Curtis Davies defends Derby County’s head-to-head record ahead of Leeds United showdown

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Leeds United did the double over Derby County during the regular season.

Derby County captain Curtis Davies has warned his rivals Leeds United, West Brom and Aston Villa that head-to-head records mean nothing in the playoffs.

Out of all the teams competing for the final spot in the Premier League, Frank Lampard’s side have the worst head-to-head record, whilst Leeds have the best.

The Rams have only picked up six points against the above teams and all of them came against West Brom – they were beaten on both occasions this term by Leeds and Villa.

Speaking on The Debate on Sky Sports Premier League (08/05/2019 at 10:55 pm), Davies squashed this idea that head-to-head records mean something heading into the playoffs.

“All I can say to the idea of the head-to-head table, obviously, we are bottom of that, ” Davies told The Debate. “When I was at Hull when we went up that year, we played Derby in the semi-finals, we’d lost to them twice on aggregate 6-0 – we went to the final.

“When we played Sheffield Wednesday, who finished about 20 points behind Brighton, who missed out on [second spot] on the last day, but they beat Brighton in the semi-final.

“It’s not always about the form table there or over the season. It’s about now. It’s about what you can do to affect your opponent directly on that day, even if it’s over one leg. It’s about getting over the line, that’s the difference.”

Derby will be preparing for their Saturday showdown against Leeds on home soil, with Marcelo Bielsa’s side producing outstanding displays against them during the regular season.

But the confidence levels of both teams is different now because Derby are on a high, whilst the Whites are in a bad run of form.

The Yorkshire outfit were beaten at already-relegated Ipswich on the last day of the season, while their weekend opponents beat West Brom to book their place in the top-six. Whatever happens, it will surely be a drama-filled affair, both in the first leg and the reverse leg at Elland Road.