BOTH Sheffield United and Sunderland will look to continue their positive starts to the English Championship season when the pair lock horns at Bramall Lane on Wednesday night.
The Blades started their second consecutive year in the second tier with a 1-0 defeat at Watford before banking their first three points of the season with a 2-0 win over Millwall.
Paul Heckingbottom's side were unable to follow up on that success though following an action-packed 2-2 with Middlesbrough at the Riverside on Sunday.
As such, Sheffield United will be looking to return to winning ways when they welcome newly-promoted Sunderland to the Steel City this midweek.
The Black Cats have needed no time to adapt to the Championship, with their opening three league games yielding five points.
Having said that, Saturday's 2-2 draw with QPR will have been a bitter pill to swallow for Alex O'Neil and Co, as goalkeeper Seny Dieng's stoppage time header rescued a dramatic point for the Hoops.
Outright Betting
Sheffield United are odds-on 10/13 favourites with SBK to make it two league wins from two on home turf this term.
Despite triumphing in their opening road trip of the season, Sunderland head into this clash as 9/2 (Boylesports) underdogs while a point apiece has been priced up at 11/4 (Betfred).
Betting Angles
Although Sheffield United are rightful favourites for the win on Wednesday night, I suspect this match could be closer than the odds suggest.
As such, there isn't a huge amount of appeal in the 1×2 market here, but backing both teams to score looks like an eye-catching alternative at even-money with Bet 365.
Sheffield United boasted one of the best home records in the Championship last season, avoiding defeat in 18 of their 23 league games at their Bramall Lane base.
It's also worth pointing out that during that sequence that Paul Heckingbottom's posse failed to score on only five occasions, not to mention they have notched up at least one strike in 10 of their last 11 outings on their own patch.
While Sheffield United are capable of putting in stubborn and dogged performances, they could struggle to keep a Sunderland side that have been scoring freely at bay.
The Black Cats have made the bulge in each of their opening three league games of the season, scoring multiple goals in two of those matches.
That being said, Alex Neil's side have yet to keep their clean sheets across those three aforementioned outings, which doesn't bode well ahead of a visit to promotion-hopefuls Sheffield United
What's more, both teams to score has been a winning bet in each of Sunderland's three league games this season so far, and with that in mind, siding with the same selection on Wednesday night could represent a spot of early-season at even-money (Bet 365).
This England Championship match between Sheffield United and Sunderland will be played on Aug 17, 2022 and kick off at 20:00. Check below for our tipsters best Sheffield United vs Sunderland prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
Exactly the same bet I’ve got. Dan Ballard will be a huge miss as he picked up an injury v QPR. Squad is lightweight at the minute. With Stewart and Simms we always look like we can get a goal, though.