Derby County will be travelling to Villa Park for their EFL Championship tie against Aston Villa on the weekend.
The Rams celebrated last week for registering their return to the top-six of the points table after beating the 2nd placed Cardiff City by 3 goals to 1. Gary Rowett’s men ran the visitors raged at Pride Park and converted all the crucial chances to go 2 points clear of Millwall in the playoff race. A massive turnaround after the 1-2 loss to Middlesbrough in the previous league fixture.
They are certainly charged up going into this fixture but Villa’s resistance is expected to be significant. Steve Bruce’s men racked up their third win in a row last weekend by defeating Ipswich Town 4-0.
The automatic promotion spot is still up for grabs for the Villans but it is likely to go to either Cardiff City or Fulham within the last 2 games of the season.
This fixture comes as a preview to what we can expect in the playoffs this campaign.
The last time these two sides met was back in December which the Rams won by 2 goals to nil. At the time, Derby was higher up in the points table and Villa were climbing their way up to the top.
While the seating for the final look of the points table might already have been done, this fixture comes as a must-win for both sides. After all, nobody wants to look weak ahead of the final battle, especially since the visitors will have an almost full-strength squad for the matchup.
Here is how Derby County might lineup on game day.
Predicted Formation: 3-4-2-1
Defence
Scott Carson should get the nod for the goalkeeper position. He has racked up 19 clean sheets in the league this season while averaging 2 saves per match.
Craig Forsyth, Curtis Davies and Richard Keogh are expected to feature in the defensive back three.
Midfield
Tom Huddlestone and Bradley Johnson are the predicted starters in the holding midfield role. The duo should find Marcus Olsson and Andre Wisdom next to them in the fullback positions to spread the ball.
Attack
Tom Lawrence and Andreas Weimann might start behind the Cameron Jerome in the Derby front line.
The latter seems to have hit a rich vein of form after scoring a couple in the last tie. He will be eager to get on the scoring sheet again.
