England Premier League
Wednesday 17th June 2020
Kick off at 6pm BST
Venue: Villa Park
Match Preview:
With a slightly earlier kick off time than the other Premier League fixture on Wednesday Manchester City v Arsenal, it is this game between Aston Villa and Sheffield United that will officially restart the Premier League season after the Coronavirus.
It will be surreal for both sets of teams and of course the match will be played behind closed doors. Both teams will be looking for 3 points though. For Villa it’s for survival and for United it’s staking a claim for a European finish in a campaign which has, up to now, been highly successful for the Blades.
Of course it was Aston Villa who were involved in the final Premier League game to be played back in March before the pandemic struck, and it isn’t a game that they will want to be reminded of as they were demolished 4-0 away to Leicester.
That result has left Dean Smith’s side in 19th place though a win here would see Villa climb out of the bottom three. They are also four points clear of bottom placed Norwich and have a game in hand, which will be this one.
Villa have lost almost half of their games at home and that includes losing 3 of their last five here. Their last home game ended in a 3-2 defeat at the hands of Tottenham.
Sheffield United beat Norwich 1-0 in their last game and had been on an impressive 4 game unbeaten run. They are 7th and a win would take them into 5th place and above Manchester United. Given that this is their game in hand over the Red Devils this is indeed a huge match for Chris Wilder’s side.
Whilst the Blades have drawn 7 games on the road this season they have only lost twice and that was against Manchester City and Liverpool.
Team News:
Aston Villa: There are no new injuries for the club. As a reminder both Tom Heaton and Wesley are out for the season with knee injuries
Sheffield United: No new injuries for the club coming into this game.
Aston Villa vs Sheffield Utd Head to Head:
In the reverse fixture earlier in the season Sheffield United won 2-0.
The last 3 meetings between the sides have produced 13 goals.
Sheffield United have not won at Villa Park since 2014.
Aston Villa vs Sheffield Utd Prediction:
Sheffield United have proven they are the superior team and in a usual game we could consider them as the favourites. But this is unknown territory without fans and the world we now live in. The simple things like having tests, the ball being cleaned at different intervals it all gets in the players psyche.
We think the game could start off at a slow pace as both clubs just gather momentum. One wonders if the spectacle will be ruined some what due to the nature of this game and because this is an important encounter with consequences for both sides. We will tread carefully here but there are still some interesting markets to look into and we believe the game will open up more in the 2nd half.
Aston Villa vs Sheffield Utd Betting Tips:
Asian total (Over 2) at 1.56
Highest Scoring half: 2nd half at 2.00
Correct Score: 1-1 or 2-1 to Sheffield United at 6.00 and 9.00
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