The big matches in the Sky Bet Championship keep on coming and 24 hours after Burnley won the title, Sheffield United will be looking to confirm their own promotion when they take on West Bromwich Albion at Bramall Lane.
It is not just the Blades who are after the points here though. West Brom aren’t drinking in the last chance saloon in terms of a top six berth but if they want to keep their destiny in their own hands they need to win here.
Where to watch
The match will be shown live and in full on the Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Football channels with the build-up beginning at 7.30pm and kick off coming along at 8pm.
Sheffield United
This has been a tremendous season so far for Sheffield United and they have the chance to cap it off in the best possible way here. After competing in an FA Cup semi-final at Wembley Stadium at the weekend they have the chance to secure a return to the Premier League if they can win this match. The Blades will know that they have four chances to seal the deal but they won’t want it dragging out. They will be eager to get it done at the first opportunity.
Sheffield United head into this match having won five of their last six in the league with the one they lost in that time being away to the champions Burnley when they were reduced to 10 men in the opening 20 minutes. You would struggle to argue that they have been convincing in all of those wins but at this stage of the season looks go on the back burner for the points. The Blades certainly won’t care if they look good here as long as they win.
West Bromwich Albion
This has been a real rollercoaster of a campaign for West Bromwich Albion. It began is very dismal fashion when it was clearly obvious that Steve Bruce was out of his depth and now all Baggies fans are hoping that the delay in pulling the trigger, which was inevitable when it came, will not come back to bite them. Things are still in the West Brom hands in that if they win their last three they will have a shot at the play-offs but anything else and they’ll be relying on results elsewhere.
It did look like the Baggies would cruise into the play-offs during the middle two quarters when they put together an incredible burst of form but that has just dried up in recent times. They have picked a terrible time to win just two of their last seven outings and the defeat to Sunderland at the weekend from a goal up looks particularly costly. The positive for the visitors is that they have won their last two on the road. The negative to those wins is that they beat nothing special in either of them.
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Team News
Sheffield United will have both Tommy Doyle and James McAtee available to them for this match after both were forced to sit out the FA Cup semi-final at the weekend. Oli McBurnie will be hoping for a recall to the starting XI.
West Brom know they are going to be without long-term injury victims Daryl Dike and Matt Phillips. Were the Baggies to adopt a more defensive approach then Marc Albrighton could start in place of Karlan Grant.
Betting
This should be a great match to watch given what is at stake in it but I think it is a tricky one to bet on because the stakes are so high. My gut feeling is that Sheffield United won’t just roll over the line and if they do get the job done here then they might need to spend a pint of blood in doing so and I’m in no rush to back an odds on shot in those circumstances. The problem with backing West Brom is their need for the points is probably greater so at some stage they might need to take some risks.
Rather than second guess the action I’ll go to the player markets for a bet where the 19/20 on James McAtee to have a shot on target just looks plainly too big. He sat out the semi-final at the weekend but came off the bench to score the winner against Bristol City last week and scored in the win over Cardiff prior to that. Sunderland had a lot of joy down the West Brom right on Sunday afternoon and with McAtee often occupying the left of the midfield three for the Blades that looks a good matchup for him. With some heavy legs in the centre of the park after chasing Man City around on Saturday I expect McAtee to be utilised from the off and he can hit the target during his time on the pitch.
Tips
Back J.McAtee – Over 0.5 shots on target for a 3/10 stake at 1.95 with Betway
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