Derby v Bournemouth: Oppose goals at Pride Park

Derby v Bournemouth
Tuesday January 19, 18:00
Sky Sports

Derby defeated by late goal

A late Rotherham goal ruined Wayne Rooney's first match in permanent charge of Derby on Saturday as the Millers pinched a 1-0 victory at Pride Park. The visitors hit the woodwork with a free-kick only four minutes from time and the Rams failed to clear their lines allowing Rotherham the opportunity to convert the decisive strike in a disappointing home display.

Derby did carry the greater goal threat with away goalkeeper Jamal Blackman saving well from Lee Buchanan and twice denying Graeme Shinnie. But the Millers caused plenty of problems of their own, having a goal ruled out during the first-half, and providing stubborn resistance when the Rams came forward with a disciplined and defensive performance.

Rooney, who ended his 18-year playing career to take on the role full-time was dissatisfied post-match, saying: "Rotherham outfought us. Our quality on the ball and our concentration levels weren't where they should be. We know we can play better, but I don't think we even deserved a point. You understand players making mistakes, but hopefully it's a one-off."

Bournemouth frustrated by Luton loss

Bournemouth fell to a rare home defeat on Saturday as the promotion-chasing Cherries were beaten 1-0 by Luton at Dean Court. Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall's second-half strike was enough for the Hatters to pocket the points on the south coast, but the match was mired by the controversial decision to send off Jefferson Lerma midway through the opening half.

The Colombian inadvertently caught Tom Lockyer in the face with a flailing arm after being knocked off balance in the air, with Cherries boss Jason Tindall calling it, "an outrageous decision." Despite being a man down the Cherries matched their visitors for the most part with Joshua King's volley and Dominic Solanke's effort cleared off the line noteworthy.

But Luton also had their chances and took all three points when Dewsbury-Hall curled a low shot into the far corner from the edge of the area. Late substitute Rodrigo Riquelme came closest to a leveller for the home side but his volley was tipped away as Bournemouth lost a Championship match on a Saturday for the first time this season.

Rams' rotten home record

Tuesday night's match-up will be just the 10th time that Derby and Bournemouth have crossed swords in league football. The duo shared the spoils with a 1-1 draw at Dean Court on Halloween earlier this campaign whilst County have enjoyed the upper-hand in more modern meetings, including back-to-back Pride Park victories in 2014 against the Cherries.

Derby 3.7511/4 boast the Championship's worst home record, earning only seven points from a possible 36 (W1-D4-L7) this season, and Saturday's blank was the sixth occasion in eight outings that the Rams have failed to find the net.

County are the league's lowest goalscorers and have also been shutout in eight of their 12 Pride Park fixtures in 2020/21.

Bournemouth 2.186/5 have only been beaten four times since being demoted to the second-tier (W11-D9-L4), although Jason Tindall's troops have stuttered in recent weeks. The Cherries haven't posted consecutive wins since mid-December (W1-D2-L2) and have earned top honours just four times in 12 away days (W4-D6-L2) to lose ground on the top-two.

Oppose goals at Pride Park

Goals have proven hard to come by at Pride Park. Derby's 12 home fixtures have featured a measly 1.67 goals per-game with the Rams managing just five goals themselves in over 18 hours of action. County have fired blanks in 10 of their 14 matches with sides inside the top-14, whilst 19 of their 23 games overall have seen Under 2.5 Goals 1.784/5 backers collect.

Bournemouth have toiled in the final-third during the past month, notching no more than one strike in seven of their last eight Championship contests, six of which produced Under 2.5 Goals profit. With that in mind, plus the overwhelming Derby trends in our favour, I'm happy to take the available 1.784/5 on another low-scoring encounter on Tuesday.