The key to unlocking Sunderland is in Paul Warne’s covert weapon at Derby County.

Derby County travels to Sunderland for a midweek Championship match in an attempt to secure their first away point of the year. Derby has to get back up after a contentious 3-2 loss to Norwich City, when two of the visitors’ goals ought to have been disallowed. The Rams suffered their first home loss of the season on that occasion, so Paul Warne will be hoping for a bounce back from his team when they meet second-place Sunderland in the Championship on Tuesday.

Following their strong cameos, Warne is probably going to make some changes to the starting lineup that fell to Norwich. Tawanda Chirewa and Corey Blackett-Taylor are both in the running. In the meantime, Sunderland will rely on Wilson Isidor, Jobe Bellingham, Patrick Roberts, and danger man Romaine Mundle to provide quality in the last third. Derby has a secret weapon of their own as well, and they need to make the most of it in order to pull off an unlikely triumph.

Nathaniel Mendez-Laing of Derby County lines up a cross during the Sky Bet Championship match between Derby County and Cardiff City at Pride Park i...

Derby County’s impressive record from set-pieces

Last season, Derby scored the most goals of any side in the football league from set-pieces, as the left boot of Conor Hourihane proved a profitable route to goal.

The Irishman’s magic from a dead ball helped inspire the Rams to promotion, and although he’s since departed for Barnsley, the 33-year-old’s boots have been filled by the likes of Nathaniel Mendez-Laing and Callum Elder.

Continuing from where they left off in 2023/24, Derby have scored six goals from set-pieces in the Championship, more than any other side in the division. Remarkably, the Rams’ record from a dead ball accounts for 60% of their goals, having scored a total of 10 in seven games. Warne will be therefore leaning on the quality of Mendez-Laing, as well as the height and aerial prowess of Curtis Nelson and Eiran Cashin to score against Sunderland.

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