Blackburn v Derby: How to watch, TV channel, kick-off time, head-to-head stats and team news

Derby are back in the Championship after a two-year absence and kick off the 2024/25 season with a Friday night trip to Ewood Park to take on Blackburn.

Paul Warne's Rams came up from League One in second place behind Portsmouth and will see this as an opportunity to get early points on the board against a team who struggled last season and who could be without star man Sammie Szmodics.

How to watch Blackburn v Derby and TV channel

Blackburn v Derby will be broadcast live in the UK on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Football.

Blackburn v Derby kick-off time, date and venue

Blackburn v Derby will kick off at 20:00 on Friday 9th August at Ewood Park, Blackburn.

Blackburn v Derby stats and head-to-head record (H2H)

This is the first meeting between Blackburn and Derby since they were last together in the Championship in the 2021/22 season. Rovers did the double over County then, as they had the campaign before.

In fact, Blackburn have lost only one of their last 10 matches against Derby dating back to 2016.

Last season, John Eustace's Rovers won just four Championship matches from the middle of December, while Warne's County lost only one of their final 11 League One fixtures.

Blackburn v Derby head-to-head record (H2H)

Blackburn wins	61
Draws	36
Derby wins	42

*H2H stats refer to all competitions

Read our latest tips and predictions for Blackburn v Derby

Blackburn v Derby team news

Blackburn team news

Blackburn manager Eustace has said it is unlikely that last season's Golden Boot winner Szmodics will feature after taking a small role in training as he is linked a move away from Ewood Park.

Centre-back Scott Wharton is definitely out and frontman Ryan Hedges a doubt. New signing from Molenbeek, Makhtar Gueye, is set to lead the line in a 4-2-3-1 set-up.

Derby team news

Joe Ward is unavailable for Warne, whose lineup is harder to predict after deploying several formations last season and during the summer.

Another winger, Corey Blackett-Taylor, as well as defender Jake Rooney, are also sidelined. New loan signing Jerry Yates is expected to start up front.