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Preston v Sheffield United
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Kick Off: Friday 9th August at 20:00
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Competition: Championship
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Watch Live: Sky Sports+
Preston host Sheffield United at Deepdale in what is a season-opening fixture in the ever-eventful Championship.
A run of five successive defeats at the end of 2023/24 ended the playoff hopes of the Lilywhites, and while four of these losses came against clubs that finished in the top six, it simply served to underline the gulf they need to bridge if they are to seriously challenge for promotion.
The Blades, meanwhile, are back in the second tier after a wretched campaign in the Premier League, during which they won only 16 points and conceded more than 100 goals. Things can surely only get better.
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Preston v Sheffield United Best Bets
It’s not been a summer without problems for Sheffield United, but the price of 2.20 on the Blades to get the win looks very reasonable. The Lilywhites struggled against the better Championship sides last season, and Wilder’s men are set to fall into that category this time around.
📂 Preston v Sheffield United Cheat Sheet
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📊 Preston Form and Stats
Preston finished last season in lamentable form, losing five straight matches and not even scoring in any of these games. Indeed, three of their last four finished in 3-0 defeats.
The momentum has needed turning around in pre-season, with Ryan Lowe’s side piecing together a reasonable sequence of results that have at least stopped the rot. Before last weekend’s 3-0 reverse to Everton, they were most notably winners over Fiorentina and Liverpool in a behind-closed-doors match.
Lowe has experience of instigating turnarounds over the summer months. Going into the 2023/24 campaign, Preston had lost four of five at the end of the previous campaign. After an opening draw with Bristol City, they were the quickest-starting team in the league, recording six wins in succession and spending time at the summit of the standings. There will be no panic.
The key areas of the squad remain much the same as last season, though Alan Browne, who had four goals and four assists from the midfield, has departed along with Liam Millar, who chipped in a useful five strikes and five decisive passes.
Iceland international Stefan Teitur Thordarson has arrived from Danish football to take up the role of Browne, with Sam Greenwood arriving from Leeds to play an attacking midfield role.
Robbie Brady, who only scored once last season, has been in bright form in pre-season, netting a couple of goals, including a spectacular winner against Liverpool. He could be one to watch in a left-wing-back role in this clash.
📊 Sheffield United Form and Stats
For Sheffield United, the summer has been all about regrouping after finding themselves out of their depth in the Premier League last term. Chris Wilder remains in charge but there have been significant changes in the squad, with more than a dozen players departing the squad in the summer and seven new faces arriving, including Alfie Gilchrist, who joined up from Chelsea on Wednesday.
Interestingly, there has been a tactical tweak from the manager over the summer, too. Associated with playing with three at the back, Wilder has shifted his side’s shape towards a 4-2-3-1 system in pre-season, with a premium placed on pressing and winning the ball back quickly.
Results have typically been positive. Four wins have come from their five main pre-season friendlies, although the Blades have focused on securing wins with their new shape and playing style and have targeted lower-league opponents in these games as a consequence. Their sternest opponents on paper have been Rotherham (2-1 win) and Huddersfield (1-1 draw).
Injury problems have disrupted United’s preparations. Will Osula scored in both the opening two friendly matches before suffering a facial injury and has not featured since, while centre-back Anel Ahmedhodzic has also struggled with problems, though he made a scoring return against Huddersfield.
A good number of the squad’s younger players, meanwhile, have impressed. Ryan One, Louie Marsh and Owen Hampson have all been given minutes and have all scored.
Finally, it’s worth pointing out the increased impact that the wide players have had. Andre Brooks has been one of the main benefactors of the new system and is a player to follow.
⚔️ Preston v Sheffield United Head-to-Head
The clubs have been regular foes in the Championship in years past, but with Sheffield United having taken a step up last term, there was no fixture between the teams.
During the Blades’ promotion campaign, they picked up a 2-0 win at Deepdale in September 2022 before a 4-1 rout in the Steel City. It would be wrong to read too much into these matches given that only Anel Ahmedhodzic remains at the club among the scorer of those six goals.
Preston have not won any of the last six between these clubs, while their last victory at home against Chris Wilder’s side was in December 2017.
* We 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
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