Arguably the game of New Year’s Day in League One takes place at Pride Park as Derby County square off against Peterborough United.
Derby County currently sit 4th in League One with fourteen wins, four draws and five losses from twenty-three games this season.
After a fairly poor start to the season by their standards, the Rams are rallying in League One and are looking well placed to make a good fist of ending their now two-season stay in England’s third tier.
They’re entering this game in excellent form, unbeaten in their last nine games in the league having won eight of them.
Their latest outing was arguably their most impressive win of that run as they claimed a 3-2 win away at fellow promotion chasers Oxford United.
The win was both dramatic and ecstatic for Derby as they came from 2-0 down to win 3-2 thanks to goals from Craig Forsyth, Liam Thompson and Eiran Cashin, with the latter two coming in the 81st and 86th minutes.
The win really confirmed Derby as a promotion contender and they’re not only one of the favourites for a top-six finish, they’re also looking a serious threat for a top-two finish.
Their form at home has been excellent of late, as they come into this one unbeaten in their last nine games on home soil having won four of those.
The Rams are in their best shape of the season and despite this being a tough one on paper they’ll quietly feel they’re the favourites.
Peterborough United currently sit 3rd in League One with thirteen wins, seven draws and four losses from twenty-four games this season.
The Posh are having an excellent season on the whole as they come into this game as serious automatic promotion contenders.
They’re coming into this game in good form in the league, unbeaten in their last eight games in the league.
Their most recent game saw them held to a 2-2 draw at home to Barnsley, which while disappointing the game was an impressive display of heart and perseverance as a Jonson Clarke-Harris brace saw them overturn a 0-2 deficit.
Still, that’s two 2-2 draws on the bounce for Peterborough in games they’ll think they should have won so they need to take three points here to get their momentum back on track.
Their form away from home has been fairly solid as they come into this one having won three, drawn one and lost one of their last five league games on the road, the last three of which saw them go unbeaten.
This, though, is an extremely tough away game for the Posh and while three points would be ideal they’d probably be happy with a draw.
For our Derby vs. Peterborough prediction, we’re going for a 2-1 win for the home side.
Don’t forget to check out the rest of our previews, tips and offers for this weekend’s action.