Sheffield United vs Derby County – Preview | OneFootball

Sheffield United welcome John Eustace’s Derby County to Bramall Lane on Saturday afternoon with a few familiar faces returning to S2 from the Rams’ squad.

The Blades suffered a head-scratching defeat last time out at Preston North End. After taking a 2-0 lead, goals either side of half-time drew Paul Heckingbottom’s men level before ex-Blade Daniel Jebbison headed in the winner.

Derby head into this contest after winning two matches in a row, both 1-0 wins coming at Pride Park against Norwich City and Queens Park Rangers. Eustace’s side have just one away victory all season, a 1-0 win coming against West Bromwich Albion.

Transfer Business

The Rams made a few decent signings in the summer. Former United forward Rhian Brewster joined on a free after he chose to sign a new deal with the Blades, and that has some great upside for Derby; if he gets into a rhythm and starts scoring then they could look to sell him for a big profit.

Ben Brereton Diaz had two loan spells with United racking up 10 goals and four assists in 34 appearances. He penned yet another loan move in the summer, with Derby seeing his Championship experience and goal threat too good to turn down on a cheap (ish) deal.

Perhaps one of the more eyebrow raising signings Derby made was signing combatant midfielder Lewis Travis for a few million pounds, a player that played under Eustace at Blackburn Rovers. At 28, investing in Travis doesn’t bring much upside for a player that isn’t going to suddenly start notching goals and assists for example. He can be described as an experienced and steady Championship player and nothing more than that.

Team News

Sheffield United will remain without midfielders Gustavo Hamer, Oliver Arblaster and Tahith Chong, while Tom Davies could feature. Ben Godfrey, who has missed the last few weeks due to personal reasons, has been getting back into the thick of things for United’s development team.

Max Johnston has joined Owen Beck, Curtis Nelson and Lewis Travis on the sidelines after suffering an injury during Derby’s win at the weekend. “He’s going to be out for between six and eight weeks, I think,” Eustace stated in his pre-match press conference.

Sheffield United’s Impact Player For This Game

SHEFFIELD, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 18: Callum O’Hare of Sheffield United gestures with a thumbs up after the Sky Bet Championship match between Sheffield United and Watford at Bramall Lane on October 18, 2025 in Sheffield, England. (Photo by Kate McShane/Getty Images)

He had his moments last season, but Callum O’Hare this campaign has been a standout player for Sheffield United. In 12 appearances, he has three goals and two assists, and he’s shown his versatility by playing different roles.

Under Ruben Selles, he featured as a box-to-box midfielder in a midfield three, and he was considerably the best performer under Selles… but that wasn’t exactly a big list to choose from. Now with Wilder back, he has been used behind the striker, as a wide player from either flank, and he’s dropped slightly deeper when protecting leads.

At this point, he is one of the first names on the team sheet. One thing that he has improved on from last season is vision and the timing of when to play passes or when to keep himself and drive into the box. And the goal he scored against Preston North End epitomises that.

As mentioned above, his vision has certainly improved, and his 1.25 key passes per 90 proves that. Despite lacking pace and trickery in one-vs-one situations, he is still an effective ball carrier, ranking in the 97th percentile for carries into the penalty area per 90 compared to other Championship midfielders.

The one reason I believe O’Hare has impacted games a lot more this term is because the Blades arguably have more genuine athleticism in the forward line this season compared to last. Tyrese Campbell remains, but having Chiedozie Ogbene stay high and wide right when United have possession forces the defensive shape to stretch. Recently, we have also seen Wilder implement Andre Brooks down the left, who offers yet more versatility and athleticism.

With three athletic players ahead of him making runs, this has allowed O’Hare slightly more time when he picks up the ball centrally, and then he can drive towards the box and use his low centre of gravity, agility and balance, to cause misdirection in defenders.

Derby County’s Impact Player For This Game

DERBY, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 25: Carlton Morris of Derby County applauds the fans after the Sky Bet Championship match between Derby County and Queens Park Rangers at Pride Park on October 25, 2025 in Derby, England. (Photo by Leila Coker/Getty Images)

Given how Sheffield United struggled to defend their box against Preston last Friday night, Derby will be looking to exploit this weak defending with Carlton Morris. Morris, who signed in the summer from Luton Town, has netted five times in 12 games.

Not only does Morris average over seven aerial duels won per 90, which is one of the highest numbers in the Championship, he has a 60% win rate, which ranks in the 95th percentile. So the likes of Mark McGuinness and Ben Mee will have their work cut out.

To add, the former Barnsley striker ranks high in defensive metrics from the front. He ranks in the 85th percentile for tackles in the final third, and subsequently 98th percentile in shot-creating actions via a defensive action, so his pressing and battling to win the ball back from defenders does not go unnoticed.

My Prediction

The Blades were left scratching their heads after the defeat to Preston North End last week. They had an opportunity to go into half-time 2-0 up, before Lewis Dobbin pulled one back seconds before the referee’s whistle. And from there, the Blades just collapsed. Though, the final 15 minutes from a creative point of view was very promising.

Derby County enter this match at Bramall Lane as the worst attacking team in the league with just 9.2 non-penalty expected goals, but they do have the 5th-best conversion rate. In contrast, the Blades have massively improved in non-penalty expected goals with 14.7, moving them from the bottom four to eighth-best in the league. However, their conversion rate is still poor (second-worst in the Championship).

Defensively, the Blades (15 non-penalty expected goals given up) and the Rams (14.7 non-penalty expected goals given up) are quite even. Again though, United are poor in this department, allowing a 12.7% conversion rate, only Birmingham City have a worse stat.

Despite coming into this one off the back of disappointment, the feel good factor around Bramall Lane should still be high. But, United must start seeing some improvement defensively as the lapses are still there for all to see.

Sheffield United should win this one, I’m going for a 3-1 Blades win.

Stats taken from FBref and Opta.