England Premier League
Saturday 30th December 2023
Kick off at 3pm GMT
Venue: Etihad Stadium
Match Preview:
Perhaps going to Saudi Arabia and winning the World Club Cup was the perfect tonic for Manchester City who had looked sluggish and off their game for the past five weeks previously. They returned and without their two best players fell a goal behind to Everton before beating them 3-1, job done and City are well within the chance of another title race showdown. As they come into this weekend they find themselves five points behind the league leaders Liverpool but they do have a game in hand the fact that Liverpool drew with Arsenal last week was a huge boost for City. Their win over Everton has reeled them back into the title hunt and they will be the outstanding favourites to win this game at home. Home form has seen 5 wins from 8 with no defeats so far although they have drawn their last 3 in a row, very unlike the champions to do so, a 4th draw in a row is not expected.
Sheffield United lost their 14th game of the season in their last fixture as they were beaten 3-2 at home to Luton in a crucial clash given that the Hatters are in the bottom three. Because of an incredibly negative goal difference the Blades are 8 points from safety and the worry for them is that new manager Chris Wilder is already losing the feel good effects of him coming back to the club. Although this is a side with fight in them, they were literally seconds from beating Aston Villa away from home in what would have been one of the shocks of the season and they have won 4 points from their last 12, which is still an improvement over past months, but there is much work to do and the Blades look doomed for the Championship before the turn of the year.
Team News:
Manchester City: Kevin De Bruyne could be assessed but remains at just 50/50 to return because of fitness issues. Erling Haaland is a doubt still with a foot injury and looks set to miss out again. Jeremy Doku is 50/50 to return from a muscle injury. Ruben Dias will be assessed due to illness but is being tipped to return. John Stones may be rested as a precaution after an ankle injury against Everton
Sheffield United: Gustavo Hamer is suspended for picking up his fifth yellow card of the season. James Mcatee cannot face his parent club, Anel Ahmedhodzic is suspended for this game. Chris Basham, Tom Davies, John Egan and Daniel Jebbison all remain out
Man City vs Sheffield Utd Head to Head:
The last time the clubs met here in the Premier League was in 2021 when Manchester City won 1-0.
The teams played here this year in the FA Cup and Manchester City won 3-0.
Manchester City have won their last six encounters.
Sheffield United have not beaten Manchester City away from home since 1987.
Man City vs Sheffield Utd Prediction:
By and large it has been interesting this season to expect a score line that hasn’t happened even if the result has. That means that clubs such as Manchester City being at home to the bottom side you may expect to see them bagging 5, 6 or even more goals, but we have rarely seen this happen this season. Still we expect the champions to win the game and score at least 3 goals, and this will feel like a nice homecoming after winning the World Club Cup, which may also be on display in a game that should have a feel good factor ahead of the new year.
As expected City look unbackable at huge odds on and to grab back some value we should look into the handicap market. Haaland may be missing but it won’t matter for the short term there are so many goalscorers in this team like Julien Alvarez but Phil Foden has been on fire lately and he is a good price to get on the score sheet. City to win then and reignite their title ambitions is the only result we can see at the weekend.
Man City vs Sheffield Utd Betting Tips:
Handicap: Manchester City to win with a -2 goal start at 1.72
Anytime goalscorer: Phil Foden at 2.10
Anytime goalscorer: Julien Alvarez at 1.62
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