Sheffield United vs Bournemouth Odds
| Sheffield United Odds | +220 |
| AFC Bournemouth Odds | +120 |
| Draw | +250 |
| Over / Under | 2.5 -125 / +100 |
Sheffield United will be hosting Bournemouth this Saturday at Bramall Lane which could have massive relegation implications at the end of the season. Both Sheffield United and Bournemouth have had a nightmare opening 12 matches this season.
The Blades currently sit 18th in the league with just five points so far. However, they have picked up 4 points from their last 2 matches, beating a solid Wolves side and then taking a point from Brighton away from home. This should be encouraging for Sheffield United fans and players heading into this match against a beatable Bournemouth side.
Bournemouth have also found a bit of form over the past months. The Cherries have won two of their last three league matches, beating Burnley and Newcastle, moving them out of the relegation zone on nine points.
Let’s get into this potential relegation six-pointer between Sheffield United and Bournemouth at Bramall Lane.
Let's get into my Sheffield United vs Bournemouth prediction.
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Sheffield United
The last two matches have helped Sheffield United get somewhat back on track if they want any chance of staying up this year. Even with the last two matches, their statistics for the season are disastrous to say the least.
The Blades have scored the second-lowest number of goals with 10, conceded the most with 31, have the lowest xG number at 9.7 and the highest xGA number with 26.2. They have basically been the worst team in the league, and the fact that they are not bottom of the league shows how poor Burnley have been.
If you remove the Newcastle match, Sheffield United have been over-performing defensively, with Foderingham saving over 1.0 goal throughout the season. That shows you just how poor they have been.
Sheffield United have been extremely unlucky with injuries to be fair to them. Going back to their first couple of matches of the season, six of their starting 11 have gotten significant injuries. This would be hard for any team to deal with, but a newly promoted side makes it that much more difficult.
They have only created six big chances in 12 matches, one big chance every other match is unbelievably low and is not enough to remain a Premier League club. They have no identity and no specific way of playing at the Premier League level, which is why they are where they are in the table.
Bournemouth
When Bournemouth brought in Andoni Iraola, they were expecting a change in culture and play style. Iraola has implemented a pressing style of play that has not worked out how they would have liked so far. However, there have been signs of encouragement when they play teams of similar quality.
They dominated a Newcastle side who was riddled with injury, creating 2.4 xG and only conceding 0.5. The Newcastle side they played that day would struggle to break the top 10, so that is an encouraging sign in the relegation battle that Bournemouth will likely be a part of. They also won the match and the xG battle against Burnley and then beat Swansea and Stoke in the League Cup.
This shows that when Bournemouth play teams closer to the Championship, they are competitive. That is more their level at this current moment just due to the quality of players that Iraola has at his disposal. If they can stay up this season and build their squad how Iraola wants it going forward, then they could be a solid side.
They are still sixth in the league in high turnovers and have scored three goals off high turnovers. Iraola is implementing a style and identity to this Bournemouth side, and unlike Kompany and Burnley, this could potentially be sustainable enough to stay up this season and allow for growth in the summer.
The one downside to their recent matches is the injury to Alex Scott, who had looked promising in the three matches he has played in this year.
Sheffield United vs Bournemouth
Prediction
With the number of injuries that Sheffield United have and virtually all of their underlying metrics, I cannot put any money on them. I think that the international break will favor Bournemouth as it gives Iraola some extra time to set up his tactics for this match.
I have a slight edge on Bournemouth in this match and I will be backing them to get their second straight win. They are +120 right now on DraftKings and I think that is enough to give them a play.
I will also be playing over 2.5 goals as neither of these sides have been efficient defensively this year. Bournemouth have gone over 2.5 goals in 10 of their 15 matches and Sheffield United have gone over in 9 of their 12 matches.
