Sheffield United v Crystal Palace betting tips: Eagles have chance to soar
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Preview and odds for Saturday’s Premier League match
Crystal Palace will be relishing a more favourable run of fixtures as they look to make mathematically sure of Premier League survival.
The Eagles have suffered three straight defeats against Chelsea, Leicester and Manchester City but will be more confident of picking up points against Sheffield United here and then Southampton three days later.
United are already relegated and destined to finish bottom but they at least restored some pride by beating Brighton on their last outing at Bramall Lane, although they were thrashed 4-0 at Tottenham at the weekend.
Saturday’s match kicks off at 3pm and is live on Sky Sports.
Sheffield United v Crystal Palace match odds
It has been a dismal season for Sheffield United and their absent fans have had very little to cheer.
The 1-0 victory against Brighton was a fourth of the season at this venue and the Blades have a better home record than Fulham, with their meagre haul of four points on their travels proving more damaging.
With that in mind, United may attract some interest at 15/8 for the win while Palace are 31/20 for a sixth away victory of the campaign.
Three of United’s four home wins have been 1-0, as were both victories over Palace last season, and they are 13/2 to do so again while under 1.5 goals has paid out in seven of their 15 matches against bottom-half opposition and is available at 17/10.
Palace’s only clean sheet on their travels was in a 0-0 draw at Arsenal in January. They have conceded exactly one goal in all five away wins so Palace to win and both teams to score is an option at 19/4.
Sheffield United v Crystal Palace head-to-head
Palace’s 2-0 triumph in the reverse fixture in January saw Sheffield United break the record for the longest winless start to a Premier League season.
Jeffrey Schlupp’s deflected finish put Palace ahead after just four minutes and his replacement Eberechi Eze added a second in first-half stoppage time.
Palace have a better record in the first 45 minutes than they do after the break and are 7/2 to be leading at both.
Previous XI
Sheffield United: Ramsdale, Baldock, Stevens, Basham, Egan, Bogle, Fleck, Norwood, Osborn, McGoldrick, Brewster.
Crystal Palace: Guaita, Ward, Dann, Mitchell, Milivojevic, Kouyate, Townsend, Eze, Riedewald, Zaha, Benteke.
Team news
Oli McBurnie (foot), Billy Sharp (thigh) and Jack O’Connell (knee) all remain sidelined for the Blades but Chris Basham and Sander Berge are set to feature.
Palace top scorer Wilfried Zaha will be fit to lead the line and defender James Tomkins is back in contention after a serious eye injury.
Key battles
The big difference in the two teams is the attacking quality they possess.
Palace talisman Zaha has proved a handful for all Premier League defences while Christian Benteke has chipped in with three goals in his last nine appearances.
David McGoldrick, with seven, is the only United player to have scored more than three league goals this season and Rhian Brewster is yet to get off the mark during a torrid campaign.
All odds and markets correct as of date of publication
