What a start to 2022 for the Blades. In the eight games they’ve played since the turn of the year, they’ve suffered just a single league defeat and this form that’s propelled Paul Heckingbottom’s men into playoff contention. They can thank their resolute defence for their success during that period given that they’ve conceded just three league goals in 2022, it’s also a backline that’s kept a clean sheet in each of their last four league outings. They thumped Swansea City 4-0 at the weekend and they’ll be hoping for more of the same here.

Blackburn Rovers were aiming for an automatic promotion spot at one point, but a tail off in form now sees them lying third, but four points off of second-placed Bournemouth despite playing two games more. Their recent form has also been underwhelming having not clinched a victory across any of their last four matches. Their weekend fixture against Millwall was postponed and boss Tony Mowbray will hope the enforced rest will be an advantage.

Close encounter predicted
We’re not expecting a thriller here and believe that a close contest is likely. We think Sheffield United could claim victory but it’s tough to know which Blackburn Rovers will turn up or how the enforced break could impact them. We think there will be fewer than three goals here and that’s what we’re going for.



译文(自动翻译仅供参考):

对刀锋队来说，2022年是个多么好的开始啊。在今年年初以来的8场比赛中，他们只输了一场，这种状态让保罗·赫金巴顿的球队进入了季后赛的争夺。他们应该感谢他们坚定的防守在这段时间里取得的成功，因为他们在2022年只丢了3个联赛球，这也是一个在过去四场联赛中保持不失球的后防线。他们在周末4-0击败了斯旺西城，他们希望在这里能有更多这样的比赛。

布莱克本流浪者曾一度希望获得自动晋级的资格，但由于状态下降，他们现在排在了第三位，虽然比排名第二的伯恩茅斯多踢了两场比赛，但还是落后了4分。他们最近的表现也很平淡，在过去的四场比赛中没有取得一场胜利。他们周末对米尔沃尔的比赛被推迟，主教练托尼·莫布雷希望被强制的休息能成为一种优势。

亲密接触的预测
我们并不期待在这里看到惊悚片，我们相信一场势均力敌的竞争是可能的。我们认为谢菲尔德联队可以获得胜利，但很难知道布莱克本哪支球队会出现，也很难知道被迫的休息会对他们产生怎样的影响。我们认为这里的进球不会超过三个，这就是我们的目标。