Already relegated Sheffield United welcome Brighton & Hove Albion to Bramall Lane in Saturday Night Football.
Sheffield Utd are already down but victory would move them to within seven points of second-bottom West Brom, as the Blades look to avoid finishing rock bottom.
Brighton meanwhile can climb to 14th with a win if Newcastle fail to win in Saturday’s lunchtime kick off at Liverpool.
Team News
Sheffield Utd could welcome Sander Berge back from a hamstring injury but he won’t be risked unless the club doctors declare him fully match fit.
Chris Basham (knock), Oli McBurnie (foot), Billy Sharp (muscle), Jack Robinson (foot) and Jack O’Connell (knee) remain absent.
Brighton will be without Ben White after he was red carded for a late foul in Tuesday’s goalless draw at Chelsea.
Florian Andone and Percy Tau (both hamstring) sat out the trip to Chelsea but could return if they pass late fitness tests.
Tariq Lamptey (hamstring) and Solly March (knee) remain absent.
Stat Attack
- Sheffield Utd are unbeaten in three previous Premier League meetings against Brighton (W1, D2).
- Brighton have won just one of their last five trips to Bramall Lane (W1, D1, L3).
- Six of David McGoldrick’s eight Premier League goals for Sheffield Utd have come in this season alone, with just one of those six strikes coming from his left foot.
- Brighton’s goalless draws in their last two league matches marked their first pair of consecutive 0-0 results since March 2016 when they were then competing in the Championship.
- Sheffield Utd have lost their only home game this season refereed by Kevin Friend, losing 2-1 to Chelsea in February.
Prediction
Sheffield Utd might be down but now the pressure is off, they can afford to leave everything on the pitch which will make them dangerous opposition for the final few weeks of this season.
Paul Heckingbottom’s Blades however need to focus on finetuning their end product because they were defensively excellent at Wolves last Saturday, yet poor finishing cost them at least one point.
Brighton meanwhile have built themselves into good form coming into these final games of the season, but they too failed to clinically take their chances well although two consecutive goalless draws is a positive result for the Seagulls’ confidence.
This game therefore feels like one that could well be a scrappy contest but I would put my money on a Brighton win if I was a betting man, given their form and their strong attacking consistency in recent weeks surely have to pay off soon.
Prediction: Sheffield United 0-1 Brighton
Result: Sheffield United 1-0 Brighton
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