Sheffield United FC
Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace
Sheffield United and Crystal Palace are two teams with little to play for at Bramall Lane
Crystal Palace to win 1-0
Some games are just destined to pass us by without much to talk about, especially one between a team already relegated and another comfortably safe but without anything left to challenge for other than pride.
Sheffield United have been awful all season, especially since sacking long-term manager Chris Wilder a month or so ago.
They earned a close victory over the inconsistent Brighton a couple of games ago to suggest that relegation would remove some of the pressure on their shoulders, though they were subsequently thrashed 4-0 by Spurs in their last outing.
Crystal Palace have experienced another season where they will likely finish in 13th or 14th position, and have now lost each of their last three games in the league.
With no hope of reaching into the top half of the table (they’re 10 points adrift of Villa in 10th), their main aim is to finish the season strongly ready for next year.
Form Guide (all comps): LLLWL
Reasons to be cheerful:
Aren’t too far behind Palace in terms of quality
Won their last home game
Reasons to be fearful:
Were beaten by Palace earlier in the season
Have scored just one goal in their last three games
Sheffield United won’t be too dejected with their 4-0 defeat against Tottenham in their last game. It was a thrashing, but they happened to come up against a team with a new manager and a player in Gareth Bale who can always turn it on.
In their last home game, they beat Brighton and the Blades will hope that this game is more similar to that than their beating by Spurs.
Temporary manager Paul Heckingbottom never had a hope in hell’s chance of keeping United up this season, with 27 defeats from 34 games, but he has the opportunity to finish it positively should he pick up one or two further wins.
Here, Chris Basham should be fit enough to continue after he made his comeback against Spurs, while Berge could come into the starting line-up for the first time since December.
Star Man – David McGoldrick
Could the Blades top scorer be going elsewhere next season? He’s come up with the goals this season, and scored in the 1-0 win over Brighton recently.
Form Guide (all comps): WDLLL
Reasons to be cheerful:
Comfortably beat Sheffield United earlier this season
Have a stronger attack than United
Reasons to be fearful:
No win in the last four
Have been plagued by injuries for most of the season
Many football fans will point to the fact that Palace are likely to finish in the same area of the Premier League table as they have in recent seasons, showing no real progress during this campaign.
True, they have finished between positions 11-14 in each of their last five seasons, and they are unlikely to break the mould in this campaign.
Unfortunately for Palace, they have been troubled by injuries for much of the season, losing Zaha earlier in the campaign, but also key defenders and midfielders.
Here, the likes of Sakho, Tomkins and Cahill are likely to be out at the back, while MacArthur and Wickham remain out in midfield.
They still have a stronger front line than Sheffield United, and are likely to cause them some problems throughout the match.
Star Man – Wilf Zaha
Palace’s best player has the ability to unlock Sheffield United’s defence here.
Could be a game low on quality
Palace have the better attack but players missing at the back
Can Blades continue winning home run?
Crystal Palace should really see this as a terrific opportunity to claim three points and set themselves up for a strong finish to the season.
Sheffield United, despite winning their last home game, have been poor in terms of scoring goals as well as keeping only three clean sheets all season.
Palace should score here, and if they do they can take all three points.
Crystal Palace to win 1-0
