"discern a trend" is correct and usable in written English.
You could use it to refer to a pattern or direction that appears to be developing in a set of data or observations. For example: "After analyzing the data, we were able to discern a trend of increasing prices."
If I could discern a trend or a bold new direction in this body of work, I'd be happy to share it.
Frame by frame and in chronological order, the committee will look at each play in which a quarterback was injured to try to discern a trend.
One caveat is that even when analysts are able to discern a trend, they may not be able to time it.
Investors refrained from making any big commitments in the stock market yesterday, leaving stocks little changed as they tried to discern a trend in earnings and the economy.
With caterpillars and chrysalises coming into the station at the rate of more than one hundred a day, Dr. Janzen began to discern a trend.
Criminology and statistics experts told us a few years was not enough to discern a trend.
Instead, where a forecasting model has the potential to add more value is precisely when the information is murkier — either by (correctly) discerning a trend a few days before other methods do, or (just as importantly) by avoiding attaching too much significance to one based on flimsy evidence.
Some will doubtless be tempted to go further, and discern a common trend in the unexpected victories of Trudeau and Corbyn an ocean apart.
It infuriates those who discern a broader trend towards the accumulation of power in EU as opposed to member state hands.
One can discern a general trend for the rotation angle to increase with decreasing prediction value, i.e. the motions become more hinge-like.
Based on the voltamperograms, it is possible to discern a specific trend in the oxidation potential of the relevant monomer with increasing alkyl chain length.
