This has the potential to be another real banana skin for Ipswich in their pursuit of an instant return to the Premier League.

Derby have their own ambitions of returning to the top flight as well, and are coming with a real charge right now, threatening the playoff places.

🔤 All Football Tips | Best Free Bet Offers | Derby v Ipswich Betting Stats

✚ Add picks to your betslip to place bets directly on Andy's Bet Club

📈 Derby v Ipswich Form & Tactics

Derby County are flying right now. Their 5-0 demolition of Bristol City last week was their best result and performance of the season. The standout feature of their play for me was how well-balanced they looked. From defence to attack, and left to right, every player knew their role perfectly, and they were also perfectly suited to play that role. That win extended their unbeaten run to four matches, and three of those have been wins.

Their performance, on top of the excellent result, has lifted the Rams in the expected points table,  but only to 14th. It is their massive overperformance in goalscoring that is making the difference for them this season, with Carlton Morris (still injured) and Patrick Agyemang, now on nine goals, both substantially above their expected goals numbers at this stage of the season. It is also notable that they have scored goals from all over the pitch as well.

Ipswich's form remains good rather than excellent. They tend to have the opposite problem to Derby in that their performances aren’t always rewarded with the result that matches the chances created. That seemed to be the case last weekend with a 2.79 v 1.29 xG total against Preston, resulting in more dropped points with a 1-1 draw. They had also won the xG battle the previous week against Sheffield United and lost 1-3, so Ipswich really need to be better at finishing their chances.

Indeed, Ipswich have won their last 12 xG battles in a row coming into this match, one has to go back to Blackburn away in December to find the last match in which Ipswich’s opponents created a higher xG figure, so they are doing a lot of what you would expect promotion candidates to do, but they need to get back to winning ways quickly to convert that good performance into points.

📔 Derby v Ipswich Formation & Team News

As mentioned above, Derby have become a really well-balanced outfit. They play a 4-2-3-1, and every player is well-suited to their role. Joe Ward and Callum Elder provide attacking width and great delivery from full-back, the midfield of Lewis Travis and David Ozoh provides tenacity and running power, Brereton and Rhian Brewster offer extra attacking and goal threat from wide, and Bobby Clark stitches everything together from the #10 role.

The team is predictable and solid, with Patrick Agyemang fast becoming the star. The American summer import has really impressed in the absence of Carlton Morris, showing himself to be the perfect modern #9 for the Championship.

The big selection call for Kieran McKenna is whether or not to start Dan Neil in midfield after joining from Sunderland this week. I suspect that he will start alongside Azor Matusiwa, who was nominated for Player of the Month for January, demonstrating his progress this season.

Ipswich will line up in their usual 4-2-3-1 formation, and both teams play it similarly, except Ipswich tend to allow Leif Davis more freedom down their left-hand side. Anis Mehmeti may continue in the #10 role, allowing Jack Clarke to operate from wider. George Hirst will be looking to improve his goal tally.

🔮 Football Predictions at Andy's Bet Club

Keep up with Andy's Tips, including EFL Predictions for this week, on Andy's Bet Club.

Elsewhere on Saturday, there are Man United v Tottenham Betting Tips, Newcastle v Brentford Bet Builder Tips, and EFL Acca Tips, plus Norwich v Blackburn Tips and Norwich v Southampton Predictions.

We have Player Shots on Target Tips and Player Fouls Predictions, too, as well as BTTS Tips and a 2.5 Goals Accumulator.

Before you bet this weekend, make sure to check out our Paddy Power Super Sub explainer and our guide to Paddy Power Power Up Tokens.

We have a collection of the Best Free Bet Offers here, as well as a list of the Best Odds Boosts. We also recommend the Sky Bet Sign Up Promotion, SBK New Customer Offer, and William Hill New Customer Offer.

To get even more value this weekend, check out our guides on Paddy Power Super Sub and Paddy Power's Power Up Tokens.

* I recommend waiting for confirmed team line-ups before placing any bets.

* All odds displayed correct at the time of publishing.