Free betting tips: Sky Bet Championship - Swansea City v Sheffield United preview
Tom Carnduff takes a look at the betting for the Sky Bet Championship's late game, and has 3/1 and 16/1 best bets to consider.
Recommended bets
1pt Oli Norwood to score from outside the penalty area at 14/1
1pt Sheffield United to win and over 2.5 goals in the game at 3/1
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Sheffield United are firmly in the race for the Sky Bet Championship title, and will be hopeful of a slip-up from their promotion rivals prior to their clash away at Swansea.
The Swans are hopeful of offloading Wilfried Bony this month, which should free up significant funds in the wage budget to make some impact additions.
For the Blades, they’ve already welcome Kieran Dowell and Gary Madine but aren’t as desperate for new faces with Chris Wilder’s side flying high in the division.
One player who has starred in midfield has been Oli Norwood, with the Northern Ireland international becoming a full-time member of the United squad after turning his loan deal permanent.
He’s an influential member of this side, even being handed the captain’s armband on multiple occasions. More importantly, for the statistics at least, he has had a hand in eight league goals this season.
Norwood has also played every league minute too, showing that there is value in backing him when it comes to individual players.
I quite liked the 15/2 general price on Norwood to score anytime in this one, but after delving into the stats, there is a much better 14/1 worth taking.
That 14/1 is for 27-year-old to score from outside the area. We’ve already spoken about the involvement he’s had so far this season, but the stats demonstrate the confidence he possesses when trying to find the net.
Of the 28 shots on goal this season, 26 of those have been from outside the area, none have been inside the six-yard box.
That means that 93% of his shots in the Championship for Sheffield United have come from distance. Rather than taking the 15/2, we can near double the profit by backing a goal from outside the area.
I saw him play against QPR and he put in a very strong performance. He claimed the assist on David McGoldrick’s goal, also having two efforts on goal.
In terms of the result itself, Swansea have been pretty inconsistent in front of their own supporters, while the Blades are unbeaten in their last five on the road – winning three.
Three of those games also saw over 2.5 goals, while the other two fell one short of that target.
A best price of 3/1 is available with Betfair for a Sheffield United win and over 2.5 goals in the match, which represents more tempting value than the 6/4 on an away victory.
Score prediction: Swansea 1-2 Sheffield United (Sky Bet odds: 17/2)
Best bets:
Odds correct as of 2010 GMT on 18/01/18