Derby County will continue to battle through the Championship season with a depleted squad on Wednesday, when they make the trip to take on newly-promoted Hull City.
The Rams were the victim of late drama as they lost narrowly to Peterborough United on Saturday, while their hosts were comfortably defeated by Queens Park Rangers.
Match preview
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Following their relegation from the Championship in the 2019-20 season, Hull City made an immediate return to the second tier, as they topped League One last campaign with an impressive tally of 89 points.
As a result, Grant McCann leads his side into the new Championship campaign with the momentum of a promotion, and the aim of surviving the drop this time around.
The Tigers had the perfect start to the season as they overturned an early one-goal deficit to thrash Preston North End 4-1 away from home, with Keane Lewis-Potter, Richie Smallwood, Josh Magennis and Andy Cannon all getting on the scoresheet after Emil Riis Jakobsen had given the hosts an early lead.
They then suffered a somewhat disappointing cup defeat, losing in a penalty shootout to third-tier Wigan Athletic after goals from Lewis-Potter and Stephen Humphrys saw the game finish 1-1.
While McCann will have hoped for a reaction on Saturday, as they hosted Queens Park Rangers in Championship action, that did not go to plan, as an early strike from Chris Willock meant the Hoops led throughout and second-half goals from Lyndon Dykes and Robert Dickie sealed an emphatic 3-0 win.
The Tigers will now be keen to bounce back with a league win as they take on a Derby County side who are battling through major squad issues.
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The Rams avoided relegation on the final day of last season, following a 3-3 draw with Sheffield Wednesday to send the Owls down to League One instead, but that has certainly not preserved their second-tier status for many years to come, as they face another uphill battle this season.
Ongoing disciplinary rulings mean Wayne Rooney's side headed into this season in somewhat of a transfer embargo, only being allowed to sign free agents, meaning they head in with a particularly thin squad following wholesale departures over the summer.
They fought against the odds to earn a point on the opening day though, as Curtis Davies opened the scoring against Huddersfield Town before Naby Sarr equalised on the stroke of half time to see the game end 1-1.
The Rams then scraped past League Two side Salford City in the first round of this year's EFL Cup, as Isaac Hutchinson, Colin Kazim-Richards and Ravel Morrison got on the scoresheet in a 3-3 draw before they went on to win the penalty shootout.
Last time out, Rooney's men made the trip to newly-promoted Peterborough United, and a Jack Stretton goal looked to seal a 1-0 away win, only for Harrison Burrows to draw the hosts level in the 91st minute and Siriki Dembele to hit the winner in the 10th minute of added time, seeing the Posh cruelly snatch all three points.
As a result, they remain in search of their first Championship win of the season, and the former Manchester United forward will be desperate to see his side pick that up on Wednesday.
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Team News
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Hull City have an unenviable list of absences for Wednesday's game, as midfielder George Moncur is suspended, while Ryan Longman, George Honeyman and key forward Mallik Wilks are all injured.
New winger Randell Williams could be handed his first start for the club in the absence of Longman, after he recently returned from an injury of his own, while 20-year-old Keane Lewis-Potter should be the key man going forward, having registered a goal and an assist in the opening league win after helping them to promotion with 13 goals and six assists in League One last year.
Wayne Rooney's selection concerns have only been worsened recently by the injury to striker Colin Kazim-Richards, who was stretchered off on Saturday, while key midfielders Jason Knight and Krystian Bielik are also ruled out through injury.
In the absence of Kazim-Richards, 19-year-old Jack Stretton should lead the line, after he came on in that game and put the Rams ahead.
Rooney did recently add to his depleted squad though, with the captures of talented midfielder Ravel Morrison, who netted an eye-catching goal in the cup win over Salford, centre-back Richard Stearman and goalkeeper Ryan Allsop.
Hull City possible starting lineup:
Ingram; Coyle, Jones, Greaves, Emannuel; Smallwood, Docherty; Williams, Cannon, Lewis-Potter; Magennis
Derby County possible starting lineup:
Roos; Byrne, Stearman, Davies, Forsyth; Shinnie, Bird; Jozwiak, Lawrence, Morrison; Stretton
We say: Hull City 1-1 Derby County
While Derby's thin squad is expected to struggle over the course of the season, their starting XI boasts enough talent to at least get them through the early stage of the campaign before the schedule becomes more hectic.
We see them galvanising to earn a creditable point against a Hull City side with hit confidence after suffering a thrashing last time out.
Top tip
Sam Varley
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Hull City win with a probability of 41.77%. A win for Derby County had a probability of 29.35% and a draw had a probability of 28.9%.
The most likely scoreline for a Hull City win was 1-0 with a probability of 13.6%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (8.3%) and 2-1 (8.08%). The likeliest Derby County win was 0-1 (10.85%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (13.24%). The actual scoreline of 0-1 was predicted with a 10.9% likelihood.
