- Blackburn avoided relegation by three points last season
- Derby earned automatic promotion from League One
- Recommended bet: Under 2.5 goals

Blackburn and Derby open their Championship account on Friday evening in what should be a tense affair at Ewood Park.

John Eustace did enough to keep Blackburn in the second tier last season, but Rovers finished only three points above the relegation zone.

Derby enjoyed themselves in League One as they finished second to earn automatic promotion and Paul Warne's side will want to establish themselves as a Championship club over the next 10 months.

Team news

Eustace has added Makhtar Gueye, Yuki Ohashi, Andreas Weimann and Danny Batth to his squad over the summer and they will all hope to feature in Friday's opener.

Derby signed Ebou Adams, Kenzo Goudmijn, Ben Osborn, Corey Blackett-Taylor, Kayden Jackson, Jerry Yates and David Ozoh in the off-season, but they also lost Louie Sibley and Conor Hourihane.

Warne will be without Jake Rooney and Joe Ward, who are both sidelined with knee injuries.

The stats

Blackburn won 14 of their 46 matches in the Championship last season and they were helped by Sammie Szmodics' 27 goals, which landed him the Golden Boot.

Eustace's side lost one of their last four Championship games to avoid relegation, while Derby conceded just 37 goals in their promotion campaign, the fewest in League One.

The two teams last met in March 2022 in the Championship, with Blackburn running out 3-1 winners.

Prediction

It is always difficult to predict what level teams are at during the opening weekend of the season, especially when a recently promoted side will take to the field.

Blackburn still have Szmodics in their ranks, but his future is up in the air, and there are no guarantees he will still be playing for the club when the match gets underway.

Derby were impressive at the back last season, but their ability to score at this level is still unknown.

The Rams would love to get a positive result in their first game back in the Championship since 2022, but the safe play is to back under 2.5 goals.

Blackburn have only scored more than one goal in one of their four pre-season games, while Derby will keep things tight in order to get a result.

Back Under 2.5 goals at 19/20 with LiveScore Bet