Sheffield United welcome Burnley to Bramall Lane in a huge Sky Bet Championship clash in the race for promotion.
Victory will see Paul Heckingbottom’s Blades go second for at least a few hours at minimum, whilst Burnley can extend their lead at the summit to eight points with a win.
Team News
Iliman Ndiaye and James McAtee are both set to be available for Sheffield Utd after recovering from knocks suffered in Tuesday’s win at Bristol City.
Tommy Doyle (calf) is a doubt but Max Lowe, Rhys Norrington-Davies (hamstring), Jack O’Connell, Ismaila Coulibaly, Jayden Bogle (all knee), Sander Berge (ankle) and Daniel Jebbison (ligament) remain ruled out.
Burnley could be without Jay Rodriguez after he suffered a knock in their midweek win against Rotherham, although he plus Josh Cullen (knock) will both be handed late fitness tests.
Ashley Westwood (ankle), Scott Twine (hip) and Darko Churlinov (unspecified) remain absent.
Stat Attack
- Sheffield Utd have won just one of their last five regular-season Championship meetings against Burnley (W1, D1, L3).
- Burnley have won just one of their last five second-tier regular-season visits to Bramall Lane (W1, D2, L2).
- Both teams have scored in four of their last five regular-season Championship meetings, except for a 1-0 home win for Burnley in April 2009.
- Sheffield Utd are looking to keep three consecutive clean sheets for the first time since September.
- Only one of Burnley’s last 10 goals were scored in the first-half.
Prediction
Following their recent wobble, Sheffield Utd seem to have corrected their sloppiness with two clinical wins in the last week although their midweek win at Bristol City did come in difficult conditions, amidst a lack of urgency to close down defensive gaps so I would just like to see tidier marking.
Burnley likewise encountered torrential conditions against Rotherham which evidently impacted their defensive tactics on a slippery pitch surface, which suited the Millers more until the Clarets found their attacking spark with inspired substitutions and better intensity to snatch a deserved win.
Rain though is again forecast as both teams now meet at Bramall Lane so it could well be an interesting battle tactically, which is making me lean towards a score draw because Sheffield Utd still have some work to do but Burnley will struggle more here than they did in midweek against Rotherham.
Prediction: Sheffield United 1-1 Burnley
Result: Sheffield United 5-2 Burnley