BLACKBURN Rovers and Derby County will meet on the opening night of the season in the Championship on Friday with both teams desperate for a good start.
Blackburn survived relegation from the division on the final day of the season in May while Derby County secured promotion from League One after finishing in second place.
Neither side will be thinking of a relegation battle this time around but given their league finishes in recent seasons, three points here could be more important than meets the eye.
How the bookies view it: Blackburn go in as favourites
Blackburn Rovers didn't play too many matches last season as the pre-match favourites but they start the season as exactly that on Friday night. As a newly promoted side, Derby County will have to get used to going into matches as underdogs until they can prove they are up to the task.
Betfred have priced a Blackburn win at 13/10 while a Derby County win has been priced at 21/10. The draw, which wouldn't be seen as a bad result for either side, has bene priced at 12/5.
Recent head-to-head: Advantage Blackburn
One reason why Blackburn have been given the edge by the bookies for this fixture could be down to their recent record against Derby County. Rovers have won the last four H2Hs between the two clubs with Derby's last win coming back in 2020. You have to go as far back as 2014 for the last time they took three points away from Ewood Park.
Players to watch: Competitive debuts for several players
Both Blackburn and Derby have been relatively busy in the transfer market this summer, meaning a handful of players will be making their competitive debuts for their respective clubs on Friday night. The two that we are most looking forward to seeing are Makhtar Gueye and Kayden Jackson.
Makhtar Gueye has signed for Blackburn from RWD Molenbeek after scoring 11 goals for the club in the Belgian Pro League last season. With last season's top scorer, Sammie Szmodics, likely to leave the club, Rovers are going to turn to Gueye to fill that void.
Kayden Jackson was part of the Ipswich squad that secured promotion to the Premier League last season but he was never anything more than a squad player. Jackson could benefit from being the main man at Derby County but he will have to hit the ground running to convince his detractors.
Predicted line-ups
The big news out of the Blackburn camp is that Sammie Szmodics is unlikely to play with his future still up in the air. Additionally, Scott Wharton and Harry Leonard will miss out due to injury. Derby have a clean bill of health so Paul Warne will be able to pick what he believes to be his strongest starting XI.
Blackburn: Pears – Brittain, Hyam, Carter, Hyam – Travis, Tronstad – Rankin-Costello, Dolan, Hedges – Gueye
Derby: Vickers – Nyambe, Nelson, Cashin, Elder – Goudmijn, Ozoh, Osborn – Barkhuizen, Jackson, Mendez-Laing
Anything else catch the eye?
In pre-season, three or more goals were scored in six of the seven matches that Derby County played in while the same can be said for five of Blackburn's eight. While nobody should ever read *too* much into pre-season, both teams are trending when it comes to high-scoring matches. Over 2.5 goals to be scored is priced at 5/6 with Betfred.
This England Championship match between Blackburn and Derby will be played on Aug 9, 2024 and kick off at 20:00. Check below for our tipsters best Blackburn vs Derby prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
