Two defensive specialists face off

For professional footballers in England, the period around Christmas and New Year’s Eve is usually considered the most intense part of the season. The stress around the holidays was not a given for some teams this year, as countless games had to be postponed. This weekend, teams from the top two leagues get involved in the traditional FA Cup and the English FA is hoping for a reasonably smooth run. The clash between Wolverhampton and Sheffield United was scheduled to take place on Sunday afternoon.

Last year, this was a clash that could also be seen in the Premier League, but the visitors from Sheffield are now only to be found in the second division. After a weak start, they have recently managed an upswing, which was abruptly stopped by a three-week Corona break. Wolves also had to take a break recently, but were able to compete again at the start of the year and inflicted Ralf Rangnick’s first defeat as United coach.

First division team, home advantage, match practice including a surprise win – three arguments that underline the bet on a home win in the Wolverhampton vs Sheffield United match. An assessment that is also shared by the bookmakers, as betting odds of only 1.70 are offered for the home side. In the event of a win for the visitors, the odds are almost six times as high. The match kicks off at the Molineux Stadium at 3pm on Sunday.

Wolverhampton – Statistics & current form

While a new coach has been in charge at Wolves since this season, not much else has changed. The Portuguese influence is still undeniable and the way the team from the industrial city of Wolverhampton operates is also unchanged. With Portuguese footballers, the thought of playful attacking football is obvious. But attacking football is by no means an attribute bestowed on Wolves.

Minimalism is the order of the day

In the English Premier League so far this season, 54.5 per cent of all games have ended with three or more goals. Wolves have made little contribution to this, as three goals in a game for Bruno Lage’s side is an absolute rarity. Strictly speaking, this has only happened in three of the 19 games so far. With 14 goals scored and 14 goals conceded, Wolves have averaged just 1.47 goals per game.

In the last eight league games alone, betting on an under 1.5 has been crowned with success. Wolverhampton conceded only two goals during this period – in the 1-0 defeats against Liverpool and Manchester City. With these numbers, it is quite surprising that in the cup match between Wolverhampton and Sheffield United, odds of up to a 3.40 are offered when predicting the under 1.5. Of course, an under 1.5 is always associated with a risk, but with this starting position, the value cannot be dismissed out of hand. After all, twelve of the 19 league games ended with only one goal.

This one goal was also scored last Monday. At the end of the PL matchday, a goal by veteran Joao Moutinho ensured a surprising success at Old Trafford Stadium. With 28 points from 19 games, the result is quite satisfactory, as Wolves are knocking on the door of the international starting positions.

Predicted Wolverhampton line-up:
Ruddy – Saiss, Kilman, Boly – Marcal, Neves, Dendoncker, Ki-Jana Hoever – Traore, Trincao – Fabio Silva

Last matches played by Wolverhampton:

Premier League
01/03 2022 – Manchester United 0 – 1 Wolverhampton

12/19 2021 – Wolverhampton 0 – 0 Chelsea London

12/15 2021 – Brighton 0 – 1 Wolverhampton

12/11 2021 – Manchester City 1 – 0 Wolverhampton

12/04 2021 – Wolverhampton 0 – 1 Liverpool FC

Sheffield United – Statistics & current form

After being relegated, Sheffield United had huge problems in the Championship in the autumn and the mission of re-promotion became a distant memory early on. Neo-coach Slavisa Jokanovic was forced out at the end of November after a 1-0 win away at Reading. Despite the recent success, the situation was absolutely sobering for the Blades.

Four league wins in a row

However, this success was the starting signal for the upswing. Jokanovic’s successor was also his predecessor – Paul Heckingbottom. He finished last season on an interim basis, and now the former U23 coach has been introduced as head coach. And so far, his results have been extremely positive, with Sheffield United winning each of the three games they have played. In the last game so far, the big title favourites Fulham were defeated away from home.

In the extremely tight Championship, such a run of success means that the Blades are suddenly sniffing at the play-off places again. Although the team is currently only in 13th position, it has only played 22 games. Some teams in the Championship have already played up to 26 games. With the catch-up games in the bag, sixth place is quite possible. Currently, the gap is eight points.

Missing match practice as a disadvantage

Because of the strong performances recently, the latest forced break came at the worst possible time. Sheffield haven’t played a competitive game for almost three weeks now and this week there were still virus problems at Sheffield. Paul Heckingbottom announced in the press conference that there is still a question mark behind some players.

The preparation for the cup match is by no means ideal and it is not yet clear which players will be available to him. It is also clear that the focus will be on the league, so that a possible promotion remains realistic. A win by the visitors would therefore be very surprising. It is to be expected that the Blades will react rather than act and will not invest much in the offensive game themselves. Since this is also true for the home side, betting on a few goals against Sheffield United seems to be the obvious choice for Wolverhampton.

Predicted line-up of Sheffield United:
Olsen – Basham, Davies, Egan – Stevens, Norwood, Fleck, Bogle – Gibbs-White – Brewster, McGoldrick

Last matches played by Sheffield United:

Championship
12/20 2021 – Fulham 0 – 1 Sheffield United

12/04 2021 – Cardiff 2 – 3 Sheffield United

11/28 2021 – Sheffield United 2 – 0 Bristol City

11/23 2021 – Reading 0 – 1 Sheffield United

11/20 2021 – Sheffield United 0 – 0 Coventry

Wolverhampton – Sheffield United Direct comparison / H2H record

Two teams where the defence is the absolute showpiece. Accordingly, the last four games in the English Premier League between Wolverhampton and Sheffield United ended with a successful tip on the under 2.5. Last season, Wolves celebrated a victory in both games and remained without conceding a goal (1-0 and 2-0). Also on Sunday, not many goals are necessarily expected in this cup duel.

Wolverhampton – Sheffield United Tip

This cup match features two teams whose philosophy of playing football is very similar. The focus will be on their own defence and the big goal is to keep the zero. Despite a lot of playing class, both teams act tactically very disciplined and take few risks. Fans of attacking football should not pick this match, because with Wolverhampton against Sheffield United, the prediction of football meagre fare is absolutely obvious.

Very surprising here are the high betting odds on the under/over goal market. After all, the last eight Wolves games ended with a maximum of one goal, yet odds of up to a 1.80 for a maximum of two goals are offered on Sunday afternoon. Value is definitely a given here, which can also be found in the Wolverhampton vs. Sheffield United duel with the forecast on the under 1.5. Risk is present here, but with recent Wolves results, a 3.40 is too high. A moderate four units is used as the stake.