Sheffield Utd – Norwich City

Sheffield United players will be reminded of how confident they can perform at home

One of the most important duels of the next round of the Championship will be held in Sheffield. Local "Blades" managed to be the first in the current championship, and now share with Burnley the second-third place. In general, United were not expected to revive so quickly after the ignominious departure from the Premier League at the end of last season. Back then, the Blades picked up 16 points from 38 rounds. Having quickly adapted to the conditions of the Championship, the team claims to return to the elite from one of the top two positions. Norwich have repeated last year's Sheffield United's Premier League run of form twice in the previous five seasons, finishing twentieth. The Canaries spend the previous two seasons and the current one in the Championship. Last year's sixth place could have led to the team winning the playoffs, but the competitors were too strong. Now Norwich City have the sixth highest estimated squad value, but the club realises its potential with a creak. Bookmakers have identified the home team as favourites for the upcoming encounter, offering odds of 2.11 on their victory. Sheffield United until mid-December showed almost the strongest level of play in the Championship. In particular, the Blades were unbeatable in their arena, for many months beating their opponents even without conceding a goal. In the third decade of December and the first day of the new year, Sheffield United suffered a slump in form, losing to Burnley and Sunderland and drawing with West Bromwich. This period became especially painful for the team because of defeats from direct rivals. Last round, the "Blades" achieved a long-awaited victory, managing to take three points from Watford. Norwich City, like the upcoming opponent, last week fell out of the FA Cup. Prior to this match, the Canaries had a four-match unbeaten streak, which resulted in ten points out of twelve possible in the league. Another thing is that during this period Norwich had no opponents of the level of Sheffield United. And in general, in the current season "canaries" play unstable, alternating successful and unsuccessful series of several matches. In Sheffield, it will be difficult for the guests to gain even one point. It's time for the hosts to remember their level of play at home.