England Premier League
Friday 10th January 2020
Kick off at 8pm GMT
Venue: Bramall Lane
Match Preview:
A rare Friday night game will take place in the Premier League as Sheffield United will host West Ham in what has all of the ingredients of being a very entertaining game.
The home side have had a very positive first half to the season up in the top half of the table and at one point being as high as 5th. However recent form has taken a dip and the club come into this game with no wins in their last 3 matches.
Although manager Chris Wilder can rightly point to the fact that his team have had to play both Liverpool and Manchester City in their last two games and even though those ended in defeat, they were respectable scorelines. At home the Blades have a mixed record having won 40% of their games at Bramall Lane but also losing four. Their last match here ended in a 1-1 draw against Watford.
West Ham now have David Moyes back in the dug out and he has started strong with 2 wins from his two games. The club did really well in beating Bournemouth 4-0 in the league in Moyes' first game in charge, and then they beat Gillingham in the FA Cup 2-0. Whilst the Hammers should be beating the likes of Gillingham history tells us that they have repeatedly lost to lower league teams and really underperformed in cup matches.
Moyes was known to the West Ham fans in his first stint with the club as being too negative and afraid to lose but he has set up the team to be more direct and attacking. Has his philosophy changed or is this just a honeymoon period?
The Hammers are in 16th place with 22 points and are just two points above the relegation zone, though a win here could take them up a couple of places at least. The club have lost 3 of their last five away games.
Team News:
Sheffield United: Simon Moore is being pencilled in to return here after his groin injury. Michael Verrips had a head injury in the cup match. It wasn’t serious but as precaution he could miss this game. Sofiane Boufal could return after his toe injury
West Ham: Michail Antonio will be assessed after his recent hamstring injury kept him out of the cup game. Aaron Cressewell has a good chance to return after a knock. Ryan Fredericks looks set to miss at least a month with a hamstring injury. Andriy Yarmolenko will face a test after missing some games with a knock and could return
Sheffield Utd vs West Ham Head to Head:
Earlier this season the teams drew 1-1 at West Ham.
The clubs have not played at Bramall Lane since 2007 when Sheffield United won 3-0.
The clubs have only played each other 4 games in the past 15 years with West Ham winning just one of them.
Sheffield Utd vs West Ham Prediction:
Sheffield United have beaten better teams than West Ham and if Manuel Pellegrini was still in charge we would have no doubt that the Blades would overcome the Hammers. However West Ham are in good spirits ahead of this game and the players have really reacted well to David Moyes being in charge. He is ready to wipe the slate clean and it has had a major effect on players like Sebastian Haller a very good forward who had been suffering with confidence issues. This game remains a very difficult one for the London side though and it would be best to look into different markets for this encounter.
Sheffield Utd vs West Ham Betting Tips:
Anytime goalscorer: Sebastian Haller at 3.00
Both teams to score at 1.91
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