McBurnie starts: The predicted Sheffield United XI to face Reading on Friday | OneFootball

Sheffield United will be looking to retain their spot in the play-off places tomorrow when they take on Reading at Bramall Lane.

The Blades produced an encouraging display in their showdown with AFC Bournemouth last weekend as they managed to seal a point against Scott Parker’s side.

Set to face a Reading side who will be keen to boost their survival hopes by picking up a positive result on their travels, United know that they will need to be firing on all cylinders in this particular fixture in order to have the best chance of securing victory in front of their supporters.

Having witnessed his side’s performance against the Cherries, it will be intriguing to see whether Paul Heckingbottom opts to make any changes to his starting eleven for the club’s showdown with the Royals.

Here, we have decided to take a look at how the Blades could line up on Friday…

Given that Heckingbottom has deployed the 3-5-2 formation on a regular basis since being handed over the reins at the club, he is likely to use this system again tomorrow.

Goalkeeper Wes Foderingham has kept an impressive total of 16 clean-sheets in 27 league appearances this season and will be keen to add to this tally in his side’s meeting with Reading.

John Egan will feature in the heart of defence alongside Ben Davies and Filip Uremovic who has featured on two occasions in the Championship since sealing a switch to the Blades last month.

Meanwhile, Enda Stevens and George Baldock will be tasked with providing some width from their wing-back positions.

Oliver Norwood will start against his former side and is set to be joined in central-midfield by Sander Berge and John Fleck.

Quiz: Are these 12 Sheffield United facts from this season real or fake?

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Sheffield United beat Birmingham City on the opening weekend of the 2021/22 campaign

Real Fake

Morgan Gibbs-White is expected to feature in a two-striker formation alongside Oliver McBurnie who managed to deliver a relatively promising performance in the absence of top-scorer Billy Sharp last weekend.

Whereas the forward was unable to find the back of the net against Bournemouth, he did dominate his aerial duels as he won 12 in this particular clash (as per WhoScored).

McBurnie also set up a good opportunity for Gibbs-White in the first-half of this fixture who was denied by goalkeeper Mark Travers.

With Sharp set to miss the Blades’ clash with Reading due to injury, Heckingbottom will be hoping that McBurnie will finally be able to end his goal drought in one this fixture as he has yet to score in the second-tier this season.