Sheffield United welcome Norwich City to Bramall Lane in a huge Sky Bet Championship clash in the race for promotion.
Victory would see Sheffield Utd go top if QPR, Blackburn and Burnley all lose elsewhere, whilst Norwich themselves could go top with a win if the top three all lose in other simultaneous 3pm BST kick-offs.
Team News
Sheffield Utd have no fresh injury concerns to report after their defeat at Coventry in midweek.
Oli McBurnie (hernia) is a doubt because his game time is being managed between now and the World Cup break, when he will undergo surgery.
Enda Stevens (calf), Ciaran Clark, Max Lowe (hamstring), Jack O’Connell, Ismaila Coulibaly (knee), Sander Berge (ankle) and Daniel Jebbison (ligament) all remain ruled out.
Norwich will have Josh Sargent available for selection after he was substituted at half-time in Tuesday’s defeat to Luton.
Kieran Dowell (laryngitis) is unlikely to be risked after he was removed from the initial starting line-up in midweek.
Kenny McClean is suspended after he was red carded in midweek.
Jacob Sorensen, Andrew Omobamidele (both ankle), Isaac Hayden, Adam Idah (both knee) and Sam McCallum (foot) remain absent.
Stat Attack
- Sheffield Utd have lost three of their last six Championship meetings against Norwich (W2, D1, L3).
- Norwich have won two of their last five Championship visits to Bramall Lane (W2, L3).
- Both teams have scored in five of their last six Championship meetings.
- James McAtee has been booked in each of Sheffield Utd’s last two matches.
- Dean Smith’s Canaries have scored in six of seven away matches this season.
Prediction
Since returning from the international break earlier this month, Sheffield United have been off-par with just two points from five matches which is certainly worrying because their defensive quality has really dipped compared to their opening ten games.
Whether that is down to their injury crisis or possibly fatigue issues given this hectic run of fixtures, Sheffield Utd really do need to find a way to stop their slump because they were wasteful in their midweek defeat at Coventry, in what was a scrappy effort by their standards.
Norwich however haven’t been much better this month amidst their own injury issues with three consecutive defeats, although they just really lacked end product against Luton in midweek whilst defensive mistakes ultimately played a part too.
Both teams therefore will have a point to prove here but if Norwich can sort out their final touch and cut out sloppy mistakes, I can see them having the edge in what could be a close game between two teams set to challenge for the title because Utd do seem to be struggling at present.
Prediction: Sheffield United 0-1 Norwich
Result: Sheffield United 2-2 Norwich
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