The Blades are charging towards promotion to the Premier League and they’ve been exceptional on home soil this campaign. George Gamble has spotted some value in the goals market.
Sheffield United sit second place in the Sky Bet Championship table and have their eyes firmly set on achieving automatic promotion.
They had a bit of a wobble recently as they suffered back-to-back losses against third place Middlesbrough and Millwall respectively. However, they managed to get back to winning ways at the weekend as they emerged as 1-0 victors of playoff hopefuls Watford at Bramall Lane.
Only Burnley can boast a better record at home in the second division with the Blades claiming points in 14 of their 17 home matches.
Now their focus turns to the FA Cup and an opportunity to test themselves against one of the best sides in the country in Tottenham Hotspur.
Kick-off time: 19:55 GMT, Wednesday
TV Channel: BBC One
Paul Heckingbottom’s side top the charts when it comes to accumulated expected goals (xG) on home soil in the Championship this season (38.8), according to Infogol’s expected goals table.
Yet they have only managed to score 35 goals suggesting they can occasionally be profligate when presented with chances to put the ball in the back of the net.
That’s something they can not afford to be doing when welcoming a side like Spurs who boast some of the best finishers in the sport.
The visitors enter this match off the back of a morale-boosting 2-0 victory over London rivals Chelsea at the weekend. That result means that assistant coach Christian Stellini has a 100% record across four games in which he has been in charge due to boss Antonio Conte recovering from surgery.
The Lilywhites have secured three wins to nil across their latest five road trips domestically and they’ll be full of confidence they can live up to their tag as favourites by claiming victory.
However, they’d do well not to underestimate the Championship outfit as if there’s a lack of intensity, the Blades could pounce.
Spurs have performed much better at home than they have away. In the league, their xG drops significantly when on the road and they have failed to win seven of 12 such fixtures.
Creating opportunities could be more difficult than anticipated against a Sheffield United side that doesn’t concede many clear cut chances.
It could be a game that gets decided in midfield and under the lights in Sheffield, the hosts will look to make life difficult. With that in mind, it seems questionable that goals are heavily favoured here.
The 4/5 available on over 2.5 goals doesn’t seem a viable option but from a value perspective, the 11/10 on offer for UNDER 2.5 GOALS fewer than three goals being witnessed certainly does.
That price should probably be closer to even money, possibly shorter, and with that in mind, a couple of points on less than three goals being scored looks to be a standout selection.
Sheffield United v Tottenham best bets and score prediction
- 2pts Under 2.5 Goals at 11/10 (Betfred)
Score prediction: Sheffield United 1-1 Tottenham (Sky Bet odds: 6/1)
Odds correct at 1915 GMT (28/02/23)
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