Basement club Derby County will be looking to claim their second successive Championship victory when they welcome Swansea City to Pride Park on Saturday afternoon.
The visitors, meanwhile, are seeking just their third league victory of the campaign and their first on the road in three matches.
Match preview
© Reuters
Following their 12-point deduction last week, which had put them into minus figures, Derby now have a solitary point on the board after claiming a slender 1-0 home victory against Reading on Wednesday night.
In an encounter which saw 20 shots on goal between the two sides, Craig Forsyth's looping header in the 33rd minute was enough to secure the win for the Rams, who are now seven points adrift of safety.
Wayne Rooney remains confident that his side can avoid relegation, especially if they can keep up their good run of form at Pride Park. Derby are the only team outside of the Championship's top five who remain unbeaten at home so far this season.
The Rams are also unbeaten in each of their last four matches on home soil against Swansea, a run that includes three victories.
Had Derby not been deducted 12 points, then they would be sitting just inside the top half of the table, however they are rooted to the foot of the Championship and must work even harder to close the gap on safety, especially against sides such as Swansea who are hovering just above the bottom three.
© Reuters
Swansea looked as if they were beginning a revival under Russel Martin in September, as they had claimed three successive draws and then a 1-0 victory against Huddersfield Town. However, their unbeaten run came to an end at the hands of Fulham, who secured a 3-1 win at Craven Cottage on Wednesday night.
Despite having 67% possession and controlling large spells of the game, the Swans were unable to cope with Aleksandar Mitrovic who helped himself to a first-half hat-trick, with Jamie Paterson getting on the scoresheet for the visitors.
Goals have been hard to come by for Martin's men and they are one of only five Championship sides who have scored less than 10 goals this term. The Swans have also failed to find the net in their last two visits to Saturday's opponents Derby.
The loss of Andre Ayew and Jamal Lowe over the summer has clearly had an impact, though Martin will be hoping new recruit Joel Piroe can add to the five goals he has already scored this season.
Swansea currently sit just two points above the bottom three but if they can secure a victory at Pride Park, then that could see them climb into the top half of the table if other results were to go their way.
- D
- L
- D
- W
- L
- W
- L
- D
- D
- D
- W
- L
- D
- D
- D
- L
- W
- L
Team News
© Reuters
Derby will still be without striker Colin Kazim-Richards and versatile midfielder Krystian Bielik as they continue to recover from respective Achilles and knee injuries.
However, the Rams will be able to welcome goalkeeper Kelle Roos back into the fold after serving a one-match suspension, following his red card against Sheffield United. The 29-year-old is set to replace Ryan Allsop between the sticks.
A change in goal could be the only alteration Rooney makes to his starting lineup, with the likes of Ravel Morrison, Jason Knight and Sam Baldock all expected to start once again.
As for Swansea, Martin has a clean bill of health but may decide to make a few changes to freshen up his starting lineup after their midweek defeat.
Joel Latibeaudiere, Jay Fulton and Liam Cullen have each started only a handful of Championship games so far this season and all three will be hoping they can force their way back into the first XI.
Derby County possible starting lineup:
Roos; Byrne, Jagielka, Davies, Buchanan; Bird, Shinnie; Knight, Morrison, Lawrence; Baldock
Swansea City possible starting lineup:
Hamer; Latibeaudiere, Cabango, Manning; Laird, Grimes, Downes, Bidwell; Paterson, Cullen; Piroe
We say: Derby County 0-0 Swansea City
As Derby seek three points to close the gap on safety, Swansea will also be keen to win this weekend as they do not want to be dragged into the relegation zone with the Rams.
A closely-fought contest with little goalmouth action is set to be played out at Pride Park, and although a solitary point is not particularly beneficial for either team, we feel that they may have to share the spoils.
Top tip
Oliver Thomas
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 Derby County win with a probability of 36.59%. A win for Swansea City had a probability of 35.9% and a draw had a probability of 27.5%.
The most likely scoreline for a Derby County win was 1-0 with a probability of 10.8%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (7.93%) and 2-0 (6.58%). The likeliest Swansea City win was 0-1 (10.67%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (13.01%). The actual scoreline of 0-0 was predicted with an 8.9% likelihood.
