Blackburn Rovers vs Sheffield United – Preview | OneFootball

Blackburn Rovers host Sheffield United on Saturday early afternoon with both sides currently sitting in the top six.

The Lancashire outfit have won just once in their previous five matches, with their most recent game ending in a 1-0 defeat away at Watford. Rovers’ attack must be spooked having scored two goals in the month of October.

United suffered a hiccup on their travels this month, losing to Leeds United and Middlesbrough back-to-back, nevertheless, they were able to get back to winning ways last weekend when they eased to a 2-0 victory against Stoke City at Bramall Lane.

WATFORD, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 26: Andreas Weimann of Blackburn attempts at goal by lobbing the ball over keeper Daniel Bachmann of Watford during the Sky Bet Championship match between Watford FC and Blackburn Rovers FC at Vicarage Road on October 26, 2024 in Watford, England. (Photo by Jaimi Joy/Getty Images)

Transfer business

The inevitable happened this summer when Blackburn Rovers sold last season’s top goalscorer Sammie Szmodicz, who scored 27 goals. Despite this loss, John Eustace has led Rovers to a decent enough start to this campaign, and it’s thanks to some solid business in the summer.

The acquisition of free agent Andreas Weimann helped to provide the attack with experience at this level, and one that is capable of scoring double figures in the Championship. They also added Championship experience in midfield with Todd Cantwell signing from Rangers; he’ll add plenty of creativity to the team, and he already has two assists in eight appearances.

One signing that lacked Championship experience, but has taken to the league like a duck to water, is Yuki Ohashi. After scoring 23 goals in the last two years in the Japanese first division, along with seven assists, the Japanese forward has already bagged four goals in 12 games. Ohashi provides Blackburn with an outlet whenever he is on the pitch, and like most Japanese players, they are technically very sound.

Team news

Blackburn Rovers are grappling with a significant blow to their Championship campaign as defender Hayden Carter is expected to be sidelined for two to three months after undergoing knee surgery, John Eustace told the club’s media. The 24-year-old sustained the injury in a recent 0-0 draw with West Bromwich Albion.

Meanwhile, Chris Wilder is set to make a change to his line-up following Anel Ahmedhodzic’s suspension for accumulating five yellow cards this season. Ahmedhodzic’s latest booking came during United’s comfortable 2-0 victory over Stoke City at Bramall Lane last Saturday. As the club braces for the defender’s absence, Wilder will likely bring Jack Robinson back into the starting eleven, marking Robinson’s first appearance since mid-August.

In midfield, Tom Davies has shown steady progress as he works his way back into match fitness following a pre-season disrupted by injuries. Recently, Davies has featured in two consecutive matches for United’s development squad, with careful management limiting him to 45 minutes in each outing. The club is optimistic about Davies’ recovery.

Blackburn Rovers’ star player for this game

It’s difficult to predict who will even start for Blackburn Rovers at the weekend because John Eustace has rotated his attacking players often to try and find a solution to their lack of goals this month.

One player that has started every game for them however is combative midfielder Lewis Travis. The 27-year-old will face one of his trickier tests of the season when he comes up against Sheffield United’s midfield, but Travis is always up for the battle, sometimes too much. He is averaging three successful tackles per game along with an interception, to go with his five duels, and he’s averaging four ball recoveries a game. He’s also giving up 1.5 fouls per game, and this has led to him being on four yellow cards.

Travis has contributed offensively this season by scoring two goals, both from outside of the box, combining to a 0.42 expected goals, so the Blades will have to be wary of him around the edge of the box.

Kieffer Moore celebrating his first goal for Sheffield United scoring against Queens Park Rangers at Bramall Lane to make it 2-0 inside the opening 20 minutes.

Sheffield United’s star player for this game

Three of Blackburn’s last seven goals conceded, since the start of the Lancashire derby, have been via headers, and it could’ve been four of eight if it wasn’t for some heroic defending to deny Watford’s defender last time out. Given this seems to be a problem area, I think Kieffer Moore can turn the corner and make it back-to-back games on the scoresheet.

Moore ranks in the 94th percentile for aerials won this season in the Championship and he ranks in the 98th percentile for aerial duels success rate. With Gustavo Hamer, Harrison Burrows and Jesurun Rak-Sakyi likely in the starting eleven, United have the quality to supply Moore, unfortunately for the Welshman, the Blades are hesitant to cross the ball into Moore when he’s on the pitch. You’d expect that to change at some point.

My view

In terms of possession, both teams average just under 50% per 90, with Sheffield United ever so slightly shading more of the ball. Additionally, both teams have a similar percentage when it comes to playing the ball forward per game (33%). So it seems both sides are well-matched in the possession aspect. They each average slightly over four shots on target per game. In terms of attacking transitional play, once again, they are equal. Even on the defensive side of things as well.

No matter what area of the pitch you look at statistically, this appears to be a 50/50 game.

My prediction

Blackburn Rovers are yet to lose at home this season, and they are the joint-best home team in the division. However, their dip in form up front makes me slightly favour the Blades in this one, because of their excellent defence.

I think this one has 0-0 or 1-0 written all over it, and if there is a winner in the contest I’d side with Sheffield United.