Sheffield United vs Liverpool preview
Watch match highlights at 5.15pm on skysports.com and the Sky Sports app
Friday 27 September 2019 17:52, UK
Team news, key stats and predictions ahead of Sheffield United vs Liverpool in the Premier League.
Team news
David McGoldrick is a major doubt for Sheffield United. The Republic of Ireland international has missed the last two matches with a muscle injury - sustained after doing extra shooting practice - and boss Chris Wilder is not optimistic about his chances of being fit.
Fellow striker Billy Sharp serves the last match of his suspension but Lys Mousset is pushing for a start after scoring in last week's win over Everton.
Sadio Mane has recovered from the dead leg he sustained against Chelsea last weekend, with Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp set to revert to his preferred attacking trio of Mane, Mo Salah and Roberto Firmino after resting them for the Carabao Cup win at MK Dons in midweek.
Divock Origi is available after missing three matches with an ankle problem but Xherdan Shaqiri, who injured a calf in training on Monday, is not ready to return.
Goalkeeper Alisson Becker is set to return to training this weekend after a calf problem of his own but is not in contention for the trip to Bramall Lane.
How to watch
Follow the action with our dedicated live blog. Highlights of the game will be published at 5.15pm on the Sky Sports website and app plus the Sky Sports Football YouTube channel.
Opta stats
- Sheffield United have not hosted Liverpool in a match in any competition since the opening day of the 2006-07 Premier League season, drawing 1-1 at Bramall Lane.
- Liverpool have never won a Premier League match at Bramall Lane in three attempts (W0 D2 L1), though those games were played in 1992, 1993 and 2006.
- Bramall Lane is one of only three grounds Liverpool have played at without winning in the Premier League (three games), along with Nottingham Forest's City Ground (five games) and Blackpool's Bloomfield Road (one game).
- Liverpool have won their last 12 Premier League matches against newly-promoted sides, scoring 35 times and conceding only four goals in that run; the last team to have a longer winning run against newly-promoted teams was Spurs (16 wins between 2015 and 2018).
- Sheffield United have not lost three consecutive home games in league competition since February 2013 when in League One. The last time they lost three in a row at Bramall Lane in the top-flight was October 1990.
- Liverpool are unbeaten in their last 23 Premier League games, winning the last 15 in a row. Only between May 1987 and March 1988 have they had a longer unbeaten run in top-flight history (31 games).
Charlie's prediction
Liverpool are coming through these tests without playing brilliantly. The Sheffield United team I watched the other week at Everton impressed me with the energy and pace they play at. They do struggle for goals though. It has been quite a jump up for Oli McBurnie. He works hard and grafts, but you are looking for a goal return here.
The Blades are well drilled and organised - when I saw them at Goodison Park, their two wing-backs were going up - I even saw the centre-half in the box - and they didn't look like they were going to get caught on the counter-attack either. I can see Liverpool doing what they did at Chelsea here though. Sheffield United will be in their face and try to pin them back, but they need to worry about Roberto Firmino, and then the pace and skill of Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah. Liverpool will gradually grind the game down.
CHARLIE PREDICTS: 1-3 (8/1 with Sky Bet)
Fantasy Football tip
Rather than selecting the lottery of Liverpool's front three, two shrewd but popular players to select could be Trent Alexander-Arnold (£9.9m) and Andy Robertson (£10.2m), who notched a goal and assist respectively against Chelsea last weekend.
