Plymouth Argyle v Sheffield United: Back Blades to sharpen up | OneFootball

EFL Championship

Ryan Deeney previews Plymouth Argyle v Sheffield United

Ryan Deeney provides the lowdown on an EFL Championship affair that has huge implications at both ends of the table...

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Plymouth Argyle v Sheffield UnitedSaturday 12th April, 12:30Live on Sky Sports

Time for a reset

Chris Wilder will be hoping for a positive response when his side travel south to play Championship basement boys Plymouth Argyle this Saturday.

The Blades boss has been typically honest in his views after defeats against Oxford United and Millwall, taking on the fans after the former and acknowledging his team didn't control their emotions well enough after the latter.

The 57-year-old has not seen his side lose three games on the spin this season and spoke of having a reset and picking the right team for the weekend. Vinicius Souza could return in midfield while Wilder has options to change things in attack.

There hasn't been a huge change in their attacking numbers across their last 11 outings, in which they have collected 22 points, but nine of the 18 matches in which they have conceded 1.1xG or more have come during that period.

A daunting fixture list... or is it?

That leads us to Plymouth Argyle, the side at the bottom of the Championship table and looking the most likely side to finish there. The Pilgrims have recorded the fewest wins, most goals conceded and their xG numbers are the worst in the division at both ends.

Miron Muslic was appointed on January 10th and in that time, his side sit 20th in the table having collected 17 points from 16 matches. It has left them in an unenviable position but a position from which they still have a chance.

Their fixture list looks daunting on paper but needn't concern them too much given their home form this term. Only three sides have scored more goals on home turf and Plymouth have collected 18 points from nine matches against top half sides at Home Park, scoring 2 or more in eight of those.

If there is a concern, it's that their record against the three sides running away with it reads four games, four losses, zero scored and 11 conceded.

Back the team at the top

It's hard not to believe Chris Wilder when he talks about resetting. His side have responded positively to defeats all season and even their most recent losses have been games where his team have created a reasonable number of efforts at goal.

Plymouth have struggled to put together wins this season, collecting just nine points from their last ten matches, continuing to concede a high level of chances and not creating them at the other end consistently enough. They are yet to keep a clean sheet at home under Muslic.

The numbers have dipped slightly. Plymouth have seen nine of their last ten matches go under 3.5 goals in the league with each of their last five early kick-offs finishing with three or fewer goals.

Blades, meanwhile, have seen four of their five early kick-offs finish with 2 or fewer goals scored and under 3.5 has landed in every match they have played against sides lower than 8th in the league with the exception of a 2-2 draw with Queens Park Rangers on matchday 2.

Recommended bets

Back Sheffield United to win and under 3.5 goals @ 5/4