Our prediction for this Championship match:
Ewood Park will host Saturday’s football game between Blackburn Rovers and Sheffield United. The Riversiders experienced all sorts of problems at the back in a 7-0 loss to Fulham, meaning that the lack of confidence could prove to be a big problem for the home team. To make things even worse for the hosts, defender Jan Paul van Hecke will have to serve his ban against Sheffield United.
The Blades, on the other hand, head into the match following a 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forest. Sheffield Utd aim to move closer to the playoffs berth, and they should take advantage of Blackburn’s shaky defence. Experienced attacker Billy Sharp is pushing for a start, while the likes of Berge, Burke, Davies, Freeman, and O’Connell should all miss out through injuries. You should bear in mind that the Blades emerged triumphant in each of the previous three meetings with the Riversiders in all competitions.
Highlighted Player (Lewis Holtby):
Lewis Holtby is a left-footed footballer who plays for Hamburg as a midfielder. Holtby began his senior career at Alemannia Aachen and he played for the club between 2007 and 2009. The German player then joined Schalke in 2009, but he was quickly sent to Bochum on loan.
After ending his loan spells with Bochum and Mainz, he returned to Schalke and it has to be noted that he made 55 goals for the club, scoring 10 goals in Bundesliga. On 28 January, 2013 Holtby signed a four-and-a-half-year deal with Tottenham Hotspur, but he was playing below expectations for the Premier League club.
In September, 2014 Holtby joined Hamburg on loan and on 1 July, 2015 he signed a permanent contract with the club. His contract with Hamburg expires on 30 June, 2018. Lewis Holtby has 24 caps for Germany U21 and he made his debut for German national team on 17 November, 2010 in a goalless draw with Sweden. He started the game, but he was substituted by Andre Schurrle after 77 minutes.
Highlighted Team (Sheffield United):
Sheffield United are a professional football club that compete in the Championship. The Blades finished the 2016/2017 League One campaign in top position in the standings, with the team collecting exactly 100 points in the process. Sheffield United last competed in the Premier League in the 2006/2007 season and they were more than unfortunate not to secure the top flight survival.
The Blades finished the season in 18th place in the process and it has to be noted that they were level on points with Wigan Athletic, who managed to avoid the relegation to the English second tier. Sheffield United welcome their rivals at Bramal Lane, the stadium which was opened on April 30, 1855. The current capacity of the venue is 32.702.
The club have numerous rivalries, but the most notable one is the rivalry with their city neighbors Sheffield Wednesday. The two teams face each other in the Steel City derby and it has to be noted that United share rivalry with the likes of Barnsley, Rotherham United, Doncaster Rovers and Leeds United as well.