Derby County vs Fulham: TV channel, live stream, squad news & preview

The Championship play-offs get under way on Friday night as Derby host Fulham in the first leg of the semi-finals.

Top-six finishes mean that both teams are now just three games away from a place in the Premier League and they will both be hoping that this year can be their year after play-off disappointment in the past.

Fulham are wounded having seen their 23-game unbeaten run come to an end against Birmingham on the final day to deny them promotion, whereas Derby looked rejuvenated on the final day in beating Burton 4-1.

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TV Channel, Live Stream & How to Watch

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In the United States (US), the game can be watched on ESPN+.

In the United Kingdom (UK), the game can be watched live on TV on Sky Sports Football and it can be streamed live online using Sky Go.

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Squads & Team News

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Derby County will be without both Sam Winnall and Ikechi Anya in this fixture due to knee and calf injuries respectively.

Predicted Derby starting XI: Carson, Keogh, Davies, Forsyth, Wisdom, Huddlestone, Johnson, Olsson, Vydra, Lawrence, Jerome.

Questions have been asked about the fitness of Matt Targett after he went off with an ankle injury against Sunderland and was physically sick on the touchline against Birmingham. Slavisa Jokanovic has claimed that Targett is fit for Friday's game. Other than that Fulham should have a full squad to choose from.

Predicted Fulham starting XI: Bettinelli, Fredericks, Kalas, Ream, Odoi, McDonald, Cairney, Johansen, Piazon, R.Sessegnon, Mitrovic.

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Betting & Match Odds

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Even though Derby play at home in the first leg Fulham are the favourites to win. The Whites are currently 7/5 with DabbleBet, Derby are 15/8 and the draw is 11/5.

This match also sees two of the division's top strikers face off. Fulham's Aleksandar Mitrovic is 15/4 to score first, while Derby's Matej Vydra is a bigger price at 9/2.

Click here to see all of dabblebet's offers for the game, including goalscoring markets, correct score predictions and more.

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Match Preview

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The last time the two sides met, Fulham came away 2-1 winners at Pride Park after early goals from Aleksandar Mitrovic and Ryan Sessegnon.

Since then the Cottagers have only lost once in the league, but that was in their previous game.

The Whites have shown signs of the wheels coming off in recent weeks after an unconvincing 2-1 win against Sunderland when they should have lost and a 1-1 draw with Brentford when they conceded in the last minute.

Most recently, Fulham were beaten 3-1 by Birmingham City in the game that denied them automatic promotion to the Premier League

Tim Ream blamed the players for their performances at St Andrew's last weekend, pulling no punches in criticising his team-mates, saying: "It was down to us, it was there for us, we got the result we needed in the Cardiff game and, pardon my French, but we shit the bed."

Derby have pulled themselves together in recent weeks and managed to secure a spot in the play-offs.

A win against Cardiff and a draw against Aston Villa were two crucial results on the road to the play-offs for the Rams and they seem to be much more resolute this season.

The East Midlands outfit have gained an unwanted reputation of perennial play-off bottlers in recent years, so this may be their chance to shake off that tag and finally get back to the top flight after a 10-year absence.