Football – England – League One
Saturday 27th September 2014 – Kickoff: 1500hrs
Sheffield United suffered their first defeat in five matches last Saturday when they were on the end of a heavy 2-5 loss away at Swindon Town, but they have the chance to rectify things when they return to Bramall Lane this Saturday to entertain Gillingham.
Prior to the defeat at Swindon, The Blades had put together a five match unbeaten run which included wins over Peterborough United, Crawley Town, Rochdale and Colchester United along with a draw against Preston North End which had pushed Nigel Clough’s side into a top half position.
At Bramall Lane, Sheffield United hold a decent record of 2-0-1 3/2 and their most likely anytime goalscorers today are probably midfielder Davies (4 goals), along with forwards Murphy and McNulty.
Visitors Gillingham are only two league places and one point behind their hosts today going into this afternoon’s clash, however, this is largely due to their solid home form which has seen The Gills still remain unbeaten at Priestfield Stadium.
Gillingham have actually improved overall of late with just one defeat from their last five (a 0-1 loss at Coventry City upon the Sky Blues’ return to their Ricoh Arena), but they’ve secured recent wins over Crewe Alexandra and Peterborough United, although these were on home turf.
On the road, Gillingham are still yet to record their first away win having suffered three straight defeats at the hands of MK Dons, Barnsley and Coventry City, but they did grab a point away at OldhamAthletic on their last trip.
Gillingham’s away record stands at 0-1-3 3/9, and only today’s opponents Sheffield United, Scunthorpe United and Crewe have conceded more away goals than them in the division so far.
With this in mind, and with Sheffield United back at Bramall Lane, I’ll back the hosts for the three points here and will go against Gillingham until they can prove they can win on the road. This could be a 2-1 win for The Blades.
Pick: Sheffield United straight win @ 1.73 Coral
