On Friday evening at 19:45, Sheffield United has a rival street match from Sheffield Wednesday in a derby that always produces sparks and gaps. United is ranked No. 3 in the Championship (goal 27-19) and moves to promotion in the Premier League, while Wednesday is still unmatched and is in 17th place (goal 21-30).
Wednesday has the weakest defense of the second English league and it is remarkable that in 15 of the 17 games played by “owls” this season scored both teams! After Carlos Carvalhal’s departure, things went to Sheffield Wednesday’s valley, which was in the position to fight for promotion to the battle of relegation. Even if she has high quality players in the bout, Sheffield Wednesday pays tribute to an unreliable defensive team, which has scored 10 goals in the last 3 stages of the championship.
Sheffield United lost a single match of 8 on its own.
The guests come after 0-3 with QPR, 1-3 with Birmingham and 0-4 with Norwich, the last performance being lamentable. Sheffield United is in a different mood, with real chances of promotion or at least the play-off fight. The Reds lost their last move in Nottingham (0-1), but played well against Costel Pantilimon’s team and only bad luck made United not win a draw. On their own ground, The Blades have a nearly perfect run this season and come after winning with Hull (1-0), Wigan (4-2) and a draw with Stoke (1-1).
The shape of the moment is clear on the part of the hosts, who will have the support of the fans on their side, but the statistics indicate rather a balanced match. Three of the last five straight games ended with draws, and for the rest we saw a victory for both camps. This is not the kind of derby played in the expense, and both formations will try to secure their victory, so bets on goals should bring simple returns Friday night.
Hosts have an edge in derby results.
The “Steel City Derby” finds hosts without defeating 7 home matches in front of Wednesday. At the same time, United has 46 victories in the derby, compared to the 42nd white-rival rivals, and Joshua Luahakay, Dutch, has to find solutions to stop the striker Billy Sharp and Leon Clarke.
The team coached by Chris Wilder knows how to make a show on the field and the two rivals have very high goals scored in the match this season: in Sheffield United games scored 2.9 goals per game and in those of Wednesday 3.2 goals scored. They will not be able to play “Bramall Lane” Duffy and Wright from the hosts, while the guests come with the whole lot at the big game.
PREDICTION: Sheffield Utd to win @ 1.48
