Millwall v Derby County – team changes, form guide, team stats and a player stat

Millwall host Derby County at The Den this afternoon.

The Lions have won three of the last four meetings although a Louie Sibley hat-trick sent them to defeat on June 20, the first match back after lockdown.

THE CHANGES

Quite a few for Millwall – five to be exact. And there is no place in the matchday 20 for Scott Malone, who scored in Wednesday’s 2-1 reverse at Blackburn Rovers but is ineligible to face his parent club.
Jake Cooper comes back into the starting line-up – a dislocated shoulder recently ending a run of 136 consecutive league starts for the Lions – with Alex Pearce dropping to the bench for the visit of his old club.
The other changes see Matt Smith, Ryan Leonard, Shane Ferguson and Ben Thompson all start. Troy Parrott, Jon Dadi Bodvarsson and Shaun Williams all drop to the bench. There is also a substitutes spot for young striker George Alexander – the son of former Millwall frontman Gary.

FORMATION FOR THE LIONS

Gary Rowett could cook it a couple of different ways but most likely is 4-2-3-1 with Thompson expected to provide movement in that advanced central role just behind Smith.
It could also easily be 4-4-2 as Murray Wallace is comfortable on the left of a central three or at full-back. Ferguson’s inclusion also makes it simple to go to wing-back option as well.

FORM

Millwall are 19th in a table for the last six matches – but had drawn their previous five before Wednesday’s highly controversial defeat at Blackburn Rovers.
The Rams have taken two points – three fewer than their opponents – over the same period. They had lost four in a row before 1-1 draws at home to Wycombe and Coventry City.

TEAM STAT

Millwall have scored 13 goals in the Championship this season – but only two have been from set-pieces. The others have been open play (eight), penalties (two) and an own goal (one).
Only Stoke (30) have had more bookings than Derby (28) – but the Rams are yet to pick up a red card.

PLAYER STAT

Shaun Hutchinson has played every minute in the Championship – 1,350. The last time he didn’t play a full match was December 7, 2019 when he was on the bench at home to Nottingham Forest. The former Fulham centre-back’s run is actually 41 league matches.

TEAM LINE-UPS
Millwall: Bialkowski, Romeo, Hutchinson, Cooper, M Wallace, Leonard, Woods, J Wallace, Thompson, Ferguson, Smith. Subs: Fielding, Williams, Pearce, Bodvarsson, Parrott, Skalak, Alexander, Burey, Muller.

Derby: Marshall, Byrne, Davies, Clarke, Forsyth, Bielik, Shinnie, Holmes, Knight, Jozwiak, Kazim-Richards. Subs: Wisdom, Bird, Waghorn, Lawrence, Ibe, Sibley, Roos, Buchanan, Stretton.