QPR vs Sheffield United Prediction: Blades to bounce back

Sheffield United suffered a hammer blow to their title hopes on Monday night as Leeds United stole all three points at Bramall Lane. Chris Wilder will have been left frustrated by the way his team blew a one-goal lead, but now they must turn their attention back to Championship action as they visit QPR (15:00, Saturday). 

Below you can find my QPR vs Sheffield United predictions featuring team news and betting tips as the Blades look to keep hold of second place. 

Football Odds

Team News

QPR are still without a number of players heading into this game, including Jake Clarke-Salter, Lucas Andersen, Harvey Vale, Rayan Kolli and Zan Celar. Michael Frey will lead the line with seven goals to his name, while Koki Saito, Ilias Chair and Paul Smyth likely to provide the creativity behind him. 

Jack Colback and Kieran Morgan may have to settle for places on the bench, while Jimmy Dunne will play at right-back, alongside Steve Cook and Ronnie Edwards. Marti Cifuentes knows his side need to get a positive result to put the pressure on the top six.

Sheffield United’s Chelsea loanee Alfie Gilchrist is now having treatment back at his parent club and Wilder hopes to have him back in a couple of weeks. “Alfie is the type of player that doesn't hold back but he'll be fine in a couple of weeks. Touch and go for the Sheffield Wednesday game but there's an international break after that and he'll definitely be back for the Coventry game."

Femi Seriki has been back in training and will be in the squad for the trip to Loftus Road, while Harry Clarke is being assessed after picking up a foot injury v Leeds. On a positive note, Jamie Shackleton is back in training and is avilable for selection, while Gustavo Hamer is likely to start having made an appearance off the bench on Monday night. 

QPR vs Sheffield United Odds

The home side are priced at 2/1 having lost four of their last six games. That’s slightly stalled their play-off ambitions and they’d love to get back to winning ways here. Sheffield United can be backed at 7/5, giving them an implied win percentage of 41%, which seems fair given they have won 10 of their 17 away games this term. A draw is priced up at 23/10, and the pair drew 2-2 at Bramall Lane back in August.

Over 2.5 goals has only come in during 12 of Sheffield United’s 34 fixtures, and that’s priced at 11/10, while BTTS is 10/11. Tom Cannon is the favourite to open the scoring at 11/2. 

Sheffield United to win @ 7/5

I’ll back Wilder’s men to get the job done, as they had been in fine form before that Leeds game. They’d won four in a row before that Leeds loss, and they still possess the finest away record in the Championship with 10 wins out of 17 helping them to a whopping 34 away points in total. They just seem to get the job done on the road but they are often narrow wins, which is why I’m not going to add any handicap to this selection. 

I believe the quality of Hamer, Callum O’Hare and the forwards they have brought in should be enough to see them past a QPR outfit who are so difficult to judge right now. Hit and miss is about right given they were on a four-game winning run to take them up the table, but have since lost four out of their last six. Their home form is decent, but Sheffield United are just a couple of levels above them right now. I think they are staring down the barrel of another loss. 

Gustavo Hamer to get booked @ 21/10

If you’ve had the pleasure of watching Hamer play football, you will know what type of player he is. Charging round like a nutter in midfield, the combative but brilliant Brazilian-born star is always likely to pick up a card. Gus came on in the 60th minute against Leeds and had already got himself booked by minute 68 after wiping out Jayden Bogle on the touchline. 

That was his 11th yellow card of the season, which makes him the most booked player in the Championship this season. He’s obviously the value pick to get booked here, and given I think he will start after his injury, we’ll have 90 minutes of blood and thunder to look forward to. 

Offers

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