Sheffield United vs Aston Villa preview, team news, stats, prediction, kick-off time

Sheffield United still without any of regular back three, Aston Villa captain Jack Grealish misses out again; follow Sheffield United vs Aston Villa on Sky Sports; Watch free highlights shortly after full time on Sky Sports website and app

Tuesday 2 March 2021 14:52, UK

Team news, stats and prediction ahead of Sheffield United vs Aston Villa in the Premier League on Wednesday (kick-off 6pm).

Team news

Sheffield United remain down to the bare bones for their home clash with Aston Villa.

Blades boss Chris Wilder will not have any of his injured players back in time for Wednesday night’s game. Jayden Bogle (shin), Chris Basham (hamstring), Jack Robinson (foot), Jack Rodwell, John Egan (toe), Jack O’Connell (knee) and Sander Berge (hamstring) are still out.

Iliman Ndiaye and Frankie Maguire were named among the substitutes against Liverpool on Sunday and the youngsters might be involved in the match-day squad once more.

Villa skipper Jack Grealish misses out for a third game due to a lower leg injury, with boss Dean Smith on Tuesday saying: “We’re looking at whether we can get him on the training pitch by the end of this week.”

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Emiliano Martinez is “fine” to continue in goal after groin tightness that affected his kicking during the 1-0 win at Leeds on Saturday.

Matty Cash (hamstring) and Kortney Hause (foot) have been doing some running as their recoveries continue, and Wesley, out since January 2020 due to a knee injury, has been in full contact training.

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How to follow

Follow Sheffield United vs Aston Villa in our dedicated live match blog. Highlights will also be published on the Sky Sports digital platforms and the Sky Sports Football YouTube channel shortly after the final whistle.

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Jones Knows prediction

In what is likely to be a bitty affair, set pieces may come to the fore. And only Leeds defend such situations worse than Sheffield United, highlighting an opportunity for the visiting Villa big men to get involved in front of goal.

That was the route that led to the only goal in the corresponding fixture where Tyrone Mings’ flick-on was headed home by Ezri Konsa for a 1-0 Villa win.

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My eyes are drawn to the prices about Mings threatening Aaron Ramsdale’s goal. The England international has fired 16 shots on goal this season with a total expected goals figure of 1.49, putting him just behind the likes of Harry Maguire and Lewis Dunk in the most dangerous centre-backs category. His chances of firing two shots on goal are far more likely than the 17/2 on offer with Sky Bet. In recent weeks, Maguire, Antony Rudiger, Ben Mee and Adam Webster have all managed to register two shots on goal in a game against Chris Wilder’s leaky outfit.

JONES KNOWS PREDICTS: 0-1

BETTING ANGLE: Tyrone Mings to have two or more shots (17/2 with Sky Bet)

Last time out…

Opta stats

  • Sheffield United have won their last two home league games against Aston Villa, last winning three in a row against them between 1968 and 1976.
  • Aston Villa are looking to secure their first league double over Sheffield United since the 1993-94 campaign, following their 1-0 win against them earlier this season.
  • Sheffield United have won their last two Premier League games played on a Wednesday, having won just one of their first 13 such games in the competition (D3 L9).
  • Aston Villa have lost each of their three Premier League games played on a Wednesday so far this season, with these coming in three consecutive weeks between January 20th and February 3rd.
  • Sheffield United have lost 10 home league games this season, only losing more in one season in their entire history, losing 11 at Bramall Lane in 2010-11 in the Championship.
  • Aston Villa have kept more away clean sheets than any other Premier League side this season (8). The Villans have never kept nine clean sheets on the road in a single top-flight campaign before.
  • After winning their opening four Premier League games this season, Aston Villa have won consecutive league matches just once since, doing so against West Brom and Crystal Palace in December.
  • Sheffield United have lost 21 league matches this season, the most by a side managed by Chris Wilder since his Northampton team lost 21 in 2014-15 in League Two. In only one previous season in his managerial career has Wilder lost more than 21, losing 22 matches in 2003-04 as Halifax Town manager in the Conference (now National League).
  • Sheffield United defender Enda Stevens hasn’t ended on the winning side in any of his 18 Premier League appearances this season (D2 L16) – the last player to play more matches in a season in the competition without winning was Alan Hutton in 2015-16 for Aston Villa (P28 D6 L22).
  • Anwar El Ghazi is enjoying his best goalscoring season for Aston Villa in both the league (6) and in all competitions (7). Five of the Dutchman’s six Premier League goals this term have come away from home.

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