Sheffield United supporters will be relishing their first game at Bramall Lane since November 28 when their side play host to Luton Town in the Championship on Saturday afternoon.
The two teams could not be separated in the reverse fixture back in August when they played out a goalless draw at Kenilworth Road.
Match preview
© Reuters
After beginning the New Year with successive defeats to Wolverhampton Wanderers in the FA Cup and then to Derby County in the league, Sheffield United threw a two-goal lead away against 10-man Preston North End to draw 2-2 on Tuesday.
Jayden Bogle opened the scoring for the visitors before Andrew Hughes was sent off for his challenge on Rhian Brewster inside the penalty box as the last man, which resulted in Billy Sharp converting from 12 yards.
However, Preston came out fighting in the second half and they managed to rescue a draw thanks to strikes from Alan Browne and Emil Riis Jakobsen, with the latter equalising in the 89th minute.
Paul Heckingbottom's side remain just inside the top half of the table on goal difference – two points and one place behind Saturday's opponents Luton – but they are now 11 points adrift of the playoffs, albeit with up to three games in hand on some of the teams above them.
Sheffield United are unbeaten in each of their last four meetings with Luton, including their last two home matches, winning by an aggregate score of 5-0.
The Blades, however, were unable to breach Luton's backline in the reverse fixture earlier this season, which finished goalless, so Heckingbottom will be hoping that his team can improve in the final third this weekend.
© Reuters
Luton Town extended their unbeaten run across all competitions to five matches when they secured a 2-0 win away against Reading on Wednesday night.
An own goal from Royals defender Tom Holmes gave the Hatters the lead just after the half-hour mark before Allan Campbell tapped in from close range in the 58th minute to seal all three points.
Nathan Jones's men have now accumulated 10 points from their last 12 available which has moved them up to 11th in the Championship standings, though like Sheffield United, there is still an 11-point gap to the top six.
Luton are now preparing for their first visit to Bramall Lane since November 2005, when they were thrashed 4-0, a result that Jones will be confident of avoiding given their upturn in form.
The Hatters will be looking to record their fourth successive away clean sheet on Saturday and move into the top half of the table with a victory.
- W
- W
- W
- W
- L
- D
- W
- W
- W
- L
- L
- D
- D
- L
- W
- D
- W
- W
- L
- W
- D
- W
- W
- W
Team News
© Reuters
Heckingbottom has revealed that Enda Stevens will be assessed ahead of kickoff to see if he can feature this weekend, though Morgan Gibbs-White remains sidelined with a knee injury.
After a spell out with COVID-19, Oli McBurnie has since returned to training but is doubtful due to fitness concerns, while Lys Mousset is also struggling with a lack of fitness.
Goalkeeper Robin Olsen has had his loan spell with the Blades cut short by Roma and has joined Aston Villa, so Wes Foderingham is set to keep his place between the sticks, while Sander Berge and David McGoldrick could return to the first XI at the expense of Iliman Ndiaye and Rhian Brewster.
As for Luton, Harry Cornick remains out due to injury and Admiral Muskwe is still away on international duty with Zimbabwe at the Africa Cup of Nations.
Goalkeeper James Shea, who has started each of the last four league matches, is expected to keep his place ahead of Simon Sluga, while either Fred Onyedinma or Carlos Mendes Gomes could replace Cameron Jerome in attack.
Sheffield United possible starting lineup:
Foderingham; Basham, Egan, Robinson; Bogle, Hourihane, Norwood, Berge, Norrington-Davies; McGoldrick, Sharp
Luton Town possible starting lineup:
Shea; Burke, Bradley, Naismith; Bree, Campbell, Mpanzu, Bell; Clark, Onyedinma; Adebayo
We say: Sheffield United 1-1 Luton Town
Both sides will fancy their chances of claiming all three points this weekend, with Luton heading into this fixture in better form than the hosts.
However, with little to separate these two teams, an entertaining score draw could be on the cards at Bramall Lane.
Top tip
Oliver Thomas
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Sheffield United win with a probability of 45.36%. A draw had a probability of 27.4% and a win for Luton Town had a probability of 27.28%.
The most likely scoreline for a Sheffield United win was 1-0 with a probability of 12.93%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (8.82%) and 2-1 (8.75%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (12.82%), while for a Luton Town win it was 0-1 (9.4%). The actual scoreline of 2-0 was predicted with an 8.8% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Sheffield United would win this match.
