Currently sitting 19th and 20th in the form table respectively, Sheffield United and Southampton are two teams desperate to win a game and pick up some points. The Blades still occupy bottom spot in the overall Premier League table but will be feeling somewhat buoyed after a surprise 1-0 victory over top-half Aston Villa on Wednesday night.

Meanwhile, The Saints have forgotten what it’s like to win a Premier League game in recent months. Ralph Hassenhuttl’s side have not won a league game since they beat Liverpool 1-0 at St Mary’s right at the start of January. Since then, they have lost eight of their nine league games, and have only picked up one point which came in a 1-1 draw against Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Whilst there are a number of teams below them who will be greater favourites to see the drop, Saints will want to pick up points sooner rather than later to make sure they’re comfortable come the end of the season. Chris Wilder’s side are looking to pick up as many points as they can to keep their increasingly slender hopes of Premier League survival alive.

Team news – Sheffield United

The Blades still have a number of players out due to injury and will be hampered even further at the back after Phil Jagielka was controversially sent off against Villa.

Chris Wilder confirmed that Saturday's game will come too soon for both Jayden Bogle and Chris Basham.

John Egan, Jack O'Connell, Sander Berge and Jack Robinson continue to miss out through longer-term injuries.

Team news – Southampton FC

Things are starting to look up for Ralph Hasenhuttl and his men, as Kyle Walker-Peters, Ibrahima Diallo and Takumi Minamino all returned to training this week.

While Theo Walcott remains sidelined, the Saints boss hopes he will return to the side after the international break.

Previous Meeting

The last time these two sides met was in front of fans as a few thousand Saints fans cheered from the stands. At the time, Saints were flying high and ended the weekend only two points off the summit of the Premier League table.

Former Blade Che Adams opened the scoring shortly after half an hour. Jan Bednarek flicked a header on from a free kick and Adams somehow squeezed the ball past John Egan and Aaron Ramsdale at the near post.

Stuart Armstrong made it 2-0 just after the hour when his effort from the edge of the 18-yard box was deflected by Phil Jagielka and into the bottom corner, completely wrong-footing Ramsdale.

Nathan Redmond topped off a dominant display late on when he powered into the box following a neat one-two before placing accurately into the far corner.

Ones to watch

Sheffield United: David McGoldrick

At age 33, McGoldrick has been a shining positive in a season mainly full of negativity for a Sheffield United side that has found itself rock bottom for the vast majority of the season.

After taking 35 league games to get on the scoresheet last season, the veteran striker has proven he’s still got it in him, scoring six goals so far this season in the Premier League, with five of those coming against big boys Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur.

Whilst he’s not the most prolific striker in Premier League history, he’s a United fan favourite for other reasons. His hold up play, ability to get out of tight spaces, and then to pick a pass has been invaluable to the Blades. This was proven on Wednesday night when he turned inside his man, pinged a 40-yard cross-field ball to George Baldock and then ran to the far post to get on the end of Baldock’s subsequent attempt and turn in.

Embed from Getty Images

Southampton FC – Danny Ings

Ings has really found a home at Southampton. After spending the majority of his time at Liverpool bench-warming, and then a lot of his first Southampton season on the treatment table, last season the now 28-year-old showed us what he was really about. He featured in all 38 of Southampton’s league fixtures, scored 22 goals, and led Saints to their highest finish since the 2016/17 season.

Despite sitting out due to injury at times again this season, he’s started 19 of the 21 matches he’s been in the squad for and has scored eight goals, including a brace against Spurs at the start of the season.

Ings has only scored two goals this calendar year, but he is a constant threat to any side, especially side who have defensive problems similar to the ones that Sheffield United are currently facing.

Embed from Getty Images

Predicted lineups

Sheffield United (5-3-2): Ramsdale; Baldock, Ampadu, Bryan, Stevens, Osborn; Lundstram, Norwood, Fleck, McGoldrick, Burke

Southampton (4-4-2): McCarthy; Bednarek, Vestergaard, Salisu, Bertrand; Redmond, Ward-Prowse, Armstrong, Tella; Ings, Adams

How to watch

Sheffield United vs Southampton will kick off at 15:00 GMT on Saturday 6 March 2021, and is available to watch, live from Bramall Lane, on Sky Sports.

VAVEL Logo
About the author