Forest vs Derby: The battle for bragging rights

One of the most underrated derbies take place at the County Ground in the early kick-off next weekend with Derby travelling to Forest. Can Sabri Lamouchi’s men continue their improvement at the hands of their neighbours? Have a read of our preview here:

Forest growing in confidence

When back-to-back defeats feel like a bad run of form in a Forest season, you know they are having a good campaign. Sabri Lamouchi’s men put the poor results against Hull and Wigan firmly behind them with a well-earned victory at Kenilworth Road.

The 2-1 win against Luton keeps Forest right in the play-off mix and continues what has been a very good campaign so far for the club.

The derby against the Rams will be as hotly contested as always and even though Derby feel as though they are far away from Forest right now, they are actually only four points behind them in the Championship table.

That is a sign of just how congested the second-tier is this season and it remains one of the most competitive divisions in European football. Much like Leeds, Forest will be hoping to score a few more goals with just 19 netted in the league so far. This the joint second-lowest in the top half of the league with only Birmingham scoring less than the Reds.

Lewis Grabben has six, but he probably should have a couple more given the chances he has had this season, something he will look to right at the weekend.

Dreary Derby

Phillip Cocu has not been able to get the best out of the Rams so far this season and they have had to deal with a number of distractions off the field with the sacking of Richard Keogh another unwanted headline.

The club captain was dismissed after getting into a car with two teammates who had been drinking. The car crashed and despite not being the driver, Keogh was sacked while the other two players were fined and allowed to continue playing for the club…not an ideal situation at all.

On the field, Derby have not been able to find consistency, alternating between win and loss in the last five games but the 2-0 win against Middlesbrough last time out was a big improvement.

They will be desperate to get something from the game at the City Ground but are not heading into this one as favourites having conceded more and scored less than their neighbours. A win in this one could see them kick-start a run towards the play-offs, it should be a good one.

Nottingham Forest vs Derby betting tip

This will be full-blooded fun with both teams looking to secure local bragging rights so we are backing both teams to score at odds of 8/11 which feels very likely.

Bet Both teams to score on Ladbrokes