Preview: Southampton vs Derby County - prediction, team news, lineups

Looking to record a sixth straight victory, Southampton welcome fellow playoff hopefuls Derby County to St Mary's Stadium for a seismic Championship encounter on Saturday.

The Saints' remarkable run of results continued at Wrexham earlier in the week, whilst the Rams picked up another Pride Park success last time out.

Match preview

Since Tonda Eckert replaced Will Still in the managerial hotseat at St Mary's near the end of 2025, Southampton have undoubtedly been the rising stock in the second tier, unbeaten in their past 13 Championship fixtures.

The in-form Saints made it five straight successes across divisional and cup action on Tuesday night, when five different goalscorers for the visitors put Wrexham firmly in their place in the hunt for a top-six finish.

Last tasting a second-tier defeat at the hands of Hull City on January 17, Southampton have flown up from midtable mediocrity to the playoff scene and currently sit sixth in the Championship standings.

Winning each of their past four St Mary's battles by an aggregate scoreline of 10-1, Eckert's troops will be supremely confident of posting their 19th league success of 2025-26 on Saturday afternoon.

Catching the eye during his side's shock win over Premier League leaders Arsenal at the beginning of April, inventive attacker Leo Scienza leads all other Championship players in terms of big chances created with 19 so far.

Looking to keep up with the unrelenting recent pace of Saturday's hosts, Derby made it five successive wins at Pride Park on Monday, when second-half strikes from Jaydon Banel and Carlton Morris defeated Stoke City.

Winning five of their past seven second-tier contests, John Eustace's troops are in fine form heading towards the conclusion of the regular season as they attempt to gatecrash the Premier League scene for the first time in nearly two decades.

The Rams' dreams of top-flight football in August have been boosted by three wins from their past four matches, leaving them in eighth spot in the Championship table, three points behind the sixth-placed Saints.

With three of their remaining five matches coming away from Pride Park, Derby need to address a worrying trend on the road, with the Midlands outfit losing four of their past five second-tier outings.

Due to the recent trajectories of the two clubs, meetings between Southampton and Derby have been sparse, with the Saints last beating the Rams in February 2012, when Adam Lallana was on the scoresheet for the South Coast outfit.

Southampton Championship form:

W D W W W W

Southampton form (all competitions):

D W W W W W

Derby County Championship form:

W L W W L W

Team News

A backup goalkeeper for Southampton in recent years, Alex McCarthy is currently sidelined because of a wrist injury.

Earning promotion from the Championship at Brentford in 2021, Mads Roerslev (knee) is out for the remainder of the season.

Derby suffered a major injury blow during the win against Stoke, with Patrick Agyemang now sidelined for the rest of the season due to an Achilles problem.

The striker is set to miss the World Cup in the summer - a massive shame for an attacker who was threatening to be a standout star for the hosts at the tournament.

The Rams' shot-stopping issues continue, with both Jacob Zetterstrom (muscle) and Josh Vickers (hamstring) in the treatment room.

Southampton possible starting lineup:

Peretz; Bree, Harwood-Bellis, Stephens, Manning; Downes, Charles; Matsuki, Azaz, Edozie; Larin

Derby County possible starting lineup:

O'Donnell; Ward, Sanderson, Clarke, Murkin; Travis, Ozoh, Brereton Diaz, Morris, Clark; Banel