Saturday 15th February
100 Points Derby to beat Sheff Weds @ 1.80 Bet & Win
Team News
Derby striker Fabrizio Ravanelli is pushing even harder for a starting spot against Sheffield Wednesday after completing 90 minutes for the reserves in midweek. The Italian has featured on the substitutes bench for the first-team since returning from Achilles surgery but looked strong as the table-topping second string beat Spurs 4-0. Craig Burley also came through the match and may be in line for a recall. The Rams have no suspension worries as they look to bounce back from their heavy defeat at Portsmouth.
Sheffield Wednesday midfielder Phil O'Donnell has suffered another injury setback. O'Donnell, who has yet to make an appearance for the Owls this season, tore a thigh muscle in training this week and is expected to be out for a further six weeks. Wednesday captain Trond Soltvedt also faces a lengthy spell on the sidelines after sustaining an ankle injury in the reserves' goalless draw with Leeds on Wednesday. Simon Donnelly is out for at least three more weeks with a knee injury while Derek Geary will not feature as he is set to go for an operation on his knee. However, Paul McLaren could be named in the squad after recovering from a hip injury and striker Lloyd Owusu, back to full fitness following a knee problem, is also pushing for a place in Chris Turner's starting line-up.
Home / Away Form
Derby have won 3 of their last 5 home games and overall just under half, winning 7 of their 15 league games at Pride Park. Sheff Weds have lost 10 of their 15 away matches which is the poorest record in the Division. They have lost 4 of their last 5 away from Hillsborough with the only win coming at near neighbours Rotherham
Recent Form
Derby’s mini revival was ended at Portsmouth last week in emphatic fashion, before that they had beaten Stoke and Rotherham, netting 3 goals against both.
Sheff Weds have certainly improved since the arrival of Chris Turner from Hartlepool but in truth they could not get much worse. They have have won in 3 league games.
Head To Head
Since 1997, these teams have met 7 times, with all but the one earlier this season in the Premiership. Derby have won 6 of those clashes and drawn the other one. They won the match at Hillsborough in November by the comfortable margin of 3-1.
Value Test
1.80 with Bet & Win is the best price out there so some bookmakers need to be offering 1.62 or less to pass this requirement. Interwetten at 1.60 and William Hill at 1.57 so a tentaive tick is placed in this category.
Summary
Despite losing two key players in Chris Riggott and Malcolm Christie to Middlesbrough, Derby gave Portsmouth a run for their money for a while last weekend. They fell 3 goals behind early on but battled back to 3-2, before conceding another 3. Their revival was orchestrated by Georgi Kinkladze, and the score certainly flattered Portsmouth. Sheff Weds are a poor team, depending solely on the quality of their loan signings to keep them in this Division. I fully expect Derby to complete the double over Wednesday here, and also make it 7 wins in their last 8 games against the Owls.
