Derby County will be searching for their first away win of the season when they travel up to Sunderland on Tuesday night.
Derby tasted their fourth defeat of the Championship season in unfortunate circumstances on Saturday afternoon as the referee made two blunders.
Carlos Sainz scored a hat-trick for Norwich but his first shouldn’t have stood as the ball was clearly out of play while there was another controversial decision for his third goal, as the ball went over the line once more.
Paul Warne was left seething by the decisions that went against his team and called for VAR to be introduced, with those two errors costing his side at least a point, or perhaps all three.
The Rams will have been proud of their performances, despite losing the game 3-2, and they need to go into the visit of Sunderland with a similar intensity to steal a result.
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Sam Parkin shares Sunderland vs Derby County score prediction
Derby are yet to pick up a point on their travels in the second tier and this is arguably one of their toughest away games of the campaign.
Sunderland are flying high in the Championship in second, and although they lost to Watford 2-1 last time out, their 100% record at the Stadium of Light remains intact.
| Position | Team | Played MP | Won W | Drawn D | Lost L | For GF | Against GA | Diff GD | Points Pts |
| 10 |  NorwichNorwich | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 11 | 9 | 2 | 11 |
| 11 |  Oxford UnitedOxford United | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 8 | 2 | 10 |
| 12 |  Hull CityHull City | 7 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 8 | 1 | 9 |
| 13 |  DerbyDerby | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 9 |
| 14 |  Bristol CityBristol City | 7 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 13 | -4 | 9 |
| 15 |  MillwallMillwall | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 12 | 10 | 2 | 8 |
Warne could rotate his starting XI for Derby’s visit to the North East by unleashing Corey Blackett-Taylor and Tawanda Chirewa but EFL pundit Sam Parkin doesn’t believe that will alter the complexion of the game.
Parkin thinks Sunderland will get back to winning ways against the Rams as he predicts a 3-1 home win.
“Yeah, so that was the first home defeat, wasn’t it, for Derby and Sunderland back-to-back away defeat,” he told the Championship Check-In podcast.
“But probably maybe would feel they deserve something from the game, I think, at Watford. Just that final little bit of quality maybe deserted them.
“I’ll go for them to get back to winning ways. Three goals to one.”
How Derby County can pull off an upset vs Sunderland
While it isn’t beyond the realms of possibility, Derby coming away with all three points against the Championship high flyers would be a huge upset.
The hosts have won each of their three away games while the Rams have lost all of theirs away, and this sets up a scenario where one team’s 100% record could come to an end.
Warne will be praying it’s Derby who can get over the line come full-time and he’ll set up his team organised, with the plan of hitting Sunderland on the counter.
It’s a strategy that has worked on home soil but they’ve struggled to replicate the tactic away, as they’ve often failed to shut down the opposition’s dangermen.
To stand any chance of coming away with at least a point, they’ll need to keep the likes of Jobe Bellingham, Romaine Mundle and Patrick Roberts quiet.
That is, of course, easier said than done but Plymouth Argyle and Watford have both managed to secure all three points over the Black Cats this term, and the Rams must use their tactics as inspiration to follow suit.