Sheffield United vs Blackburn Prediction: Hosts to deny Rovers on final day

A dead rubber? Not on your nelly. Sheffield United have already secured third in the Championship and are preparing for another play-off campaign, but they host a Blackburn Rovers outfit (12:30, Sky Sports+), that have dragged themselves back into contention with four wins on the bounce under Valerien Ismael. A win at Bramall Lane could take them into the top six if two of Millwall, Coventry and Bristol City fail to win. 

It’s set to be a thriller, and below you can find my Sheffield United vs Blackburn predictions. 

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Who knows what Chris Wilder is going to do ahead of this game? He wants to strike the right balance between resting his key players before their play-off semi-final on Thursday night, and making sure his preferred XI go into that crucial tie with confidence. 

Championship Player of the Year Gustavo Hamer was rested for the win over Stoke City but seen in the away end, while Kieffer Moore partnered Tyrese Campbell up top, and Rob Holding got a rare appearance at centre-back. Anel Ahmedhodzic, Harrison Burrows, Hamer, and Sydie Peck will all start on Thursday night, so it will be interesting to see if they are in the XI against Blackburn. Tom Cannon may also be handed more minutes to see if he can get some goals before the end of season showdown.

For Blackburn it is do or die, and Ismael will surely stick with the spine of the team that has won four in a row. Todd Cantwell, Ryan Hedges and Tyrhys Dolan will line up behind Yuki Ohashi while Lewis Travis and Sondre Tronstad will continue their solid midfield partnership. Dom Hyam and Danny Batth have been solid all season and will hope to protect Balazs Toth, who has performed well since taking the number one shirt. 

Sheffield United vs Blackburn Odds

Sheffield United have been priced up as the 13/10 favourites for this one, giving them an implied win probability of 43%. Blackburn are available at 21/10 for the win while a draw can be backed at 12/5. 

Over 2.5 goals has come in during two of the last three Blackburn games and is priced at 1/1, while BTTS is 4/5. In terms of the first goalscorer market, we are looking at Campbell as the market leader at 11/2, followed by Ohashi at 6/1. 

Under 2.5 goals @ 4/5 

I can’t see this one being a thriller despite what is on the line for Rovers. I think Sheffield United will be able to control the game and only 36% of their games have ended in over 2.5 goals over the course of the season. Four of the last six United games have had fewer than three goals, while five of their last six Bramall Lane fixtures have also finished with under 2.5 goals. 

Blackburn’s last four away matches have all ended 1-0, with two wins and two defeats over that time. They like to keep things tight on the road and try and nick it late on, and I don’t think we will see anything different on Saturday lunchtime. 

Sheffield United to win to nil @ 11/4

I will lean towards the home side for this game, on the basis that I think Wilder will go strong and they want to carry some momentum into the play-offs. They will have half an eye on Thursday, naturally, but they’ve got so much quality across their squad that they should be able to see off a spirited Blackburn outfit. 

Rovers have done well in recent weeks to take it to the final day, but they had only two shots when they beat Luton 1-0, and only one shot on target when they beat Sunderland 1-0. They got the better of a miserable Watford side last time out, but this is a step up in quality, and I’m not sure they will be able to cope with it. Sheffield United have won 15 out of 22 at Bramall Lane, so let’s back them to hit the sweet 16. 

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