12th placed Derby County welcome Reading to Pride Park on Saturday in their first home match since the season restarted. The Rams, who are three points outside the play-offs, take on the Royals who lie 14th, five points behind their hosts.
Derby host Reading as Play-Off Race Heats Up
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Derby are unbeaten in their previous three league matches following an entertaining 3-2 win over Millwall last weekend.
Reading, meanwhile, returned to Championship action with a cagey 1-1 draw at home to Stoke City. Mark Bowen’s side were agonisingly close to securing all three points before conceding a Nick Powell goal in injury time.
Derby Hopeful of Home Advantage
Phillip Cocu’s side will be hoping that their strong home form continues despite the absence of their faithful supporters. The East Midlands club are unbeaten in their last seven home games, winning five and drawing two.
Despite their mixed performances so far this season, Derby are league-leaders for scoring first in home matches. However, the Royals are impressively strong when they score first, losing just once in all 16 matches they take the lead in.
Derby and Reading Score Goals
Prior to December’s reverse fixture, in which Reading eased to a 3-0 victory against a 10-man Rams side, both sides have scored in their previous seven match-ups.
In Reading’s previous three matches the opening goal has come inside the first ten minutes, whilst a goal has been scored after the 70th minute in the last ten of Derby’s Championship fixtures.
Team News
Reading look set to be without both Luca Joao and Andy Yiadom for this weekend’s clash. Joao looks set to be sidelined for three weeks after lasting just 38 minutes in last weekend’s stalemate with Stoke City.
However, Royals fans could see the return of defender Matt Miazga after he has recovered from a tight hamstring.
Meanwhile, Derby boss Phillip Cocu confirmed this week that Jack Marriott would miss the remainder of the season after undergoing surgery to fix a groin injury.
Prediction: Derby County 2-1 Reading
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