A year ago, Sheffield United were in the position Coventry City occupy now – on 55 points and confident of a place in the Premier League next season. Southampton were already in the top division. Now both clubs look back on that as a distant, brighter past; nothing similar can be said about the present.
Southampton
Both clubs are now stuck in the lower half of the EFL Championship standings: Southampton are 15th, while Sheffield United are 17th. In both cases there has already been a change of head coach, but this has not fundamentally improved the situation. Both teams remain at risk of relegation, as the gap to 22nd place is no more than six points, and despite being among the top five squads in the league by total market value, they both lost their most recent league match.
Sheffield United
Sheffield United at least win from time to time: they have two victories in their last three league fixtures and three in their last five. However, they still lack the consistency needed to push into the top half of the standings. Goalless results are frequent in Sheffield United’s matches under Chris Wilder – in five of their last ten games they have finished with a zero in their goals-scored column – but occasionally a high-scoring match appears as well, such as the 3:5 against Wrexham.
Southampton vs Sheffield United Prediction
Last season, Sheffield United were renowned for their defensive solidity, sometimes putting together long runs without conceding, but this has become harder for them now. Even so, in two of the last three head-to-head meetings between Sheffield United and Southampton the under 2.5 goals bet has landed. We cannot say that both teams to score is impossible here, but we do believe there will not be more than three goals in total.
