Birmingham City vs Sheffield United – Preview | OneFootball

Birmingham City host Sheffield United at St Andrew’s this Saturday afternoon in the EFL Championship.

The Blues have generally been strong on their own patch and have turned St Andrew’s into a difficult place for visiting teams in recent seasons. Their home form sees them sit sixth in the home league table, with a recent 1-0 victory over Queens Park Rangers adding to that.

Sheffield United meanwhile continue to search for consistency. The Blades have shown flashes of attacking quality at times this season but have struggled to maintain momentum across long stretches of games. And yet more dropped points on Wednesday evening in a 2-1 defeat against Norwich City has likely put an end to their play-off hopes.

Team News

The only major bit of injury news for Birmingham City comes with left-back Alex Cochrane who could miss the end of the season with an ankle issue.

United will continue to monitor Patrick Bamford ahead of the weekend, whilst Tom Davies and Sam McCallum remain sidelined. Gustavo Hamer serves the last game of his two-match suspension.

Birmingham City’s Impact Player For This Game

One player who could have a big influence on this match is Jay Stansfield. The forward has quickly become one of Birmingham City’s most important attacking players and his energy in the final third makes him a constant nuisance for opposition defenders. He already has nine goals and six assists to his name.

Stansfield is not just a goal scorer; he is extremely active without the ball and regularly presses centre-backs and goalkeepers to force mistakes high up the pitch. That relentless work rate often sets the tone for Birmingham’s attacking play and can make it difficult for teams to build from the back.

The 23-year-old also likes to drift into wide areas to receive the ball before driving directly at defenders. When he gets turned and running toward goal he is very difficult to stop, and his ability to combine quickly with teammates around the edge of the box gives Birmingham another dimension in attack.

With Sheffield United likely to dominate spells of possession, Stansfield’s movement in transition could be particularly dangerous. If Birmingham manage to win the ball back and break quickly, he will almost certainly be the player looking to exploit the spaces left behind.

Sheffield United’s Impact Player For This Game

For the Blades, much of the attacking creativity tends to run through Callum O’Hare. The former Coventry City man has nine goals and six assists in the Championship this term.

The attacking midfielder is often the link between midfield and attack, capable of finding pockets of space and slipping passes through defensive lines. O’Hare has been one of Sheffield United’s most productive players this season with multiple goals and assists while consistently creating chances for teammates, averaging 1.50 chances created per game.

His energy off the ball is equally important. O’Hare presses aggressively and looks to win possession high up the pitch, averaging five ball recoveries per game and over one possessions won in the final third, something that could be vital in disrupting Birmingham’s attempts to control the tempo at home.

If Sheffield United are to leave St Andrew’s with a positive result, O’Hare will likely need to be heavily involved in their best attacking moments.

My Prediction

Birmingham’s home advantage could make this a difficult evening for the Blades, but Sheffield United have enough attacking quality to create chances of their own.

The Blades are unbeaten in their last three trips to St Andrews (two wins and a draw), and I think this one could be another closely contested Championship game with both sides cancelling each other out for long spells.

This will either be 1-1 or a 2-1 win for Birmingham City.

Stats taken from Fotmob and Opta.