Fulham v Derby Betting Preview – Championship 14th May 7.45pm
Fulham find themselves 1-0 down in this tie after the first leg at Craven Cottage. The Cottagers lost on the final day of the season and missed out on the chance at automatic promotion, so their loss at Pride Park on Friday in this Championship play-off was another blow. Can they dust themselves off and get themselves back into this? While Derby have a nice advantage for themselves, they will know that there will be a long evening of defending to do at Craven Cottage on Sunday. There will be extra time and then penalties if this is level on aggregate and away goals don’t count.
Fulham News and Form
The Cottagers did have a tremendous season on home soil posting a W13 D8 L2 record. They will be deflated after losing the first leg but have every reason to be confident back on home soil. They are on a huge 15 match undefeated streak of form at Craven Cottage, having scored in each of those games. They averaged 1.7 goals per game at home this season and only Champions Wolves scored more goals than they did in the second tier. The only worry is about confidence after losing at Birmingham on the final day of the season to miss automatic relegation and then the loss at Pride Park. To be fair Fulham created a lot of chances in the first leg against Derby but came up against an inspired defence. Just 35% of Fulham’s home games this season produced more than two goals so under 2.5 goals is at 17/20 odds with bet365* (betting odds taken at 10:38 p.m. on May 11th, 2018). They scored 60% of their home games after the halftime break this season and have big attacking threats through the likes of Ryan Sessegnon and Aleksandar Mitrovic. They scored in each of their last 24 league games of the season before having that snapped against Derby on Friday.
Derby News and Form
The Rams were always going to be a threat on home soil having won three of their last four there before the first leg of this Championship play off. They just came good at the right time at the back end of the season to hold on to their play off spot. But their away form will be of concern for them as they have taken just one win in their last nine games out on the road (D5 L3). They didn’t take an away win against any of the top four finishers in the league this season but did draw three of those four games including a 1-1 draw at Fulham which would do them just fine here. In the bet365 correct score market the shortest priced option is a Fulham 1-0 at 6/1 odds* (betting odds taken at 10:38 p.m. on May 11th, 2018). Derby’s overall record on the road was W8 D10 L5 for the season and they averaged 1.25 goals per game on their travels. They conceded at just over a goal per game and their 1-0 win on Friday night snapped a six match sequence of no clean sheets for them. They have just the two clean sheets in their last eight away games.
Fulham v Derby Head to Head
The win for Derby on Friday leaves them having suffered just the one loss in their last seven games against Fulham now. During the regular season, there was a 1-1 draw between them at Craven Cottage with Fulham taking a 2-1 win at Pride Park. Both teams have scored in five of the last six matches now and the last three between them at Craven Cottage have all ended in drawn games. Fulham though are undefeated in their last seven league home games against the Rams.
Fulham v Derby Betting Odds*
Fulham 4/6, Draw 5/2, Derby 9/2* (Betting Odds taken at 10:57 p.m. on May 11th, 2018)
Fulham v Derby Predictions
Derby can expect Fulham to come at them hard in his one and the Cottagers are good enough to turn this around. They have had a couple of setbacks but their form at home is so good and they have such scoring power than it wouldn’t be a surprise to see them get back into this. Back a Fulham 2-0 correct score.
