Sheffield United vs Bristol City – Preview | OneFootball

The Blades are looking to go back-to-back home victories when they welcome Bristol City to Bramall Lane on Tuesday evening.

Sheffield United saw off Paul Heckingbottom’s Preston North End by a 1-0 scoreline on Saturday afternoon thanks to yet another goal from Tyrese Campbell. Chris Wilder’s side are going strong at the business end of the season, winning six of their last seven games, and even a draw in midweek could see them jump up to the top of the league.

Bristol City are unbeaten in their last five games with their most recent result being a 1-1 draw at home against ten-man Hull City. Liam Manning’s men are within touching distance of the play-off places: two points behind sixth-placed West Bromwich Albion, and three points behind Coventry City who sit in fifth.

Team News

Wilder has revealed that the two loan right-backs, Alfie Gilchrist and Harry Clarke, have since returned to Sheffield United after receiving treatment at their parent clubs. The duo are now being assessed ahead of the Sheffield Wednesday game, but both will miss the Bristol City clash. Additionally, Tom Davies will not be back until after the international break.

Wilder also confirmed that even though Oliver Arblaster is having an excellent recovery, he won’t be back before the end of the campaign. On a positive note, he looks ready to hit the ground running in pre-season. Rhys Norrington-Davies will also miss the rest of the season.

Meanwhile, the Blades may choose to sit their two star players in Gustavo Hamer and Vinicius Souza with both picking up minor injuries in the Preston win.

Bristol City are set to be without defenders Luke McNally and Ross McCrorie, as well as striker Nahki Wells, for the trip to Bramall Lane, after they all missed the draw against Hull City.

Sheffield United’s Impact Player For This Game

SHEFFIELD, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 12: Jesurun Rak-Sakyi of Sheffield United FC celebrates after scoring the team’s first goal during the Sky Bet Championship match between Sheffield United FC and Middlesbrough FC at on February 12, 2025 in Sheffield, England. (Photo by Molly Darlington/Getty Images)

There is a strong possibility that Chris Wilder will not risk Gustavo Hamer on Tuesday evening, so this could mean that Ben Brereton Diaz moves over to the left, and Jesurun Rak-Sakyi comes in on the right.

If this is the case, I expect the Crystal Palace loanee to have a big input on how this game goes. He could be facing Haydon Roberts down that flank, so it will be an interesting duel between two highly-rated young players.

The Bristol City man has a lot of qualities, but one thing he hasn’t done this season is challenge ball carriers and dribblers – he averages just over one “dribblers challenged” per 90 mins, this ranks him in the 11th percentile compared to other full-backs and wing-backs in the Championship. However, when he does tackle dribblers, he’s averaged a 74% success rate, one of the best in the division.

Against Rak-Sakyi though he would have his work cut out. He is averaging just under five take-on attempts per 90 (85th percentile), and over two of those are successful (92nd percentile). So not only does he have a high volume of dribbles, he’s also very good in those scenarios. This is further highlighted when you look at his creative output; Rak-Sakyi ranks in the highest possible percentile in the shot-creating actions via a take-on metric.

Bristol City’s Impact Player For This Game

BRISTOL, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 12: Anis Mehmeti of Bristol City celebrates with team mate Mark Sykes after scoring the opening goal in the Sky Bet Championship match between Bristol City FC and Stoke City FC at Ashton Gate on February 12, 2025 in Bristol, England. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

Anis Mehmeti has been in excellent form this season, scoring 12 goals and serving up an assist for Liam Manning’s side. The Albanian international plays as number ten, but he has license to roam down the left flank and into central areas, so his movement and playmaking ability could cause huge problems for the Blades.

Even though Mehmeti has just the one assist to his name, he is a very clever player and a constant threat in the final third. He gets plenty of touches in and around the opposition box, often carrying the ball into the box himself, ranking in the 91st percentile for carries into box versus other Championship attacking midfielders and wingers. And he averages over six touches in the opposition box per 90 (97th percentile).

The Bristol City star man has been lethal in front of goal, averaging three shots at goal per game as well as maintaining a 14% conversion rate.

My Prediction

Sheffield United and Bristol City’s attacking players have practically performed at the same sort of level all season with the Blades creating 1.34 expected goals per game, the Robins’ at 1.32.

The same could be said about the defence, with both defences giving up very little high quality chances throughout the campaign. United give up 1.01 xG per game, while Bristol City give up just 1.12 per game. So, the performance metrics and the form book points to this one being yet another close game.

Of course, at Ashton Gate earlier on in the season, United had to come from behind to steal all three points at the death from the ten-men of Bristol City. But, when you look back at recent history (dating back to 2017), nine of the last ten competitive meetings between these two sides have seen either team win by the one goal, or, the game has finished level.

With this in mind, I’m going to side with the team that has the better conversion rate in front of goal – Sheffield United will claim a consecutive 1-0 home win.

All stats taken from FBref and Opta.