Sheffield United vs Blackburn Rovers – Preview | OneFootball

It’s the final day of the regular Championship season on Saturday lunchtime and Sheffield United host Blackburn Rovers, who still have a decent chance of sneaking into the play-offs at the death.

Since falling to a defeat against Burnley on Easter Monday, the Blades have known their fate of finishing third in the play-offs, and this allowed them to rotate the squad last time out. At the Bet365 Stadium against Stoke City, Chris Wilder made six changes which saw the likes of Harrison Burrows, Sydie Peck and Anel Ahmedhodzic drop to the bench, with Gustavo Hamer dropping out altogether.

Despite the heavily changed team, United carved out a 2-0 victory. And perhaps they’ve found a new system heading into the play-offs as Kieffer Moore started his second consecutive game with a strike partner (either Tom Cannon or Tyrese Campbell).

For Blackburn Rovers, they head to Bramall Lane full of confidence having picked up four wins on the spin. They currently reside in eighth, but they could end up finishing as high as fifth on Saturday afternoon if they win in S2 and results elsewhere go their way.

Team News

The Blades have known Oliver Arblaster, Harry Clarke and Rhys Norrington-Davies will be out for the season for a while. Wilder did tell the media that Tom Davies will be back for the Blackburn Rovers game, if not for the penultimate game of the season versus Stoke City. Meanwhile, Ben Brereton Diaz will miss the match against his former side due to illness.

Blackburn Rovers team news to be updated…

Sheffield United’s Impact Player For This Game

SHEFFIELD, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 29: Tom Davies of Sheffield United celebrates after scoring his side’s first goal during the Sky Bet Championship match between Sheffield United FC and Sunderland AFC at Bramall Lane on November 29, 2024 in Sheffield, England. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)

It’s another difficult game to project how the game could unfold this weekend because we don’t know how many key players will be involved against Blackburn. But Wilder recently did confirm that Tom Davies will be involved in the final game of the campaign, whether that’s from the off or an appearance off the bench we’ll have to wait and see.

Nevertheless, Davies can impact any game in this division whether he gets 30 minutes or 60 minutes and beyond. Actual playing ability has never really been a question for the former Everton man – the doubt amongst supporters has always been his availability; he has had a difficult time with injuries as a Blades player which has carried over from his days on Merseyside.

In the games he has played, we have seen his Premier League experience, on the ball, with the way he navigates through midfield and can change the tempo of a move.

Statistically, the 26-year-old is United’s best progressor of the football; when playing he has averaged over five progressive passes per 90 (78th percentile) and over one progressive carry (77th percentile).

Another outstanding attribute of the former Toffee midfielder is his work rate. He’s very accomplished on the ball, but he loves to put in a defensive shift. Davies ranks in the 90th percentile for tackles won per 90 as well shot-creating actions via a defensive action.

Perhaps Davies’ pressing and work rate could cause Rovers problems on Saturday, especially when considering they’ve made the seventh-most errors in the league which have eventually resulted in an opposition shot.

Blackburn Rovers’ Impact Player For This Game

BLACKBURN, ENGLAND – MARCH 15: Todd Cantwell of Blackburn Rovers during the Sky Bet Championship match between Blackburn Rovers FC and Cardiff City FC at Ewood Park on March 15, 2025 in Blackburn, England. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)

Todd Cantwell has been a standout player for most of the campaign with Blackburn, but he’s especially stepped up down the stretch having racked up four assists and a goal in his last four appearances, moving his season’s tally up to seven assists and three goals.

The 27-year-old English midfielder has always been a top playmaker in the Championship, and if you can’t tell that from the eye test then his performance metrics definitely will tell you.

Compared to his positional peers in the Championship (attacking midfielders/wingers) Cantwell ranks in the 94th percentile for key passes and progressive passes per 90. He also ranks in the 87th percentile for shot-creating actions. He isn’t just a good passer of the ball, he is very capable of beating men off the dribble too – the former Norwich City and Rangers man ranks in the 87th percentile for successful dribbling rate.

To summarise, we should fully expect Cantwell to be the biggest threat on the pitch for Blackburn as he can unlock defences from both the middle third and final third, from central areas and out wide.

My Prediction

The final game of the season is an interesting one. With the visitors in need of a win to try and scrape into the play-offs, I fully expect Blackburn to play a dangerous game in terms of leaving their defence more exposed than they usually would. That being said, both the Blades and Blackburn look much better when they are attacking at a high speed and on the counterattack, so that to me is what is intriguing.

I personally expect the likes of Sam McCallum, Andre Brooks, Tom Davies and Alfie Gilchrist to be in the starting eleven, and possibly even Tom Cannon up front to see if he can get another goal or two before the play-off semi-finals next week.

If I was a Blackburn fan, I’d be fancying my chances against that bunch, mainly because some of United’s squad players are ‘undercooked’. But, at the same time, Ismael’s Rovers will have to throw caution to the wind, especially if it’s still a stalemate at around the hour mark. Naturally, this would give the Blades a decent chance on the counterattack.

My prediction for this one is 1-1 with Sheffield United taking the lead, though I would not rule out Blackburn Rovers nicking it late on.

All stats taken from FBref and Opta.