Liverpool v Sheffield United betting preview, free tip & analysis

Free football tips, best bets and analysis for Liverpool v Sheffield United in the Premier League.

Where to watch

BT Sport 1, 8pm Thursday

Best bet

Liverpool to win & under 3.5 goals
1pt 23-20 Coral
Click here to bet on this tip with Coral

Team news

Liverpool
Xherdan Shaqiri has joined Joel Matip, Dejan Lovren, Nathaniel Clyne, Fabinho and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain on the sidelines. New signing Takumi Minamino can’t make his debut.

Sheffield United
Chris Wilder hopes John Lundstram will be fit.

Match preview

There’s no stopping Liverpool – even VAR can’t derail their title charge – and Sheffield United are poised to become the relentless Reds’ latest victims, although expect them to go down with a fight.

Jurgen Klopp’s Premier League leaders have racked up ten league wins in a row, 17 home league wins in a row and are unbeaten in the league in one day shy of a year.

They enjoyed a simply amazing 2019 in which they were also crowned kings of Europe and the world, and can start 2020 with another three-point haul to inch them nearer the holy grail of a first league title in 30 years.

But mixed plenty of irresistible football there’s been a fair few scraps – the trip to Bramall Lane in September, for example, when it took a Gini Wijnaldum goal and a fair share of good fortune for Liverpool to finally get the better of a seriously impressive Blades.

And on Sunday the title favourites profited from an overturned referee’s call and a knife-edge VAR offside decision to sneak a 1-0 victory against Wolves.

They’ve scored 47 goals in 19 Premier League matches with their famed front three claiming 25 of those and whatever obstacle is put in front of them, they are just in this magical moment when they seem able to overcome them.

Liverpool have won 18 of those 19 matches games but 12 of them have been in games featuring three goals or fewer and that may well be the bet here.

United are rugged and decent. Chris Wilder has never deviated from the set-up or approach that earned them promotion and results have been outstanding with just five losses in their first 20 matches.

The most recent of that quintet was at Manchester City on Sunday, a 2-0 reverse in which they had very little luck and played well.

Eighteen of their 20 league matches have produced under 3.5 goals, including all five of their losses.

Keeper Dean Henderson came into the New Year boasting a Premier League joint-best seven clean sheets and Liverpool are the only side who have conceded fewer goals than the South Yorkshire mob.

They aren’t always pretty but they’ve got a midfield three in Oliver Norwood, John Fleck and John Lundstram who will be the physical match of any opponent, central defenders who continue to venture forward when the chances arise but if there is a weakness it’s a lightness up front with strikers who are capable but struggling to score goals. Lys Mousset is top scorer with five.

And, of course, they are coming up against a Liverpool side who have now stopped leaking goals. Joel Matip is class, Dejan Lovren an able understudy yet it’s since Klopp turned to Joe Gomez to partner Virgil van Dijk that the barricades have gone up and they are now looking to keep five straight clean sheets for the first time since 2007.

The hunch is they probably will shut the Blades out but at the end of a long and sapping stretch of fixtures and against an obdurate opponent, this is unlikely to be a bloodbath.