The Sky Bet Championship weekend concludes with a huge clash on Monday night when the top two battle it out in a Yorkshire derby at Bramall Lane as second placed Sheffield United welcome Leeds United to their home turf.
Top spot is on the line here with Sheffield United going top if they win but Leeds would move five points clear should they come out on top. The overriding aim though will be for both to put more points between them and third placed Burnley.
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 to the clash beginning at 7pm ahead of the 8pm kick off.
Sheffield United
The turnaround from where Sheffield United were this time last year to where they are now is pretty remarkable it has to be said but they won’t be wanting to rest on their laurels now. They know the job is only really half done and that they will need to keep on trying to improve and ensure that they finish in the top two and secure an immediate return to the Premier League. A win here would certainly help their title chances but I’m sure if you offered Chris Wilder second spot not he would take it.
Sheffield United have a wonderful home record this season with them going 12-2-2 at Bramall Lane and that suggests that they will be competitive at the very least in this match. That form has largely been down to their defensive prowess with just 10 goals conceded in those 16 matches and generally when they win here they do so without conceding. They probably aren’t as flourishing or as free flowing at the other end which might be a concern should they go up but they have enough to be respectable here.
Leeds United
Leeds United have been by far and away the best team in the Championship this season. They are the top scorers in the division by some 13 goals and they would have the best defensive record in the league as well were it not for the incredible efforts of Burnley in that department. They have won 21 of their 33 matches and are in a perfect position to right the wrong of last term where they did a bit of a no show in the play-off final. Nobody at Leeds will need me to tell them that they don’t want to rely on that lottery again.
It is important that Leeds continue on their merry way though because this fan base have seen enough struggles at the back end of the season that they don’t want those fears to return. A win here would move them seven points clear of Burnley in third with just 12 matches remaining and it would take a bit of a collapse not to get promoted from there. Leeds are 7-7-2 on their travels this season so they aren’t particularly weak away from Elland Road which bodes well for them.
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Team News
Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder suggested after the game at Luton last week that Gustavo Hamer and Tom Cannon would definitely be fit to play in this match so you would imagine one of those will come in for Rhian Brewster who was anonymous at Kenilworth Road.
Leeds United manager Daniel Farke will be watching on from the stands for this one but before he gets up there he will have to make a late decision on whether to start with Manor Solomon after the winger took a hefty blow in the win over Sunderland last week.
Betting
If there is a winner in this match I ordinarily thought it would be Leeds United but the fact that Daniel Farke is in the stands for this one puts me off getting involved in them. I think it will be a tight and tense match and Leeds are probably a touch on the skinny side anyway so I’ll go to the player markets and I really don’t like the right side for Sheffield United defensively and as such I think that the odds against on Manor Solomon having a shot on target is a big price. Last week against Luton, Thelo Aasgaard cut in from the Blades right and hit the crossbar with a shot while the last two left-wingers to oppose Sheffield United at Bramall Lane have had five shots on target and Solomon is better than the pair of them. He’s too big to register an effort on goal here.
Speaking of big prices, the 10/3 on Jayden Bogle to be booked has to be taken. He is going to get the frostiest of all frosty receptions here having bailed on Sheffield United to move to Elland Road and the crowd could easily get the referee to pull a card out here. He is likely to go up in a direct battle with Ben Brereton Diaz who rarely needs much in the way of persuasion to go over and in what could be a bit of a hostile atmosphere whether Bogle is concerned it wouldn’t be the biggest surprise in the world if he does something rash anyway. It might not need that with the crowd involved though and so the man who has nine cards to his name this season already is a big price to see another at 10/3.
Tips
Back M.Solomon – Over 0.5 shots on target for a 3/10 stake at 2.10 with Coral
Back J.Boyle to be shown a card for a 2/10 stake at 4.33 with Bet365
