Tom Carnduff is expecting Sunday's East Midlands derby between Nottingham Forest and Derby to end in a draw.
It’s an East Midlands derby in the Sky Bet Championship on Sunday as Nottingham Forest welcome Derby County to the City Ground.
The tie sees travelling County aim to push themselves further into the play-offs, with Forest safely in mid-table as the season enters the final ten games.
Despite the difference in positions, the hosts come into this one as the in-form side of the two, last week’s draw away at Norwich City extending their unbeaten run to five.
For Gary Rowett’s Derby side, they’ve hit a rough patch of form and find themselves six games without a win, picking up just three points from their last possible 15.
The Rams can take confidence from Forest’s recent results at home though, managing just one win in five in front of their home support, that coming in last week’s 2-1 victory over struggling Birmingham City.
Derby’s away form sees them losing just one of their last five, but unfortunately for them, just one of those games has been a win.
Rowett’s men ran out 2-0 winners in the first meeting between these two sides earlier on this season, Matej Vydra’s first-minute strike, combined with David Nugent’s second-half effort, enough to give them all three points.
It’ll be a tough test for them to win once again though given the run that both teams find themselves on.
Forest also have good history in this local rivalry on home soil, Derby are yet to beat them in the last four seasons that these two have come up against each other in Nottingham. Dani Pinillos was the hero with a last-minute equaliser last season.
Aitor Karanka’s side have managed to start scoring at home, stopping a run of five home league games without a goal when they drew with Reading last month.
For me, I’d be looking at both teams to find the net as has been the case with three of Forest’s last four games and in all four of Derby’s. That can be found just below evens at 10/11.
If Derby are to score, they’ll be looking at Matej Vydra as the man to strike. He sits as the joint top scorer in the Championship with 17 goals and got a goal and an assist in the game between these two at Pride Park. Vydra is as big as 2/1 to score anytime on Sunday.
The draw also looks tempting as Forest look to dent Derby’s promotion hopes. Both sides have drawn three of their last five and it could be the same outcome given form and current standings. The draw can be found as big as 23/10 on Sunday.
Prediction: Nottingham Forest 1-1 Derby County (Sky Bet odds: 9/2)
Best bet: Draw at 23/10
Alternative bet: Both teams to score at 10/11
Posted at 1650 GMT on 09/03/18
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