Chris Wilder will take his Middlesbrough team into battle against his former club on Sunday, as Sheffield United make the trip north for a Championship contest.
Having both lost in the EFL Cup last time out, the hosts come into the game with one from their opening two league games, while their visitors sit on three points after bouncing back from an opening-day defeat.
Match preview
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After an eventual seventh-placed finish in the Championship last season, five points off the playoffs following Chris Wilder's appointment as manager in November, Middlesbrough headed into the new campaign with the hopes of building and pushing harder for promotion this time around.
Their campaign began with a home contest against West Bromwich Albion, and Boro took an early lead through Isaiah Jones, only for John Swift to force a share of the spoils with a second-half equaliser.
Looking to quickly put a first league win on the board, they would then make the trip south to take on Queens Park Rangers, and, after their hosts took a three-goal lead through Chris Willock, Jimmy Dunne and Lyndon Dykes, Middlesbrough began to fight back with Matt Crooks and Marcus Forss getting on the scoresheet but were unable to force a share of the spoils with a third goal.
Boro most recently took on Barnsley in an EFL Cup first-round tie at the Riverside Stadium on Wednesday and would drop out of the competition after a 1-0 defeat, with Josh Benson hitting the decisive goal for the visitors in injury time.
Now able to focus fully on the Championship, Wilder will hope to get one over on his old club after being on the wrong end of a 4-1 thrashing at Bramall Lane last year, and put up a first win of the season on the board in their aim to establish themselves in the leading pack in the coming months.
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Fellow promotion hopefuls Sheffield United make the trip hoping for a second straight league triumph after bouncing back from a losing start.
Following their penalty shootout heartbreak in the playoff semi-final contest against Nottingham Forest last season, Paul Heckingbottom's side began their second season back in the Championship with a trip to newly-relegated Watford and left empty-handed as Joao Pedro hit the only goal of the game.
Hoping to quickly put their first points on the board, the Blades then hosted Millwall last weekend, and Iliman Ndiaye and Sander Berge got on the scoresheet in a 2-0 victory, with the only disappointing moment being when Oliver Norwood squandered the opportunity to take their lead to three goals from the penalty spot on the stroke of half time.
The South Yorkshire outfit were also in EFL Cup action in midweek, as they travelled to take on West Bromwich Albion in the first round on Thursday, with a 73rd-minute Karlan Grant goal condemning them to a 1-0 defeat.
Turning their attention back to the opening run of the league season, Heckingbottom's side will hope to follow up last week's victory over Millwall with a second three-point haul on Sunday.
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Team News
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After rotating his squad for the midweek EFL Cup contest, Wilder should call back upon more of his key players, with the likes of Jonny Howson, Matt Crooks, Isaiah Jones and Ryan Giles set to come back in from the outset.
Darragh Lenihan will also return to contention after serving a suspension in that game, and he should feature in the back three with Anfernee Dijksteel, Marc Bola, Dael Fry and Paddy McNair all fighting for spots.
Summer signing Marcus Forss will likely lead the line after opening his account in the eventual defeat to QPR, with Duncan Watmore likely to join him in a front two.
Similarly to their opponents, Sheffield United will also make plenty of changes to the side that played against West Bromwich Albion, with Sander Berge, Iliman Ndiaye and George Baldock all bound to start while Ciaran Clark should rejoin John Egan and Anel Ahmedhodzic in the defensive trio.
They continue to deal with several enforced absences, as Jack O'Connell, Jack Robinson and Chris Basham are ruled out, although Tommy Doyle, Billy Sharp and Oli McBurnie are nearing returns to full fitness, with the latter playing an Under-21s game in midweek while Doyle and Sharp were fit to come off the bench at the Hawthorns.
They should be slowly eased back into action, though, with John Fleck and Oliver Norwood likely operating in the engine room, while Berge and Ndiaye will play key roles in the front three, leaving one spot up for grabs among the likes of Rhian Brewster, Daniel Jebbison and new arrivals Reda Khadra and James McAtee and allowing Sharp to feature off the bench after a long layoff.
Middlesbrough possible starting lineup:
Steffen; Dijksteel, Lenihan, McNair; Jones, Crooks, Howson, McGree, Giles; Watmore, Forss
Sheffield United possible starting lineup:
Foderingham; Ahmedhodzic, Egan, Clark; Baldock, Norwood, Fleck, Norrington-Davies; Berge, Ndiaye; Brewster
We say: Middlesbrough 1-1 Sheffield United
Sunday's contest is certainly one of the picks of the Championship games this weekend, as two sides hopeful of, at least, earning a top-six finish square off, and we cannot quite pick a winner.
Partially down to Wilder's influence at both clubs, the setups are largely similar, and we anticipate then cancelling one another out in a competitive affair and sharing the points.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Sam Varley
