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Sheffield United v Wrexham

We have waited over 100 days for competitive club football and suddenly we get a second round of fixtures within 5 days of the season starting this time in the EFL Cup.

Wrexham are a club on the rise. Even when in the National League everyone was talking about the club with TV documentaries on their ownership. It’s safe to say that the sale of the club to Hollywood actors Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds has transformed the club. They are now after an incredible third promotion on the spin and if you listen to the club and owners speak, they aren’t in League One to make up the numbers and see promotion as a very real possibility.

Sheffield United are off the back of one of the worst seasons in Premier League history. They won just three games last term conceding a massive 104 goals, an average of 2.74 goals per fixture. There will be no surprise that the data has them with the worst non-penalty xG and shots on target ratio. Over the last 10 Premier League seasons no side has conceded more shots on target than the Blades did last season with a massive 7.08 per fixture. In fact, only three sides had a higher average of 6.0 or more! Manager Chris Wilder has spoken about a reset at the club as they try to forget about last term and move forward without that hangover.

The EFL Cup gets underway for another season, and like every other footie competition, our expert football betting predictions have got you covered . While you’re here, make sure to check out our Championship acca tips and EFL betting tips before the return of our Premier League coverage this weekend.

Also, we will be keeping you busy with a constant supply of expertly researched selections including our both teams to score tips, as well as predictions for all of you bet builder lovers out there, including card betting tips, player shots on target tips, and fouls betting predictions once the Premier League season kicks off.

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Sheffield United v Wrexham Best Bets

➡️ Over 2.5 goals & both teams to score @ 1.80 with bet365

The EFL Cup is a tricky betting heat as sides make numerous changes to their teams, especially this early in the season with players still looking for fitness. Wrexham manager, Phil Parkinson was interviewed after his sides 3-2 opening day win over Wycombe and stated that he would be looking to get more minutes into his players that didn’t start on Saturday as the squad was still a little short on fitness, but he would pick a side that could win the tie. I suspect that Chris Wilder will do the same. Both clubs have been busy in the transfer market and we should see these players get game time.

We want to get behind goals. Both sides will make changes and that can lead to uncertainty, especially in defence. Wrexham’s game on Saturday was open with chances at both ends and we should see something similar here.  Last term their away fixtures averaged 2.35 goals on the road with both sides finding the net in 52% of matches. We can’t back over 2.5 goals at 1.57 or both teams to score again at 1.57 but if combined these two and take over 2.5 goals and both teams to score we can achieve odds of 1.8 with bet365.

Keith Stroud gets the whistle for this one. Last season he was one of the best referees to back for cards. He averaged 5.21 cards across his 29 fixtures. Stroud dished out at least one card for both sides in all 29 games and at least four or more cards in 80%.  He doesn’t slow down for cup fixtures either with 4.67 cards, with a 100% hit rate on both sides carded with every game seeing at least four cards. The two head-to-head games from 2023 saw a total of eight yellow cards and one red. Both sides were carded in Wrexham’s opening league contest with a total of four yellow cards distributed.

The history between the two clubs, the referee appointment and the fact that both sides will want to continue their form suggests we might see some cards. You can combine the selections of both sides to receive a card and over two match cards at 1.80 with bet365

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📂 Sheffield United v Wrexham Cheat Sheet

There are so many ways to use our Cheat Sheets and we encourage you to find your own formula to pick a winning bet builder, however, if you’re unsure of how to use a Cheat Sheet, just click the link for some quick tips to help you make the most of it.

You can find even more match stats for this match on my bet builder stats tool, along with official line-ups one hour before kick-off.

To make sure you’re getting the full value of the betting market, check out our list of the best betting sites for accumulators and the top bet builder sites. You can take advantage of all the latest free bet offers and weekly free bet clubs, while our collated list of the best UK sports betting sites is also worth browsing.

We are committed to helping you become better sports punters, so if you’re unfamiliar with certain betting terminologies, we have plenty of useful resources to keep you clued in such as our xG in football article, available on-site. It is also worth checking out our guide to betting on corners, as well as our advice on how to bet on the fouls won market.

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📊 Sheffield United Form and Stats

The Blades have had a good pre-season and took that form into their opening game with a win at Deepdale as they overcame Preston with a 2-0 win. Utd won the xG 0.95 vs 0.73m, but the hosts had more efforts at goal as the Blades settled to life back in the championship.

Pre-season friendlies saw a lot of goals at both ends, with four of five fixtures seeing both teams finding the net and four of five having at least three goals.

The Yorkshire outfit don’t have a great record in this competition over the recent years, with their most recent victory coming back in August 2021. Since then, they have gone out in their opening round to WBA and Lincoln without scoring a goal. They haven’t progressed beyond the 3^rd round since 2014/15 when they reached the semi-finals.

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📊 Wrexham Form and Stats

The Red Dragons have faced some stern tests in pre-season, playing Chelsea, Bournemouth and Vancouver Whitecaps plus a few domestic friendly matches and have been undefeated. There were plenty of goals with an average of 3.6 per fixture. This trend continued into their opening game of the League One season with a 3-2 win over Wycombe. The game had 32 shots, 10 shots on target and 25 shots in the box.

Last term the Welsh side had a mixed set of results on the road with W9-D7-L7, but they only kept six clean sheets but also only failed to score in six.

Last season was the first time that Wrexham had played in the League Cup since the 2007/08 season. They beat Wigan on penalties but then went out to Bradford on penalties. They haven’t been into the 3^rd round of this competition since 1981.

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⚔️ Sheffield United v Wrexham Head-to-Head

These two sides faced off in the FA Cup back in 2023 with the tie going to a replay after a 3-3 draw at Racecourse Ground with the Blades scoring deep into injury time to take the game into a replay at Bramall Lane. Again, it was late goals by United that took them through to face Spurs.

After Paul Mullins had missed a second-half penalty for Wrexham, the Blades scored in the 94^th and 96^th minute to win the tie 3-1. However, the drama didn’t end there. Billy Sharp, now with Doncaster Utd, caused a stir with his comments as both sides went down the tunnel, suggesting that Wrexham hadn’t respected the Yorkshire side with Wrexham already focusing on the next tie against Tottenham.

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* We recommend waiting for confirmed team line-ups before placing any bets.

* All odds displayed correct at the time of publishing.

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