Derby v Bristol City Betting Preview – Championship 19th January 7.45pm
Derby are really driving on well towards the Premier League next season and they will be looking to consolidate second placed in the Championship on Friday night. The Rams are running in superb form at the moment and are defending an eight-match unbeaten streak of form in this game. Bristol City are on the slide at the moment having lost their last three games in the Championship and they desperately need to stop the rot somehow. They have had a testing fixture list recently and haven’t responded well to it.
Derby v Bristol City Betting Tips
The Rams are in really good form at the moment and have a decent shot at getting themselves up to the top flight. Derby are unbeaten in their last eight Championship games and they rolled out an easy 3-0 away win at the struggling Birmingham last weekend. Back at Pride Park, they are streaming along with a W3 D1 record in their last four there and they have shipped just the one goal in that sequence of league matches. Overall this season they are W8 D2 L3 on home soil in the Championship and they clearly are not going to be taken down easily there. They have been a solid defensive unit with only the nine goals conceded at home this term which equates to an average of just under 0.7 per game, while they have returned 22 goals themselves. Just 23% of their home games have gone over 2.5 goals so it is worth looking under the goal line with William Hill for this one. Derby have been winning at half time in over half of their home fixtures this season and a Derby/Derby half time/full time punt for 12/5 with William Hill may appeal* (Betting Odds taken on January 15th, 2018 at 6.51 p.m.).
The most frequent result that has turned up this season at Pride Park in the Championship is a 2- home win so that should be a good place to start in the correct score options for the game. Derby’s Matej Vydra is the top scorer in the Championship this season and has scored eight goals in his last eleven home games. Earlier this season the Rams were destroyed 4-1 at Ashton Gate by Bristol City so they will be out for some revenge. Five of the last six between these two sides have actually seen at least three goals in them and from the last seven games between them in the Championship, Derby are up in the head to head with a W4 D2 L1 record against the Robins. They are also unbeaten in their last four on home soil against Bristol City as well, winning three of those. There was a fantastic 3-3 draw at Pride Park between these two last season. At the moment, Derby’s defence is so strong and there’s every chance that they can keep their out-of-form opponents at arm’s length on the weekend.
So what is going on with City? Well, they are on a slide of three straight league defeats and they have taken only one win in their last five played. The EFL Cup run, including their great performance in a 2-1 loss at Man City in the first leg of their semi-final recently, may have distracted them. They have run out of steam in the league it looks like and this has all been through a tough run of fixtures for them. The three defeats have been against Wolves, Aston Villa and Norwich, now this one against Derby will be pushing them hard as well. Basically, Bristol City have come up short in their recent big games and that means they will be at risk here. Away from home, they are W6 D5 L2 but the Robins have earned just the one clean sheet in their last ten Championship fixtures and they have conceded at a rate of 1.4 goals on their travels this season. Bobby Reid is a great William Hill anytime goalscorer option, but the Robins have failed to score in their last two league games. With a five-match losing streak in all competitions, they could be there for the taking again.
Derby v Bristol City Betting Odds*
Derby 21/20, Draw 12/5, Bristol City 13/5* (Betting Odds taken on January 14th, 2018 at 3.06 a.m.)
Derby v Bristol City Predictions
The Robins haven’t quite been there recently and are in a slump which suggests that they are unlikely to get a win in this one. Derby are just ticking over methodically and they looked to be well stacked to make a run at automatic promotion. They are a good option for three points in the bag on Friday night.
