Championship expert shares how Stoke City vs Derby County will be ‘settled’ in bold prediction

Add as preferred source on Google

EFL pundit Sam Parkin has now issued his score prediction for Derby County’s trip to Stoke City on Saturday lunchtime.

Following three straight Championship defeats, Derby have turned a corner in recent weeks, piecing together a four-match unbeaten run.

The Rams secured a 2-0 win over QPR at Pride Park before securing three successive 1-1 draws against Millwall, Oxford United and most recently, Hull City.

While Paul Warne’s men are relentless at home, they’re still searching for their first away win this term and currently sit 12th in the league table.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
12	DerbyDerby	12	4	3	5	15	15	0	15

This weekend could present a great opportunity to change that as Stoke are winless in their last four matches since thrashing Portsmouth 6-1, and one pundit has now issued his prediction for the match.

• READ MORE: Latest Derby County transfer update could prompt three stars to follow in potential exits

Sam Parkin issues Stoke City vs Derby County score prediction

On Saturday, Derby salvaged a draw against Hull thanks to Dajaune Brown’s second-half equaliser.

Brown’s looping header was remarkably the ninth time the Rams have scored from a set-piece in the Championship this season.

To put it into perspective, the two sides second on that list, Coventry and Middlesbrough, have both scored five goals from those situations.

EFL pundit Sam Parkin unsurprisingly predicts Derby’s clash against Stoke to be ‘settled’ via a set-piece of some description.

Predicting the Rams to grab their away win, Parkin said on the Championship Check-In podcast: “Yeah, I’m thinking it’s going to be a bit tighter than that. And I think, you know, there’ll be the odd sporadic away victory for Derby this season. And I’m going to go for it here.

“I’m going to go for Stoke 0, Derby 1. Nasty game, settled by a set piece of some description.”

• READ MORE: Paul Warne already knows the first January transfer he must complete at Derby County

Stoke City vs Derby County head-to-head record

The promise of securing a rare away win is reinforced by their recent record against Stoke City, going unbeaten in six of their last seven meetings.

Derby have won their last two fixtures against the Potters in the second tier, both by a 2-1 margin, and the away supporters flocking to the Bet365 stadium would be delighted with that outcome this weekend.

In the current Championship campaign, Stoke have the sixth-worst home record in the division, collecting just two wins from their opening matches.

Meanwhile, only Plymouth Argyle (1) have clinched fewer points away from home than Derby (2) this season, with the two sides set to play out an intriguing encounter live on Sky Sports.