Rhys Clayton takes a look at this weekends fixture against Derby County at Pride Park, a game where the Swans have taken up an allocation of around 1,600 which despite the gap between the two sides is actually a six pointer.

Matos' first game was against Derby County. So much has changed since then, but what can we expect on Saturday ? Every club thinks theirs is the most melodramatic. But maybe Derby County fans have a realistic claim to that title in the past decade.

In 2015, local businessman Mel Morris took over full ownership of the club, and did what all power-hungry owners do - spent a lot and fired a lot. In just six years, Derby went through nine managers, one of whom was future Swansea manager, Paul Clement, who was fired despite the club being fifth in the league at the time. However the demanding approach almost paid off, when a star-studded Derby team almost got back to the Premier League under Frank Lampard. Despite his team featuring England internationals like Fikayo Tomori, Tom Huddlestone, Mason Mount, Ashley Cole, and Welsh internationals Harry Wilson and Tom Lawrence, they lost 2-1 in the 2019 play-off final to an Aston Villa team featuring ex-Swans Neil Taylor, Conor Hourihane, and Tammy Abraham.

But as Swans fans well know, losing a play-off final does not guarantee your club will kick on in the following seasons. Fast forward two seasons, and the Rams avoided relegation by scrapping a 3-3 draw with Sheffield Wednesday on the last day of the season under player-turned-manager Wayne Rooney. The next season, and after incurring a 21-point penalty for going into administration, thanks to the aforementioned big spending and mismanagement under Morris, Derby were relegated to League One (although Barnsley still somehow managed to finish beneath Derby in 24th that season).

Fast forward to today, and the outlook is more stable. Businessman David Clowes saved Derby from liquidation by purchasing the club for £13.2m and paying Mel Morris a reported £1 for Pride Park back in 2023, and Paul Warne got Derby promoted and settled in the Championship. Ex-Derby player John Eustace is now the man in charge, and he has a growing reputation as a smart, young English manager.

Eustace was doing well at Birmingham, and they nosedived after he left. He had Blackburn in the play-off positions before he curiously switched to a relegation battle with Derby mid-season, citing better long-term prospects. Considering the current position of both clubs, he was right. Rovers sit in the relegation places, whereas Eustace has been nominated for manager of the month for January, thanks to four wins and one draw. That includes a 5-0 away win at Bristol City, their first away 5-0 win since 1959 (a fact made all the sweeter on social media right now as Derby fans gloat about Nottingham Forest sacking their third manager of the season).

Despite losing their last game against high-flying Ipswich, Derby go into the game with confidence and as favourites. But the sold-out Jack Army will also travel to the East Midlands with hope. Derby sit only two points outside the play-off places, but this is mainly down to their away form. While they are second in the away form table, they are 20th for home form, the most divergent in the division. They have only won four from 16 games at home, and just one since early November. Considering our weak away record (19th in the away table), Eustace will no doubt tell his players it is imperative to beat the Swans on Saturday.

The Swans faced two old boys against Wednesday last week, and this Saturday will also feature an ex-striker. Rhian Brewster moved to Derby last summer as a free agent on a two-year contract, and has had a steady season so far. As you would expect after several years of terrible injury problems, Brewster has featured consistently this season without yet completing 90 minutes. He has four goals and one assist from 21 games, including a penalty last time out against Ipswich and a goal in the 5-0 Bristol City rout. He has never scored three in a row in English football...

A more persistent threat will come from US striker Patrick Agyemang, who has nine league goals this season. He is likely to start up front, even though two very talented strikers could feature on the bench. Sammie Szmodics has just joined on loan from Ipswich, and will make his debut on Saturday. Szmodics had a difficult time recently at Ipswich but he played his best football at Blackburn under Eustace. Meanwhile Carlton Morris (below) could feature for the first time since November, after returning to training following an ankle injury. He scores goals at the highest level in English football.

The ex-Luton striker started the season on fire with 10 goals in 16 games, and you would imagine some of those home draws and losses would have been wins with Morris in the starting line-up. However that has not necessarily been Derby's biggest problem, as they are currently on the longest scoring streak in the English pyramid, with 21 goals in succession. A recent contribution to that run has been the form of Ben Brereton Diaz. After a slow start to his County career, he has been winning over the fans with six goal contributions in his last seven games.

It starts to become clear that Derby will have a sustained attacking threat on Saturday. Brewster and Brereton Diaz will be constant pests on the wings, so we can hope that Tymon and Galbraith continue their good form. Derby have conceded the joint third most goals at home this season, so Vipotnik will be interested all game. There could be goals in this one but Derby will be a very tough test. Even after their loss to Ipswich, Eustace's comments were very positive, and reading some of the pundit and fan reaction, they agree with their manager.

Vitor Matos' reign started with a home loss to Derby back on 25th November 2025. With Agyemang, Brewster, Diaz, and maybe Morris and Szmodics off the bench, I think the Rams will have too much firepower for us, and I think they could complete their first league double over the Swans since 1985/86.

Rhys predicts : Derby 3-1 Swans

⚽️ Derby Fun Facts:

- The badge and nickname are from an old famous English folk song, called The Derby Ram
- It is claimed that George Washington sang The Derby Ram to a friend's children in 1796
- On East Street in Derby town centre, you will find a bulbous, large ram sculpture (think Fernando Botero and you're close)
- Derby County FC were established in 1884 and are one of the original 12 founder members of the Football League
- Opened in 1840, Derby Arboretum was the first publicly owned, urban recreational park in England, and inspired parts of New York's Central Park
- Past Swans-Rams include Shefki Kuqi, Luke Moore, Dean Saunders, Danny Graham, Jamie Paterson, and Leighton James

What a superb write up by Rhys, tomorrow we have our match day morning feature.

Both photographs licensed from Reuters ** This website has a licensing agreement with Reuters to reproduce photographs for journalistic features and reports