It’s Bramall Lane that hosts the early kick-off this Saturday, as Sheffield United face second place Bournemouth in the EFL Championship. Sheffield United’s form has been a bit up and down of late but they come into this on the back of a narrow win over QPR. The away side suffered defeat last time out which ended their 5-game unbeaten run but they still sit quite comfortably in 2nd ,with 2 games in hand over third place Huddersfield.
The run in to the EFL Championship looks to be very exciting with only 4 points separating 3rd and 8th place, so those lucrative playoff spots are still very much up for grabs for teams currently outside the top 6. With Sheffield United narrowly in those playoff spots they will be looking over their shoulder with 6 games to go.
It is all to play for here and it looks to be a great battle with automatic promotion chasing Bournemouth having the second-best away record in the league up against Sheffield United at Bramall Lane, which is always a tough place to go.
As good as the Blades are at home, they do have some major injury issues, and this could come into play here. Veteran striker Billy Sharp is still a doubt along with McGoldrick. Other long-term absentees include Brewster, Bogle and Basham. For the away side, Solanke may be a doubt and if so, will be a huge miss, but if fit could provide the edge for the Cherries.
I have put together a bet builder for this top of the table Championship clash as Scott Parker looks to move closer to securing automatic promotion while Paul Heckingbottom looks to ensure a playoff spot.
Sheffield United v Bournemouth Bet Builder Tips
Both Teams to Score
With the top of the table being so close in the Championship this is setting up to be a great game, just like it has in the past. Since 2011, these sides have met 7 times and both teams have scored in 5 of these meetings with Sheffield United winning 5 of these.
In more recent form, Bournemouth have seen both teams scoring in 7 of their last 10 games whereas both teams have scored in 3 of Sheffield United’s last 7. Sheffield United do have a pretty good defensive record this season but the Cherries have an equally impressive attack. With Sheffield United’s absentees this could prove to be the advantage for Bournemouth and help them get on the scoresheet.
Sheffield United have been impressive at Bramall Lane this season, scoring goals for fun. They average 1.68 per game and have scored 7 goals in their last 3 games on home soil. On the road, Bournemouth average 1.26 goals scored per game so if they keep this up, we should see both sides on the scoresheet.
Bournemouth are the league’s second highest scorers with 62 scored so far and Sheffield United rank 6th with 53 in the Championship so clearly goalscoring is not a problem for either side.
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Prediction: Both Teams to Score
Over 4.5 Bournemouth Corners
Bournemouth will look to bounce back from their defeat against West Brom last time out, where they dominated possession and peppered their opponents goal. It could be similar here with Bournemouth trying to break down that solid Sheffield United backline, shooting from range and forcing corners like they did in their last game, with 10 long shots from outside the box from 18 total shots.
The Cherries managed to register 5 or more corners in each of their last 5 games in the Championship. Sheffield United have conceded 5 or more corners in 3 of their last 5 games too, with the 2 teams that failed to get 5 corners sitting in the bottom 10 of the Championship.
Bournemouth average 5.26 corners away from home this season whereas their hosts average 4 conceded at home. I think with Bournemouth’s quality they will manage to register at least 5 on Saturday afternoon, this looks to be a great price at 2.0 on Paddy Power.
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Prediction: Over 4.5 Bournemouth Corners
Jordan Zemura to be Shown a Card
My final selection is Jordan Zemura to be booked. The Zimbabwe international has a fair temper on him as we have seen in recent games. In his last 6, he has had 2 fouls in 4 of these games with only 1 of these matches that he didn’t commit at least 1 foul.
Potential opponents are Gibbs-White and Baldock and they should be quite heavily involved down that right hand side. In Sheffield United’s last game, 48% of their attacks went down the right wing so Zemura looks to be kept busy throughout the match.
Zemura is a very attack minded full back, so often gets caught out on the counterattack and has to compensate by taking his opponent down or holding them back to stop them getting forward, which has been the reason for his previous 2 cards.
He has managed to pick up 6 yellows this season, with one of them coming in the reverse fixture at Vitality Stadium. The full back averages 1.23 fouls a game and with this shaping up to be end to end, I think Zemura could be caught out on the counterattack, especially if Sheffield United attack down his side as they did last time out.
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Prediction: Jordan Zemura to be Shown a Card
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* I recommend waiting for confirmed team line-ups before placing any bets *
Sheffield United v Bournemouth Predicted Line-ups
Sheffield United predicted XI (3-5-2) : Foderingham; Davies, Egan, Robinson; Baldock, Fleck, Norwood, Berge, Stevens; Gibbs-White, Jebbison
Bournemouth predicted XI (4-3-3) : Travers; Smith, Phillips, Kelly, Zemura; Billing, Lerma, Cantwell; Dembele, Solanke, Lowe
Sheffield United v Bournemouth Cheat Sheet
* All odds displayed correct at the time of publishing *
How to watch Sheffield United v Bournemouth in the EFL Championship
📅 When is Sheffield United v Bournemouth? / Saturday, 9th April 2022, 12:45
🏟 Where is Sheffield United v Bournemouth? / Bramall Lane (Sheffield)
📺 What TV channel is Sheffield United v Bournemouth on? / Sky Sports Football
🟨 …And who is the referee for Sheffield United v Bournemouth? / Dean Whitestone 🏴
