Sheffield United v Middlesbrough
Wednesday 13th February 1945hrs
Football – England – Championship
Pick Both teams to score
Bookmaker Ladbrokes
Odds: 21/20 (odds taken 18.00 GMT, Tuesday 12th February)
Both of these clubs were left rueing throwing away leads at the weekend and will be going all out to make up for that by getting a valuable three points on Wednesday, continue reading for a betting preview of Sheffield United against Middlesbrough.
Championship Betting at Ladbrokes
Sheffield United Preview
It looked for all money that Sheffield United were home and hosed against Aston Villa on Friday evening, and due to go top of the table at the same time. Chris Wilder’s men were 3-0 up and cruising against Villa but they went to pieces in the last 10 minutes and had to settle for a share of the points. Results elsewhere means they are now left in third spot and five points behind leaders Norwich. It’s not catastrophic by any means, though, and the Blades will be looking forward to another big test with the visit of Tony Pulis’ men. It remains one defeat in their last nine league games and if you offered that to Wilder for the next nine games he would almost certainly take it as he tries to lead the club back to the top flight for the first time in over a decade. They head into Wednesday’s game at home to ‘Boro having won their last four at home, scoring nine goals in the process and conceding only one. Friday’s game indicated just how prolific they are as a team but particularly their star striker Billy Sharp whose two goals against Villa took his tally in the league to 22 goals – no other Championship player has scored more this season.
Key-Facts – Sheffield United v Middlesbrough
- Both of these teams contrived to lose leads in injury time in their weekend matches, dropping valuable points
- ‘Boro recorded their biggest win of the season so far when these sides last met in August
- The visitors’ last five league games have seen both teams scoring
Middlesbrough Preview
It may not have been as dramatic as Sheffield United’s collapse the day before, but Middlesbrough dropped points courtesy of an extremely late equaliser from Leeds to put a further dent in their hopes of automatic promotion. Teams above them also picked up points so it keeps ‘Boro in fifth spot and seven points behind the team they faced on Saturday, and a further two behind leaders Norwich. It’s not an insurmountable gap by any means but they do have to make up ground on those above them and their trip to the Steel City this midweek gives them the very opportunity to do just that. An away win would take them to within a point of their opponents and revive hope that they can finish in the top two. Only Norwich have lost fewer games on their travels in the league this season than Middlesbrough which gives an indication of just how hard they are to beat whether it is home or away, and they are one of several teams in the top half of the table who score more goals away from home than they do at home so that again is evidence that playing on the road suits them.
Sheffield United v Middlesbrough Betting Preview
One of the features of the Championship is that teams do not have to wait long before they get an opportunity to get over the frustration from the previous game, and there’s no doubt that these two clubs were left frustrated with how their respective games finished. Whilst Sheffield United sit above Middlesbrough in the table – and will remain there regardless of the result on Wednesday – it was Pulis’ men who came out on top the last time these sides met, winning 3-0 at the Riverside back in August. It remains Boro’s biggest victory of the league season and also Sheffield United’s joint heaviest defeat.
The hosts have been very strong at Bramall Lane this season winning nine and drawing three of their 15 games but two of their losses have come against teams in the top four. ‘Boro won their last away game 3-2 to West Brom in a game that was untypical of their usual, low-scoring type. One of the reasons for that is points against rival teams are even more crucial at this stage of the season and teams have to find any way to accumulate them. With that in mind, both teams to score on the more recent evidence looks appealing.
