Two clubs that suffered playoff heartache last season meet at Bramall Lane on Saturday night as Sheffield United hosts Bristol City.
After suffering relegation from the Premier League and being dealt a two-point deduction, Sheffield United would go on to finish third in the Championship table, 10 points behind both Leeds United and Burnley, and 14 clear of fourth-placed Sunderland.
Despite just taking a solitary point from their final three Championship fixtures, Bristol City managed to claim the final playoff spot, finishing two points clear of seventh-placed Blackburn Rovers.
These two sides would then meet each other in the playoff semi-finals, and The Blades outclassed their opponents, winning 3-0 in both legs.
However, that wasn’t enough to get Sheffield United promoted, as they conceded a couple of late goals to lose 1-2 to Sunderland on an afternoon where our man Adam landed a full-house of winners.
These two clubs come into the new season under new management, with ex-Reading manager Ruben Selles taking over from Chris Wilder in Yorkshire, whilst Austrian Gerhard Struber succeeds the departed Liam Manning at Ashton Gate.
How the bookies view it: Blades bookies favourites
Sheffield United have been installed as favourites here, with BoyleSports pricing them at 8/11 to begin the new campaign with all three points.
Bristol City are 10/3 to leave The Steel City with all three points, whilst the draw is 13/5.
Head to head: Blades with upper hand
As alluded to, Sheffield United defeated Bristol City 3-0 in both legs of their playoff semi-final last season.
The Blades were also unbeaten in both regular-season meetings, winning 1-2 at Ashton Gate last November, before drawing 1-1 in the reverse fixture at the beginning of March.
Players to watch: Tyrese to find the target?
Tyrese Campbell finished the Championship campaign last season as The Blades top scorer, finding the back of the net on 11 occasions. One of those was in the playoff final defeat to Sunderland, and he is 7/4 at BoyleSports to score in consecutive competitive matches.
Predicted line-ups:
New signings Tyler Bindon and the exciting Louis Barry could make their Blades debut on Saturday.
Centre-back Rob Dickie will be suspended for The Robins following his red card in their playoff defeat to Sheffield United, whilst Joe Williams and Max Bird will be out due to injury.
Sheffield United: Cooper, Seriki, Bindon, Robinson, Burrows, Peck, Arblaster, Hamer, O’Hare, Barry, Campbell
Bristol City: O’Leary, McCrorie, Vyner, Tanner, Spring, Knight, Sykes, Randell, Twine, Riis, Mehmeti
Anything else catch the eye?
As alluded to, Sheffield United dominated this fixture last season, winning three and drawing one of their four meetings, scoring nine goals and conceding just twice in the process.
The Blades are just 8/11 to win, but are a more backable 5/6 at BoyleSports to score two or more goals.
Three of those four meetings saw Over 2.5 Goals land, and given each of Bristol City’s final six and eight of their last nine Championship contests went Over 2.5 Goals, the 20/23 on offer at BoyleSports for us seeing three or more goals at Bramall Lane on Saturday also appeals.
GambleAware