Match Preview: Sheffield United v Birmingham City

Intro

Sheffield United and Birmingham City meet at Bramall Lane as the Championship resumes following the season’s first international break.

The Blades sit top of the division after an impressive 2-0 victory at Preston last time out, whereas John Eustace’s men extended their unbeaten run to three games with a goalless draw against Coventry.

Match Preview

Paul Heckingbottom has reconnected Sheffield United with its identity and defensive solidity that served them so well during their Championship promotion and first Premier League campaign.

The Yorkshire side are nine games unbeaten since tasting defeat at recently relegated Watford in the season’s opener and are currently enjoying a four-game winning run, accompanied by four consecutive clean sheets.

United also boast the most potent attack in the Championship after ten games, with Iliman Ndiaye and Ollie McBurnie starting the season in superb form with a combined nine goals. Midfielders Ollie Norwood and the Liverpool-linked Sander Berge have assumed roles as creators so far, both contributing three assists to a team averaging nearly two goals a game.

Last season’s beaten play-off semi-finalists have made Bramall Lane a fortress at the start of this year, collecting all available points so far whilst scoring at least two goals in each outing in front of their home fans.

Despite Birmingham City’s recent upturn in results, Sheffield United will be confident of continuing their rich vein of form against the second-city side, especially on home turf.

After two impressive away victories at Preston and West Brom, Blues played out a goalless draw with West Midlands rivals Coventry City at St Andrew’s. The home side endured a difficult first half, but much were improved in the second period and had clear cut chances to snatch all three points.

The introduction of summer signings Tahith Chong and Krystian Bielek into the starting XI have correlated with a three-game unbeaten spell, with their composure and quality allowing Birmingham to gain more of a foot-hold in games.

12 points from ten Championship clashes places the pre-season relegation favourites in 17th position, a steady start to what is largely predicted to be a tough year for Blues. There is a general consensus that Birmingham’s fully fit first eleven has enough to survive in the second tier, but the club could be in danger if key components that of best side suffer lengthy injuries.

One of those important players is Scott Hogan, who has begun his third full season at the club with 5 goals, including a sensational hat-trick in Birmingham’s last away fixture at The Hawthorns. Ex-Huddersfield and Rangers man Juninho Bacuna has struck up a partnership with Hogan, providing Irishman with 3 assists so far this term.

Team News

Bosnian defender Anel Ahmedhodzic was forced to withdraw from his countries Nations League ties with Montenegro and Romania due to a thigh injury sustained against Preston, and is expected to be out for around 4 weeks.

Combined with the continued unavailability of Ciaran Clark and Jack Robinson, Paul Heckingbottom will have to find a makeshift solution in defence if he wishes to continue with three centre-backs.

This could involve Rhys Norrington Davies moving from a wing-back role to left centre-back alongside Chris Basham and John Egan, with left-footed teenager Andre Brooks coming in for his United debut at left wing-back.

Heckingbottom also revealed Ollie McBurnie is a carrying a groin strain, with the forward being left out of Scotland’s squad for matches against Ukraine and Ireland. Billy Sharp could therefore be set for a first start since his return from an injury picked up against Middlesbrough in the middle of August.

Birmingham will be without defender Marc Roberts at Bramall Lane, who is predicted to be side-lined for “a number of weeks” with a hamstring strain.

Eustace is hoping to have Gary Gardner available to face The Blades, who was forced off against Norwich with a calf issue at the end of August. Even if the ex-Villa player is deemed fit to play a part, he is unlikely to shift the impressive Krystian Bielek from the base of the Birmingham midfield.

Sheffield United possible starting lineup:

Foderingham; Egan, Basham, Norrington-Davies; Baldock, Nidaye, Berge, Norwood, Brooks; Brewster, Sharp

Birmingham City possible starting lineup:

Ruddy; Colin, Sanderson, Trusty; Williams, Bielek, Bacuna, Chong, Graham; Hogan, Deeney

We Say: Sheffield United 2-1 Birmingham City

Sheffield United and Birmingham come into this game with good recent records, so confidence in achieving a positive result will not be lacking for either side.

A perfect home record for the Blades so far makes them favourites on Saturday but considering their injury issues and the ability of Birmingham to frustrate teams away from home, this could be more closely contested than some may think.

Despite this, it is hard to go against the Championship leaders, so we are backing Heckingbottom’s side to make it five wins in a row to extend their lead at the top of the league.