15 Jun 2020
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Form Prior To The Break
After what has been a very unusual mid-season break in the football calendar, we have finally got the Premier League back.
Having rounded off the last match back in March, Aston Villa will get us underway again in what looks a crucial clash for them as they sit two points inside the relegation zone, albeit with a game in hand.
Sheffield Utd on the other hand, have been the surprise package in the league this season as they currently sit up in seventh. Should they win here, they’ll find themselves up in fifth, which could well be a Champions League spot for next season depending on how Man City’s ban unfolds.
However, it hasn’t exactly just been by chance that they’re battling it out with the best, holding a W7-D3-L3 record from 13 matches dating back to early December, as only Man City (twice) and Liverpool could get the better of them.
Sheffield United To Win
In fact, against bottom-half teams they’ve won seven of their last nine unbeaten outings, including all three on the road, so you get the feeling they’d really need to have been affected by the break to not come away with anything in this one.
By contrast, Dean Smith’s men were wilting before Covid-19 came along, losing each of their last four matches.
Moreover, they’d won just three of their last 14 as 10 resulted in defeats, while those positive results largely came over weaker bottom-half sides – Norwich, Brighton, Burnley and Watford.
Indeed, against the top seven they possess a miserly eight defeats from nine winless outings this season, though they did manage to make it into the break behind on just four occasions.
From a goals sense this is a difficult one to call as although the Blades have seen fewer than three in nine or their last 12, with one side or the other failing to score in eight of those, they travel to a stadium that has seen a high output this term.
Indeed, only City, Liverpool and West Ham have seen a greater average goals per game on home turf, though unfortunately for Aston Villa a lot of those have been into the back of their own net.
Seven of their last nine have seen more than two goals, as both teams scored in six, and with that in mind it may be worth avoiding this market.
Sheffield United One Goal Winning Margin
It is also worth noting that the hosts will be without summer signing Wesley still after his ligament tear back in January, with their goal output decreasing 22.5% in the seven games he’s missed.
The visitors on the other hand have a much cleaner bill of health and that should play into their hands too.
One other market we’ll consider given we think Chris Wilder’s men will take the proceedings, is for it to be a close one.
Eight of their 11 wins this term have been by single-goal margins, including each of the last five. Moreover, half Villa’s last four matches have seen them lose by that exact margin too, including their last outing here.
Sheffield United To Win At 13/10
