Derby County vs Aston Villa. Sky Bet Championship.
Pride Park StadiumAttendance28,118.
Friday 15 December 2017 12:09, UK
Derby will be without Tom Lawrence for Saturday's Sky Bet Championship clash at home to Aston Villa.
The Wales international is missing with an ankle problem suffered in last weekend's 3-0 win at Barnsley. Rams boss Gary Rowett believes Lawrence could be back in action before Christmas with the injury less severe than first feared.
Johnny Russell and Sam Winnall will both be in contention to replace Lawrence having been named on the bench last time out.
Scott Hogan could be pushing for a return to the Aston Villa starting line-up. The striker was on the bench for last weekend's goalless draw against Millwall after more than a month sidelined by a stomach problem.
Villa looked short of firepower in attack with Jonathan Kodjia and Gabby Agbonlahor sidelined. Agbonlahor (calf) and Mile Jedinak (shoulder) are close to returning, while captain John Terry (broken foot) could be in contention before the end of the year.
This is just the fifth time these sides have met in the league outside the top-flight at Derby - the Rams are unbeaten in the previous four (W2 D2), drawing 0-0 at the iPro Stadium last campaign.
The Villans haven't conceded a goal in any of their last four league meetings with Derby - they haven't conceded in their last seven hours and seven minutes of play against the Rams.
The Rams have lost only two of their last 14 Championship fixtures, although both defeats came at the iPro Stadium, against Ipswich and Reading (W8 D4 L2).
Steve Bruce has won five of his six managerial visits to Derby County (L1) - his most recent match there was in the 2015/16 Championship play-offs, with Hull winning 3-0.
After losing two of their first three games this season (D1), Aston Villa have lost just two of their last 18 in the Championship (W10 D6).
Keinan Davis has played 1,270 minutes as a teenager in league matches for Villa this season - the last Villa player to play more minutes as a teenager in a league season was James Milner in 2005/06 (1,361).
Now this is a big game! If either of these sides really wants to kick on and challenge for a place in the top two then victory would be a big statement at Pride Park on Saturday.
Derby have won four of their last five and conceded just a single goal in that run, so Villa may find it tough to break them down. But if Villa score early and both teams go for it then I fancy an entertaining draw.
David Prutton predicts: 2-2 (14/1 with Sky Bet)
