Sheffield United vs Leicester City – Preview | OneFootball

Chris Wilder’s Sheffield United host Leicester City at Bramall Lane on New Year’s Day with the Blades hoping to kick off 2026 with a bang.

The Blades were inconsistent over the Christmas period firstly losing 2-0 away at West Bromwich Albion, they then responded excellently beating Birmingham City 3-0 at home. A 5-3 defeat at Wrexham soon followed on Boxing Day before they claimed all three points at Stoke City in the final fixture of the 2025 calendar year. The Blades are nine points behind the top six.

Leicester City have also been inconsistent over the festive period, a 3-1 victory against Ipswich Town was followed up by a 4-1 and a 2-1 loss against QPR and Watford, but the Foxes were able to win their previous game at home against Derby County. The Foxes are now sitting just four points off the play-offs.

Team News

The Blades will once again be without Sydie Peck and Tom Davies, leaving the midfield area stretched. Ben Mee could miss out on the bench yet again with it being a short turnaround.

Leicester could be without Hamza Choudhury and Aaron Ramsey with the pair suffering injuries in the previous fixture, while Harry Souttar continues to recover from his achilles injury which he picked up around this time last year during his outstanding loan spell with the Blades. Versatile forward Patson Daka is away on international duty for the Africa Cup of Nations leaving Leicester light up front.

Sheffield United’s Impact Player For This Game

SHEFFIELD, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 26: Gustavo Hamer of Sheffield United celebrates scoring a goal to make it 3-0 to Sheffield United during the Sky Bet Championship match between Sheffield United and Portsmouth at Bramall Lane on November 26, 2025 in Sheffield, England. (Photo by Harriet Massey/Getty Images)

The Blades gave Gustavo Hamer a rest on Monday evening so he’ll be fresh for New Year’s Day. Hamer has registered five key passes in his last couple of games as well as two big chances created and a goal and an assist.

United could do with a similar performance that Hamer produced in their previous home game against Birmingham City where he seemingly caused problems whenever he touched the ball. Considering Leicester’s defence is very shaky, Hamer can put the pressure on them; he has averaged almost six passes into the final third per game along with over two passes into the penalty area per game (99th and 97th percentile respectively compared to other Championship wingers and attacking midfielders).

Another area where Hamer can exploit Leicester’s weakness is set-pieces. The Foxes have given up almost 11 expected goals from set-pieces alone, meanwhile Hamer averages 1.7 shot-creating actions via dead-balls per game, ranking him in the 99th percentile.

Leicester City’s Impact Player For This Game

LEICESTER, ENGLAND – DECEMBER 26: Abdul Fatawu of Leicester in action during the Sky Bet Championship match between Leicester City and Watford at The King Power Stadium on December 26, 2025 in Leicester, England. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)

Abdul Fatawu has bags of pace and tricky and can cause damage from anywhere on the pitch. The left-footed right winger has 11 goal contributions in 24 league starts, and he leads the Foxes in big chances created with six. Fatawu may have the goal of 2025 wrapped up as well after scoring from inside his own half against Ipswich Town, yet more evidence that he is one of the best offensive players in the division.

Fatawu excels in almost every dribbling statistic. He ranks in the 98th percentile for take-on attempts and 97th percentile for successful take-ons averaging almost seven attempts per 90 and almost three successful take-ons per 90. He also averages 4.5 progressive carries per 90.

Fatawu could be facing a fully fresh Sam McCallum at left-back on Thursday after he was an unused substitute in United’s trip to Stoke on Monday evening.

My Prediction

United have raised some eyebrows amongst the Championship regarding their ability to create and score goals, but it’s their shaky defence that is holding them back at times.

That defence could be under less pressure in this fixture however with Leicester being a below average Championship outfit in terms of non-penalty expected goals (eighth-worst in the Championship). Their defence isn’t much better either, they have the sixth-worst defence for non-penalty expected goals given up.

As mentioned above, Leicester City have a considerably weak defence when it comes to set-pieces. With Hamer likely on set-pieces, United could improve on their 13.5 expected goals created from these situations (which is already the second-highest tally in the league).

With the Blades at home and their clear advantage in front of both goals, a Sheffield United victory appears the most likely outcome, and maybe a clean sheet could be on the cards as well kicking off 2026 with a bang.

Stats taken from FBref and Opta.