Championship contenders, Sheffield United suffered a midweek heartbreak against Fulham in a nine-goal thriller at Bramall Lane. The Blades lost the match 5-4 and come into this weekend looking to bounce back in their match against Birmingham City on Saturday.
The South Yorkshire club are currently sitting pretty in third place, five points off league leaders, Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Despite their strikers banging in the goals recently, Chris Wilder’s men have struggled defensively and have not kept a clean sheet in any of their last three Championship matches.
They will go all out to bag three points against fellow Championship strugglers, Birmingham City at home. The West Midlands club currently finds themselves in a relegation scramble towards the bottom of the Championship standings.
It looks likely that the Blades boss will make some changes to his starting line-up after their midweek exertions but the team formation might remain the same with Chris Wilder’s preference to play 3-5-2.
Predicted 3-5-2 Sheffield United Line-Up Vs Birmingham
Defence
Blades’ goalkeeper, Jamal Blackman will retain his place in the starting eleven but will have a point to prove after conceding six goals in his last 3 appearances. He might be shielded by a back three of Cameron Carter-Vickers, Jake Wright and Jack O’Connell.
All three members of the backline also started in the midweek fixture against Fulham. But it feels like the Blades’ manager will give them another chance to try and sure up the defence.
Midfield
Chris Basham should start on the right flank with Enda Stevens on the left-hand side of the midfield. Chris Wilder has rotated his central midfield options all throughout this campaign. With Paul Coutts out for the remainder of the season, he’s still looking for his best midfield options. That’s why it is likely that he will start David Brooks in place of John Lundstram along with Mark Duffy and John Fleck at the centre of his midfield.
The 20-year-old Brooks has rarely started for Sheffield United with most of his appearances coming from the bench. Birmingham City might be the ideal opponent for the Blades boss to test the mettle of the Welsh youngster and see whether he can cope with the pressures of first-team football.
Attack
The Blades’ front two have been in terrific form this season. Fresh from his midweek hat-trick, Leon Clarke will once again partner Billy Sharp up top. The two strikers have scored 20 of Sheffield United’s 31 goals this season.
The 32-year-old Leon Clarke has scored 12 goals this season and is currently the leading scorer of the Championship. Billy Sharp is also in the race for golden boot with his 8 goals so far.
