The race for promotion to the Premier League is nearly at an end. Two of the teams involved in that fight for promotion in the Championship are Derby and Brentford, who meet at Pride Park on Saturday afternoon.
The home team are ninth place in the Championship, just three points off the play-off positions in the English second tier. Picking up just a point from their last two games against promotions rivals Nottingham Forest and West Brom has hampered their chances of a top-six finish.
The two disappointing results came on the back of a five-game winning run in the Championship for the Rams. They were also prolific during the positive run of form, scoring at least twice in four of their five wins.
However, they seem to have lost the scoring touch of late. To be fair they have faced tough opposition in their two Midlands rivals in their previous two games.
One positive for the Phillip Cocu’s team is their recent home record, as they are unbeaten on home soil in nine Championship games.
A recent good run of form has fired Brentford into the race for the automatic promotion spots in the second tier. After a poor run of league form in February, the Bees have won their last six league games, scoring at least two goals in five of their last six league outings.
The winning run has moved the visitors up to third place in the table, five points behind West Brom, who occupy the last automatic promotion spot.
Thomas Frank’s team also has the best goal difference of any team in the Championship, with the 23 league goals of star striker Ollie Watkins a big factor in that positive stat.
Forebet predicts that Brentford will continue their recent good league form by recording a victory in a high-scoring clash, which will boost their promotion hopes and dent Derby’s play-off chances.