Preview: Sheffield United vs. Stoke City - prediction, team news, lineups

The Blades currently sit in the automatic promotion spots with a nine-point lead over third-placed Blackburn Rovers, while their visitors have dropped to 18th place, and both sides come into the contest on the back of FA Cup wins at the weekend.

Match preview

Sheffield United come into Saturday's contest in the midst of a six-game unbeaten run in the Championship and with a healthy lead over the playoff places, albeit having seen a streak of five straight victories put to an end in their last league outing at the beginning of the year.

Returning to action from the World Cup break in second place with 38 points from 21 matches, Paul Heckingbottom's side picked up exactly where they left off with victories over Huddersfield Town and Wigan Athletic, and they would continue their fine form with a 3-1 home triumph over Coventry City on Boxing Day.

After making it five on the bounce with a victory away at Blackpool, the Blades travelled to take on Queens Park Rangers in their first game of the new year, and they looked set to fall to a narrow defeat having failed to produce a reply to Ilias Chair's early goal, only for John Egan to net an equaliser deep into injury time to snatch a valuable point for the South Yorkshire outfit.

While that did see their lead over the chasing pack reduced slightly, Heckingbottom's men do still have a healthy nine-point cushion in second place with a five-point gap up to league leaders Burnley, and they head into the weekend on the back of a 2-0 FA Cup triumph, as they booked a fourth-round trip to Wrexham with a win away at Millwall thanks to goals from Daniel Jebbison and Jayden Bogle.

Now turning their attention back to England's second tier, the Blades will look for a 16th Championship win of the campaign on Saturday to further strengthen their position in the fight for automatic promotion.

They welcome a Stoke City side who are also aiming to get back to winning ways in the league, having now dropped to 18th spot following back-to-back losses.

An inconsistent run going into the World Cup break saw the Potters sit in the bottom half with 25 points from 21 games, and they appeared to return to action in better form, putting together draws against Cardiff City and Rotherham United either side of a 2-1 victory away at Bristol City.

Aiming to make it four league games unbeaten in England's second tier, Alex Neil's side then faced a tricky test at home to league leaders Burnley, and they would suffer a narrow defeat as Josh Cullen's goal on the hour mark made the only difference, before the Staffordshire outfit were beaten by a goal to nil for the second straight time in their last Championship outing, as Ched Evans snatched all three points for Preston North End in injury time away from home.

They do, at least, head into Saturday's trip to Yorkshire on the back of a cup victory of their own, having travelled to Hartlepool United and triumphed 3-0 courtesy of two own goals and a Jacob Brown finish on the stroke of half time to book their place in the final 32.

Now with just a four-point lead over the relegation zone, Neil's men head into one of their toughest tests of the season thus far with the need to kickstart a run of results to avoid dropping any closer to the bottom three.

Sheffield United Championship form:

W

W

W

W

W

D

Sheffield United form (all competitions):

W

W

W

W

D

W

Stoke City Championship form:

L

D

W

D

L

L

Stoke City form (all competitions):

D

W

D

L

L

W

Team News

Paul Heckingbottom made several changes to his Sheffield United side for the trip to Millwall, although some key men were not afforded rests due to the extensive injury issues in the squad, with Rhys Norrington-Davies, Max Lowe, Jack O'Connell, Ben Osborn, John Fleck, Rhian Brewster and Oli McBurnie all remaining out of action.

After his opening goal, Daniel Jebbison may earn a first league start of the season for the Blades over Billy Sharp, while Iliman Ndiaye is bound to again play a crucial role in the front line, having provided six assists in the last six matches in all competitions, and the Senegal international also boasts nine league goals so far this term.

Manchester City loanees James McAtee and Tommy Doyle are both vying to feature in the midfield from the outset, with the former having found the net in their wins over Coventry and Blackpool, although Oliver Norwood will certainly keep his place in the centre with Sander Berge also likely to start.

Stoke also made several rotations for their FA Cup game, and Harry Souttar is bound to come back into the back three, with Morgan Fox set to claim the left-hand spot, leaving Ben Wilmot and former Sheffield United defender Phil Jagielka to battle for the final place.

Lewis Baker should also come back into the midfield from the outset, having netted a team-high tally of five goals so far this season, with Josh Laurent and Jordan Thompson also likely to feature in the engine room.

Liam Delap will hope to lead the line against a side containing two fellow Manchester City loanees, but his opportunities in the Championship have been limited recently and Tyrese Campbell or Dwight Gayle are more likely to join Jacob Brown up front at Bramall Lane.

Sheffield United possible starting lineup:

Foderingham; Ahmedhodzic, Egan, Clark; Baldock, Berge, Norwood, McAtee, Stevens; Ndiaye, Jebbison

Stoke City possible starting lineup:

Bonham; Wilmot, Souttar, Fox; Clarke, Thompson, Baker, Laurent, Tymon; Brown, Gayle

We say: Sheffield United 2-0 Stoke City

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