In this article…
Middlesbrough v Sheffield United
📅
Kick Off: Wednesday 23rd October at 20:00
🏆
Competition: Championship
📺
Watch Live: Sky Sports Main Event
Middlesbrough host Sheffield United in a crucial Championship clash, with Chris Wilder facing his former club. Boro, eyeing a return to form, need a win to revive their promotion aspirations.
Meanwhile, Sheffield United, pushing for an immediate Premier League return, are bolstered by a solid defence. The added storyline of Wilder’s history with both clubs heightens the drama, as both sides seek vital points in their pursuit of promotion.
⭐ Middlesbrough v Sheffield United Best Bets
Despite Middlesbrough being very impressive on paper, or on spreadsheets, there is something concerning about the way that Boro consistently produce good metrics, but don’t convert them into points.
Sheffield United have tended to the opposite this season, where points have come despite not being as impressive in the numbers.
Backing Sheffield United Win/Draw Double Chance at close to even money, 1.8, goes against the data, but very much for results on the pitch. This would’ve landed in four of the Blades’ five away matches, and in three of Boro’s five home matches, as well as a home EFL cup tie.
This bet could be backed up by a player prop that stands out. Sheffield United centre-back Harry Souttar has now gone seven games in a row where he has conceded at least one foul. This is still a big price of 1.83, and, indeed, only one likely starter is priced bigger than the Australian international for a foul in the match.
👕 Middlesbrough v Sheffield United Predicted XI
🔍 Middlesbrough v Sheffield United Players to Watch
🔴 Finn Azaz
The Aston Villa academy graduate has the freedom to play quite a free role behind Emmanuel Latte Lath and is quite a high-volume shooter.
He is averaging 1.33 shots on target per 90 so far this season, and is massively underperforming his xG data, he will surely score soon.
⚫ Sydie Peck
The 20-year-old will likely form an all-Academy central midfield with Oli Arblaster and it will be interesting to see who takes which roles, especially without Vini Souza’s presence.
Peck has committed exactly two fouls in each of his five starts this season in all competitions, but he can also offer a lot going forward as his nine shots in two EFL cup ties showed.
⚫ Gustavo Hamer
Hamer always seems to be at the centre of matches for the Blades. He is averaging 3.28 shots per 90 when just looking at this season in the Championship.
This converts to just over 1 shot on target per 90, and though he hasn’t hit the target in his last two starts, he was fairly unlucky against Leeds because he did have a shot that looped up off a defender and was caught by the goalkeeper.
📂 Middlesbrough v Sheffield United Cheat Sheet
There’s nowhere better than Andy’s Bet Club for football betting predictions. All season long we will be providing EFL accumulator tips and Championship accumulator predictions, alongside plenty more EFL betting tips throughout the weekend.
💻 Middlesbrough v Sheffield United Form and Tactics
Middlesbrough have lost their last two Championship matches and had won the two previous to that. Michael Carrick is, for probably the first time, starting to have questions asked of his tenure about the inconsistency of the results Boro are getting despite their continued dominance in terms of chances created vs conceding.
Boro will persevere with their 4-2-3-1 formation, which only ever seems to have minor tweaks to it. Hayden Hackney has enjoyed more freedom to leave Aidan Morris in central midfield this season to add more attacking impetus, and Tommy Conway is pressing for a starting place somewhere in the forward line, but Finn Azaz and Emmanuel Latte Lath really need to find their finishing boots to improve things for Carrick.
Sheffield United lost a few records away at Leeds. They lost, for the first time this season, they conceded twice away from home for the first time this season, and they also changed their formation for the first time this season. This is the second of two really tough away games in succession, and their record before them was very strong, based on not conceding any goals for five matches until Pascal Struijk’s finish from a corner.
The three-man defence used against Leeds did seem to stifle the Yorkshire club for long periods, but also blinted the Blades going forwards. Up until that point Chris Wilder had been happy to use a 4-2-3-1 style as well with one narrow winger on the left supported by Harrison Burrows from left-back. One suspects that he may return to that system here.
Get best bets sent to your inbox, it’s free.
🏁 Middlesbrough v Sheffield United Ref Watch
- Andy Davies has refereed 200 matches in the Championship, so is very experienced at the level
- He averages 22.4 fouls given per match when refereeing in the Championship, which is relatively low in comparison to his peers, and he averages 3.45 yellow cards per match in his career.
- This yellow card average is much higher at 5.13 over his 8 matches this season, this includes seventeen yellows across four Championship matches in 24/25.
Football Predictions at Andy’s Bet Club
Our guide on how to use a Cheat Sheet is the perfect way to get involved with our bet builder stats tool, the best freely available data source for punting on the Premier League.
We recommend the best betting sites for accumulators, top bet builder sites, and the best free bet offers and weekly free bet clubs, all to ensure you bet smarter when backing our tips with the best UK sports betting sites – check out a list of the best free bet offers for this weekend.
Expert guides, such as this one, on xG in football, are also available to help you up your punting game.
* I recommend waiting for confirmed team line-ups before placing any bets.
* All odds displayed correct at the time of publishing.
Written by an Andy verified content writer
18+ please gamble responsibly.
