Sheffield United v Crystal Palace predictions: Eagles look value for the victory

Free football tips, best bets and analysis for Sheffield United v Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Saturday.

Where to watch

Sky Sports Premier League & Main Event, 3pm Saturday

Best bet

Crystal Palace
2pts 8-5 Hills

Team news

Sheffield United
Sander Berge should be fit to start. Jack O'Connell, Billy Sharp and Oli McBurnie are out.

Crystal Palace
Mamadou Sakho is still out. James Tomkins and James McArthur are major doubts.

Match preview

The season can't end soon enough for Sheffield United, but before they are finally put out of their misery there is the formality of yet another defeat to endure, this time at the hands of Crystal Palace.

United's players have gone to post in the Premier League 34 times this season and on 27 of those occasions they've been beaten.

It's a wretched record which Paul Heckingbottom has given no indication he can arrest and Palace really ought to have the tools to inflict more damage.

The lugubrious Roy Hodgson, who, rather like United, looks like a man for whom this campaign can't end soon enough, has been through a tough couple of weeks with nothing to show for it.

But Palace's top-flight place is secure, they boast more than double United's points haul and the Eagles' match odds look pretty attractive.

Palace have lost three in a row, but those were games against Chelsea, Leicester and Manchester City and they more than held their own against the champions-to-be for nearly an hour.

As a unit Palace can still look like world-beaters when they click but they need their key players to contribute more, especially Wilf Zaha, whose levels have dropped appreciably as we inch nearer towards the summer bun fight to lure him away from Selhurst.

If Zaha turns it on - or Ebe Eze or Jeffrey Schlupp or Andros Townsend does - Palace are as hot as anyone, especially away, where they can exploit space on the counter.

United, in contrast, offer very little in response. They've scored only 11 goals at home and only 18 in total, which is by some distance the worst haul in the division. And a tally of three points out of a possible 21 under Heckingbottom tells us they haven't improved in the slightest since Chris Wilder's departure.

Key stat

Sheffield United have failed to find the net in nine of their last 12 league matches.

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