Sheffield United vs Chelsea: Betting Odds & Prediction
(Featured image: Alamy Images)
Bottom-placed Sheffield United host Chelsea at Bramall Lane this Sunday.
Time is running out for the Blades, who are in desperate need of three points if they are to pull off a miracle and survive the dreaded drop. Both sides return to action after featuring in dramatic league clashes on Thursday night. The match kicks off at 5:30pm UK time.
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Sheffield United
Sheff Utd remain rooted to the bottom of the Premier League, ten points adrift of 17th place and safety, with only eight Premier League games remaining.
Despite a spirited performance at Anfield on Thursday, Liverpool’s pressure and possession finally told as they ran out 3-1 home winners. That was a 21st league defeat of a very testing season for United. Previous score draws against Fulham and Bournemouth helped lift the gloom and stop the losing rot, but only victories will suffice if they are going to pull off mission impossible.
The defeat at Anfield also extended their winless run to six games. They’ve not won since beating fellow relegation rivals, Luton, on February 10th. That’s only one of two wins the Blades have clinched in 2024 (the other victory being against League Two outfit Gillingham in the FA Cup). Their points per game average is just 0.5 this season and they haven’t garnered much comfort from playing at Bramall Lane, with that average only increasing slightly to 0.6 in home matches. You have to go back to December 9th for the last time they won in front of the Blades’ faithful (1-0 vs Brentford).
That victory was also the last time they managed to keep a clean sheet in the league. They’ve conceded a staggering 80 goals this season (an average of 2.66 goals a game). 20 of those goals were scored against them in their last six matches (an average of 3.33 goals conceded per game). United have also already suffered some huge losses at Bramall Lane this season, ;osing four matches by 5+ goal margins, with three of those coming since the start of February.
A quick look at the Premier League table 📊 pic.twitter.com/rVHWj9qGJj
— Premier League (@premierleague) April 5, 2024
Chelsea
Chelsea will still be buzzing following their rollercoaster of a ride against Manchester United at Stamford Bridge on Thursday night. 2-0 up after 19 minutes, they would find themselves 3-2 behind midway through the second half only for Cole Palmer to slot home twice deep into injury time to secure a 4-3 Blues victory.
The win extended their unbeaten run to six games since their League Cup final loss to Liverpool. The victory still leaves Pochettino’s posse five points adrift of sixth place and a Europa Conference League qualifying spot. However, Chelsea’s main focus will now be the FA Cup and they’ll be looking to maintain their momentum in the run-up to a Wembley semi-final clash with Manchester City later this month.
A whopping 31 goals have been netted in the Blues’ last six matches in all competitions, at an average of 5.16 goals a game. Astonishingly, they’ve conceded at least 2+ goals in each of those clashes, without losing a single game. Both teams have netted in 69% of Chelsea’s league matches this season, and that figure jumps to a Premier League high of 79% when the Blues take to the road.
Prediction
Chelsea secured a 2-0 victory in the reverse fixture in December, but we are expecting the nets to be bulging several more times at Bramall Lane this Sunday. Both sides have been scoring and conceding regularly of late and we don’t expect any different here.