An obvious winner between Derby County and Bristol City in the Championship this weekend according to the stats

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Derby County are looking to kick-start their season after suffering three straight defeats this campaign between the Championship and Carabao Cup.

John Eustace has had to deal with a number of injuries at the start of the campaign, while the club are still remaining busy in the transfer market as they look to secure the signing of Lewis Travis from Blackburn Rovers.

Meanwhile, Bristol City have made an unbeaten start to their season, beginning with a shock 4-1 victory over Sheffield United before earning a draw against Charlton Athletic last weekend.

Bristol City will hope that there is not a repeat of last season when the two teams meet on Friday night, after the Rams secured a 3-0 victory in the same fixture in the last Championship campaign.

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Stats point towards a Derby County win

While form may indicate that Bristol City will secure a victory in this Friday night fixture, and Derby County have been struggling to keep goals out of their net, as they have conceded eight goals in their opening two fixtures, data points to a Rams win.

Bristol City have a poor away record, and while they are under the tenure of a new manager, it cannot hide the fact they have won just two of their last 16 away league games, with one of those wins coming on the opening day of this campaign against Sheffield United.

Meanwhile, it is easy to see that Derby are strong at home against the Robins, as they have lost just two of their last 10 home league games against Bristol City, keeping clean sheets in five of those matches.

Opta think differently from this data, focusing more on their form this season, as they have predicted Bristol City to win, giving them a win probability percentage of 40.9% to Derby’s 33.4%.

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John Eustace determined to secure a win

There may be an extra incentive for John Eustace securing Derby County’s first win of the season, apart from getting their campaign on track.

The Derby County manager had previously been considered for the managerial role at the Robins after the sacking of Nigel Pearson, with Sky Sports reporting that Gary Rowett, Nathan Jones and Eustace were all candidates.

However, all three were overlooked, with Liam Manning taking charge of the Robins from November 2023.

Eustace was forced to wait until February 2024 to get back into management, joining Blackburn Rovers. Now, almost two years after he missed out on the Bristol City job, he will be keen to get one back over the club that did not give him a chance.