Sheffield United welcome Blackburn Rovers to Bramall Lane in a huge Championship clash in the race for promotion.
Victory could see Sheffield Utd climb to fifth if Huddersfield lose elsewhere, whereas a win would see Blackburn move to within a point of second-placed Bournemouth.
Team News
Ben Osborn is a doubt for Sheffield Utd as he nears a return from a hamstring injury he suffered in their defeat at Derby last month.
Enda Stevens (calf), Jayden Bogle (knee), David McGoldrick (thigh) and Rhian Brewster (hamstring) remain absent.
Blackburn will again be without Ben Brereton as he continues his recovery from an ankle injury he suffered last time out at West Brom.
Bradley Dack (knee), Ian Poveda (ankle) and Deyovaisio Zeefuik (fitness) are also ruled out.
Stat Attack
- Sheffield Utd have lost two of their last five league meetings against Blackburn (W2, D1, L2).
- Blackburn have won one of their last five league trips to Bramall Lane (W1, D1, L3).
- Victory would see Blackburn achieve the league double over Sheffield Utd for first time since 1984-85 season, in which they won 3-1 in both games.
- Five of Sheffield Utd’s last six home goals have been scored by Billy Sharp (3) and Morgan Gibbs-White (2).
- Blackburn are aiming to avoid a fifth consecutive winless match since enduring a seven-match run without victory between March-April 2021.
Prediction
With one defeat in their last 14 league matches, Sheffield Utd have done a great job to put themselves into the play-off mix but their priority now has to be maintaining that momentum, especially after a dominant clinical win over Swansea on Saturday.
Blackburn meanwhile have had a week off after Saturday’s game against Millwall was postponed so I am hoping that they’re fired up for this game, particularly if they’re to keep pressure on Bournemouth in the promotion race.
Tony Mowbray’s Rovers though need to rediscover their goalscoring edge which means that Sam Gallagher and others must step up, especially with Brereton absent so there is work to be done and the first goal will be key.
If Blackburn can get in front, this could get competitive otherwise I can see just one result coming if Sheffield Utd score first and continue to raise their game thereafter.
Prediction: Sheffield United 2-0 Blackburn
Result: Sheffield United 1-0 Blackburn
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