Sheffield United have taken 82 points from 38 games for on the pitch so far this season, which is two more points than the tables shows due to a deduction for off the field issues. They have won or drawn 32 of those 38 games.

Coventry have picked up markedly under Frank Lampard to find themselves in the play-off positions, but we have question marks over their sturdiness when playing away from home, having lost at the likes of Derby and Portsmouth, who either create a similar playing style or similar atmosphere to what they’ll be facing on Friday night.

The Blades have the fourth highest total of yellow cards per game in the Championship, averaging 2.2 per match. Coventry’s opponents average almost the same, at 2.1 per game.

This bet has landed in 24 of their 38 games this season, and has landed for Coventry’s opponents in 26 out of 38 games, including in. The reverse fixture earlier in the season.

Referee Oliver Langford has taken charge of three Sheffield United games this season, showing them two or more cards on each occasion.

Victor Torp will likely line up on the right side of a midfield three for Coventry, a position which puts him in the same area of the pitch as two of United’s three best foul-winning players, left-back Harrison Burrows and left-midfielder Gus Hamer, who are each fouled at least once per 90.

Torp has started 23 league games this season, committing one or more fouls in 19 of those starts, including in the game against Sheffield United earlier in the season.

Given the high-stakes nature of this encounter, it’s hard to see this game being one of Torp’s rare starts without a foul.

January signing Brereton-Diaz had made an impact since joining from Southampton, weighing in with three goals and two assists in 11 appearances.

He has started nine of those 11 games, and when he starts his fouls stats read: 0-2-2-1-1-2-0-2-1

The Chile international forward has been starting off the right hand side in recent weeks, so will be expected to work back and double up on Coventry danger man Ephron Mason-Clark, which could lead to him being tempted into a foul. Jay Dasilva also likes to get forward plenty from left back, although Jake Bidwell may be preferred for a bit more defensive solidity.

If we are to nail our colours to the mast one way or the other, we have to side with the rock-solid Sheffield United, who have very rarely been gotten the better of this season.

Chris Wilder has a long history of getting teams over the line to achieve promotion, whether that be Oxford United down in the Conference, to Northampton in League Two and even double promotions to the Championship and Premier League with his very own Sheffield United.

Frank Lampard doesn’t have that sort of experience, failing in his only play-off campaign with Derby County. Despite impressively overcoming Leeds United in the semis, they went on to lose to Aston Villa in the final, although you could certainly argue that the promotion race that season was unusually stacked with quality sides.

Despite Coventry’s impressive run, they have not convinced us defensively, and The Blades have a knack of exploiting any small weakness in their opposition to take all three points.

Sheffield United average 2.3 cards per game at Bramall Lane in The Championship this season, which is the third highest home tally in the divisions.

Coventry average just 1.4 cards per game away from home, which is comfortably the lowest tally of any side in the second tier.

We think that one of The Blades’ keys to victory here may be the physicality they can impose against Coventry. They will surely look to set an aggressive tone against a side who saw Frank Lampard a lack of aggression as one of their weaknesses when he first took over.

There is a chance that could overspill and lead to referee Oliver Langford taking a hard line with Blades players as he has done in previous games, showing two, three and four cards respectively.

We’ve already taken Torp to commit at least one foul in bet builder 1, but we feel there is scope for him to be penalised twice in this game.

When looking at his record of at least one foul when starting at 19 out of 23 games, it is also noted that he has committed 2 or more fouls on 11 occasions out of 23.

That’s a very close to 50% ratio, whilst the price being offered up suggests a 28% chance. As we can see from the stats, that looks clearly incorrect, and that is also without even considering the importance of this fixture.

Only Gus Hamer has picked up more cards for Sheffield United this season than centre back Ahmedhodzic.

He has ten yellow cards and one red for the season, with the red coming in the reverse fixture between these two sides. Those cards have been collected across 30 games, so you can see the regularity with which he is picking them up.

His nemesis from the game at the CBS Arena, Norman Bassette, will likely not feature, however, star striker Haji Wright is fit again and back with a bang following a hat-trick against Sunderland. He has drawn five yellow cards from opponents at a rate of 0.36 per 90 this season, and will operate in the same channel as Ahmedhodzic.