Match Preview: Cambridge United v Derby County (Saturday, 3pm)

Derby County travel to Cambridge United on Saturday in League One.

The visitors come into the game on the back of a win in their last match, having beaten Leyton Orient 3-0 at home, with two goals from Sonny Bradley and one from George Moncur.

Cambridge, meanwhile, lost their last match, 1-0 against Bristol Rovers.

Derby are second in the table after 44 games, of which they have won 26 and drawn eight, earning 86 points.

Cambridge are 17 places behind County in 19th, with 12 wins and 10 draws putting them on 46 points.

With 75 goals in 44 games so far this season, the Rams are scoring more than average in the league with 1.7 goals per game. And they are conceding fewer than average, letting in 37 goals at a rate of 0.8 per game.

United, meanwhile, are below average scorers, with 0.9 goals per game, compared to a league average of 1.3. They have conceded 1.4 goals per game.

With Joe Wildsmith between the sticks, the visitors can rely on one of the league’s safest pair of hands. He has kept 18 clean sheets in his 38 appearances this season, and only one other ‘keeper – Lincoln City‘s Lukas Jensen – has been able to prevent the opposition scoring on more occasions in League One.

In the home team’s net, Jack Stevens has 10 clean sheets in 33 games. He has conceded a goal every 65 minutes, 90% more often than the 125 minutes between goals for Wildsmith.

Cambridge are in mixed form in League One, with two wins and a draw from their last six games.

With three wins and two draws over that period, Derby’s form is better – they have taken 11 points from 18, compared to Cambridge’s seven.

In the last three years, Cambridge and Derby have played each other on three occasions. Derby won two of them and they drew once.

Their last meeting was on September 30, when they played out a 0-0 draw.

Saturday’s match will be refereed by Paul Howard, who has taken charge of 13 League One games so far this season, issuing two red cards and booking 53 players. He has awarded three penalties.

The last Derby game Howard refereed was the 1-0 win away at Port Vale on November 28. He is yet to oversee a match featuring Cambridge this season.

This website contains product affiliate links. We may receive a commission if you make a purchase after clicking on one of these links.

Cambridge United v Derby County
League One | Abbey Stadium
Saturday, 20 April 2024 @ 3.00pm

Claim a free bet for this match preview from Interbet.com

For exclusive stories and all the detailed EFL news you need, subscribe to The Football League Paper website, digital edition, or newspaper from as little as 14p a day.