Analysis: Derby County

Frank Lampard continued with a 4-2-3-1 structure for his Derby team, despite making three changes within midfield. Tom Huddlestone, Harry Wilson and Martyn Waghorn came in, as Bradley Johnson, Tom Lawrence and Florian Jozefzoon dropped to the bench.

With only 19 seconds on the clock, Derby went ahead through Craig Bryson. After left-back Craig Forsyth found Mason Mount in central midfield, the Chelsea loanee split Sheffield United’s central block with Harry Wilson crossing in for lone striker Jack Marriott. The striker’s lay-off found Bryson, who placed his shot into the far corner to give the hosts the perfect start.

Despite taking an early lead, Lampard’s team struggled to construct another meaningful attack for a considerable period. While they made good use of goalkeeper Scott Carson, they consistently lacked a dropping midfielder in between splitting central defenders Richard Keogh and Fikayo Tomori. Carson was therefore forced to look longer, with Marriott tasked with chasing the ball against the visitors’ central back three.

In brief moments when Derby did create spells of possession in the first half, a lack of central awareness to play forwards halted progress. In similar patterns to their opening goal, Forsyth’s fizzing passes into central midfield from left-back drew all of the visitors’ midfielders to the ball. Quick passing combinations between Mount, Huddlestone and Bryson could have progressed play into the final third, but too often the ball was set back to defence.

The injury to Bryson in the first half forced Mount to drop back into midfield, creating a double pivot with Huddlestone. Wilson then moved from the left side into an advanced central midfield position, but the hosts lacked quality and control on the ball. This changed in the second period, as an increase in movement within midfield to receive passes from Keogh and Tomori ensured Derby started positively. With the visitors dropping into a more consistent back five, space around the sides of their opponents’ central midfield could be exploited in the build-up.

On brief occasions, Derby’s full-backs moved inside when receiving. Coupled with regular switches of play, they would then have the space to penetrate – as long as the corresponding wingers remained on the outside, creating further space for the full-backs to drive inside. The full-backs soon began to move higher, particularly as the pressure from the Blades’ wing-backs lacked desire and intensity. With their central play continuing to lack penetration, focusing on the wide areas was likely to be the best approach in regaining the lead after Chris Basham had equalised shortly before half-time.

Forsyth’s crosses were a threat throughout the second half, and it was a delivery from the left-back that resulted in the hosts again getting their noses ahead. His whipped delivery towards the near post was met by the well-timed blindside run of Marriott, who secured the three points 13 minutes from full-time.

Out of possession, Derby set up in their 4-2-3-1 structure, prioritising blocking off central access to the Blades’ two strikers. As the first half progressed, the visitors’ dominance of possession grew via their fluid central midfield unit. When building, Oliver Norwood’s dropping movements increased the distance away from Derby’s central midfield, thus making a counter-press difficult for the home side. With Marriott pressing alone against a back three, Derby’s defensive pressing was ineffective, as Norwood controlled the game from deep midfield.

Once Derby had started to predict Norwood’s switches, particularly to the right, striker David McGoldrick moved across to support the right-sided rotations, offering another body as a potential passing option. Norwood could now hit any of four teammates on the right side, with Derby unable to predict the direction or destination of his driven switches. The Rams initially defended well against any right-sided crosses, but they were eventually outdone when John Fleck danced through the back line, and the visitors’ right-sided rotations created the space for Basham to tap home from close range.

As Derby dominated the ball for much of the second half, their defensive work was drastically reduced. Keogh was a frequent source of regain for the defence, as the centre-back won the majority of his duels and then maintained possession to ensure his team could build an attack through midfield. A slightly higher defensive line also reduced the frequency of the visitors’ switches of play, as those looking to receive from Norwood now lacked space. Norwood’s input was a major source of creation for the away side, but with his raking passes now less available, Derby’s defensive duties became much easier in the second period.