Derby vs West Ham Prediction (30.01.2023)

Derby County will attempt to spring an FA Cup upset on Monday when they host West Ham United in the fourth round.

After nearly going out of business, Derby County have done a great job of bouncing back this season. The Rams are currently situated in a play-off position down in League One and, at this stage, they feel like they can take on just about anyone - which is exactly the mentality they need to have.

Derby kickstarted the new year with a dominant 4-0 win over Accrington Stanley. They proceeded to blow Barnsley out of the water in the FA Cup, before narrowly edging out Cheltenham in a 3-2 win. Since then, they’ve rattled off two more victories over Bolton and Port Vale.

West Ham United supporters have been forced to endure a pretty frustrating season. In addition to a drop in form on the pitch, there doesn’t really seem to be a whole lot of desire or fight around the club. They still have the Conference League, but they need to be careful about their true priorities.

A dramatic 2-2 draw with Leeds was followed up by the Hammers knocking Brentford out of the FA Cup. They did go on to lose 1-0 to Wolves in a pretty crucial six-pointer but then just seven days later, they played host to Everton in the capital and saw them off with a comfortable 2-0 win.

James Chester is currently listed as injured for Derby. Outside of that, though, they shouldn’t have any other injury or suspension concerns to worry about.

Maxwel Cornet and Gianluca Scamacca are still important absentees for the visitors. In addition to that, Danny Ings has a knee injury but would’ve been ineligible to play regardless.

Derby are going to throw everything they’ve got against the wall here in search of a place in the fifth round draw, but the gulf in quality will eventually be too strong once we get into the final half hour. Therefore, we’re going to predict a West Ham win.