Betting Tips and Match Previews

Waterford will be aiming to increase the gap between themselves and the two teams currently chasing their third place by beating Derry City on Friday. The visitors have a better goal difference than their hosts which means a win would see Derry overtake Waterford and make third spot their own. Both sides have been playing inconsistently of late, but remain in the top four with St. Patrick’s breathing down their necks in fifth.

When Derry City played host to Waterford last month just one goal was scored in a tight and tense ninety minutes. The first half ended goalless ,despite the best efforts of the home side who created a couple of decent goal scoring opportunities. Early in the second half Doyle found himself with time and space inside the Waterford box and scored what turned out to be the winning goal. Try as they might, Waterford failed to really test Derry goalkeeper Doherty, forcing the shot stopper into one save during the entire ninety minutes.

With two wins, one draw, and three defeats from their last six matches Derry City are hardly playing great, but still head into Friday’s match as the form favourites. Waterford are now on a run of five games without a win, and have won just one of their last six matches. Three defeats and one draw leaves Waterford behind Derry in the form guide, but the hosts are still favourites with the bookmakers to take all three points. We’re expecting to see goals in this game at both ends of the pitch and for all the fans in attendance to feel fully entertained by the final whistle. In four of each clubs last six matches, both teams have scored, which shows you just how poor their defences have been of late compared to the usual standard. Three of Waterford’s and four of Derry’s last six matches have produced over 2.5 goals, with neither side having trouble finding the back of the net recently.

Former Everton striker Duffus sits just one goal away from double figures in the league this season for Waterford and could make the difference between winning and losing on Friday. Derry’s McEneff has already reached that milestone for the visitors, top scoring with an impressive ten league goals from midfield.

We’re confident that this game is going to feature over 2.5 goals and that both teams will score, as their recent results show they have had no problem scoring goals and have been susceptible to conceding them at the other end due to open, attacking styles of football. In terms of a final score, we’re backing this game to end 2-2 and for both sides to be satisfied with a share of the spoils.

Waterford’s Predicted Lineup: Vigouroux, Browne, Webster, Barnett, Puri, Héry, Holohan, O’Halloran, Feely, Akinade, Martin.

Derry City’s Predicted Lineup: Doherty, Peers, Toal, McDermott, Doyle, McEneff, McDonagh, Rory Hale, Curtis, Patterson, Ronan Hale.