Latest EPL standings as well as fixtures and results are found below the predictions.
Chelsea go to Sheffield United on Sunday night in the English Premier League, looking to continue their unbeaten start under new coach Thomas Tuchel.
The Blues picked up a sneaky win by the only goal in their London derby with Tottenham on Thursday, making it three without defeat for the German since he took the reins from fired club legend Frank Lampard.
It means they come into the weekend sixth in the EPL table, as they start to regain ground in the battle for Champions League qualification come the end of the campaign.
Kai Havertz and Kurt Zouma are both uncertain to feature after missing the midweek success following training ground knocks.
Thiago Silva looks to be ruled out by a hamstring issue, although N?Golo Kante could well come into the starting line up after recovering from his injury.
Sheffield United are coming back from the dead despite suffering what all but the most deluded South Yorkshire resident had signed off as a terminal case of Second Season Syndrome.
Not content with their first Premier League win of the season against Newcastle on 12 January, the Blades have repeated the trick twice more.
First they recorded a scarcely believable 2-1 victory over Manchester United at Old Trafford, before seeing off relegation rivals West Brom by the same score on home turf to make it three wins in five.
Boss Chris Wilder is contending with an injury crisis that isn?t helped by Ethan Ampadu being barred from playing against his parent club.
Sander Berge, Enda Stevens, Jack O?Connell, Jack Robinson and Ben Osborn are all among the current casualties.
Sheffield United vs Chelsea: By the numbers
- Coming into this game, Sheffield United has picked up 9 points from the last 5 games, both home and away. That’s 1.8 points per game on average. BTTS has landed in an intriguing 3 of those games. Sheffield United has scored 6 times in the last 5 fixtures.
- Chelsea’s defence will have to be at their best today if they’re to stop Sheffield United from scoring. The home side has scored in the last 3 games in front of their own fans. They have failed to score in 5 home matches this season.
- Sheffield United has fired blanks in 11 games this season. That’s 50% of games where they have not been able to find the back of the net. Do they need a new forward? In the last 5 games, they have scored an intriguing 6 goals.
- In the last 5 matches for Sheffield United, 3 of those games has ended with both teams scoring. This season 10 matches (45% of all matches) involving Sheffield United has seen BTTS landing.
- Coming into this game, Chelsea has picked up 7 points from the last 5 games, both home and away. That’s 1.4 points per game on average. BTTS has landed in just 1 of those games. Chelsea has scored 4 times in the last 5 fixtures.
- Chelsea has put together a good run of form and has now gone 2 games without defeat.
- Chelsea has kept 3 clean sheets in the last 5 games, conceding 5 goals during this period. Overall this season, their defence has kept a clean sheet on 9 occasions.
- Things have not been going that well in front of goal for Chelsea recently, with the side failing to score in 2 of the last 5 games. Will the manager change his tactics today, or throw in another forward?
- Just 1 of the last 5 games for Chelsea has ended with both teams scoring. They have won 2 of those 5 games. Overall, BTTS has landed in 9/21 games for Chelsea this season.
Stats source:?footystats.org
Sheffield United vs Chelsea: Prediction
Prediction methodology explained:?The expected win percentage is based off publicly available odds. For example, if a team’s odds are 2.30, the expected chance of winning is 43%. If the odds are 1.62 the expected chance of winning is 62% and so on. These are accurate at the time of writing but are subject to change. Where there is no value listed, the odds were not available at the time of writing.
Sheffield United vs Chelsea: EPL starting XI prediction
Probable Sheffield United Starting XI: Aaron Ramsdale, Chris Basham, John Egan, Phil Jagielka, Max Lowe, John Lundstram, Oliver Norwood, John Fleck, Jayden Bogle, David McGoldrick, Oliver McBurnie.
Probable Chelsea Starting XI: Edouard Mendy, Cesar Azpilicueta, Andreas Christensen, Antonio Rudiger, Reece James, Jorginho, Mateo Kovacic, Marcos Alonso, Mason Mount, Hakim Ziyech, Tammy Abraham.