Burnley v Sheffield United Preview
Posted on | April 19, 2009 | No Comments
This is one of the few games of the weekend that has two teams that both have something to play for. While Burnley are fairly secure in their play off position, they still need a few more points to guarantee it. Sheffield United on the other hand are just one point away from the automatic positions and know that if they can win all three of their remaining fixtures, they’ll heave immense pressure onto Birmingham and may force them into a slip up.
Burnley are another side in the division who’ve had a fantastic season, although Owen Coyle will know there is still plenty of work to do. Admittedly, the Clarets did spend more money than they usually do in the summer, but still it was only a fraction of what many of their promotion rivals did. As it stands, the Turf Moor outfit are sat in 6th place and have a four point cushion from Swansea who are just below them. Should they perform the expected and reach the play off stages, it certainly looks as though they are one of the form teams as well. Coyle’s men haven’t lost in the league since the end of February and after also recording back to back wins, Clarets fans should be extremely confident at the moment.
Sheffield United are also in exquisite form at the moment, which makes this fixture even more desirable. It wasn’t so long ago that the Blades were just a side hunting for the top six, but throughout the past couple of months they’ve put together some fantastic results that have seen them emerge as a strong contender for an automatic position. The last time Kevin Blackwell’s men recorded a league defeat was at the start of February and seven victories from eleven games has meant that the Blades are now a serious force in the division. They will be perhaps disappointed after only drawing at home with Nottingham Forest on Monday, but other than that their form has been highly impressive and even if they fail to make 2nd spot, they’ll be identical to Burnley in the way of having plenty of confidence heading into the play off stages.
Burnley have some major problems in the striker’s department for this one though and Owen Coyle may have to turn to youth players. With Steven Thompson and Martin Paterson both out through injuries, Coyle looks set to utilize youngsters like Jay Rodriguez and Wes Fletcher. Sheffield United aren’t without their problems though with Sun Jihai, Matthew Kilgallon and Stephen Quinn all set to miss out through injuries. With last week’s goal scorer Brian Howard out through suspension as well, Kevin Blackwell certainly has some head scratching to do.
Burnley have been pretty good at home all season and we think this could continue here. Even though Sheffield United are also in very good form, we think the Clarets could just about edge this one in a 2-1 victory.
Related posts:
- Sheffield United v Burnley Preview
- Burnley v Sheffield Wednesday Preview
- Sheffield United v Swansea Preview
- Sheffield United v Leeds Preview
- Sheffield United v Blackpool Preview
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