Sheffield United v Manchester City predictions, betting odds and bet builder tips

Where to watch Sheffield United v Manchester City

Sky Sports Main Event & Premier League, 2pm Sunday

Best bet

Manchester City & under 3.5 goals
2pts 21-20 Coral, Ladbrokes

Sheffield United v Manchester City odds

Sheffield United 18-1
Manchester City 2-11
Draw 7-1

Odds correct at time of publishing

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Sheffield United v Manchester City team news

Sheffield United
Defender Max Lowe has been ruled out, but Oli McBurnie and George Baldock could be in the squad after returning to training.

Manchester City
Bernardo Silva has recovered from illness and new signing Jeremy Doku is available, but Kevin De Bruyne and John Stones are out.

Sheffield United v Manchester City predictions

There tends to be limited expectations for any promoted team in the Premier League, but Sheffield United seem to be in a lot more trouble than could have been anticipated despite playing just two games.

It is not necessarily the results that have been the chief concern for those who have backed the Blades to stay up, even though a home loss to Crystal Palace and defeat at Nottingham Forest came in matches Paul Heckingbottom and his team would have felt they could get something from.

For many, including bookmakers, this visit from Manchester City does not fall into that category, but the longer-term worry is whether the Blades can move on from the departures of key men Iliman Ndiaye and Sander Berge.

Senegalese forward Ndiaye will be missed most, having left for Marseille, as he was their top goalscorer in the Championship with 14 goals and was involved in more than a third of the 73 they notched in their promotion campaign.

Berge, meanwhile, has been their driving force for a few seasons and the sight of him moving to Burnley, who won the second tier last season, will be particularly galling.

Both went close to the start of the campaign and the Blades have since come in to 4-11 from 8-11 to go straight down.

Gustavo Hamer scored a fine goal at the City Ground, where they were beaten by a late strike from Chris Wood, but United cannot rely on moments of inspiration if they are going to stay up.

Consequently, this meeting with the treble winners is a free hit for them to prove they have the fighting qualities to stay up which means we might not see much emphasis on attack.

City, whose manager Pep Guardiola is absent following a back operation in Spain, came through a potentially tricky game at home to Newcastle last time, but the cosy manner in which they won 3-0 on the opening night at Burnley is probably the best indicator of what might happen at Bramall Lane.

Phil Foden set up Julian Alvarez for the winner against the Magpies and should take more creative responsibility with assist master Kevin De Bruyne sidelined, but the difficulty with getting with City players to score in these sorts of games is that Guardiola may shuffle the pack from his hospital bed and the prices about Erling Haaland are usually prohibitive.

There is also the chance that they won't go goal mad.

Their last three league games against the Blades have all been 1-0 wins and if you include the Community Shield and the Super Cup, City have scored just once in three of their four outings of the new campaign.

Eight of their 12 away victories last season featured fewer than four goals and the first of the other four did not arrive until December 28, so the bad news for the rest of the league is that they could be easing into the campaign again.

Consequently, a City win and under 3.5 goals at a shade of odds-against could be the way to go.

Key stat

Sheffield United have scored in just one of their last eight games against City

Probable teams

Sheffield United (3-4-2-1): Foderingham; Ahmedhodzic, Egan, Robinson; Osborn, Norwood, Souza, Larouci; Hamer, Traore; Osula
Subs: McBurnie, Baldock, Basham, Brooks, Hackford, Davies, Seriki

Manchester City (4-2-3-1): Ederson; Walker, Akanji, Dias, Gvardiol; Rodri, Kovacic; Foden, Alvarez, Grealish; Haaland
Subs: Silva, Doku, Phillips, Palmer, Ake, McAtee, Lewis

Inside info

Sheffield United

Star man Gustavo Hamer
Top scorer Gustavo Hamer
Penalty taker Oliver Norwood
Card magnet Anel Ahmedhodzic
Assist ace Oliver Norwood
Set-piece aerial threat Anel Ahmedhodzic

Manchester City

Star man Erling Haaland
Top scorer Erling Haaland
Penalty taker Erling Haaland
Card magnet Rodri
Assist ace Phil Foden
Set-piece aerial threat Erling Haaland

Sheffield United v Manchester City bet builder predictions

Anel Ahmedhodzic to be shown a card
The Blades defender was booked 12 times last season and was shown a yellow card in their opening defeat to Crystal Palace

Rodri to have a shot on target
The Spanish midfielder had three on-target efforts in the opening-night 3-0 win at Burnley, one of which was the third goal

Under 6.5 Manchester City corners
Despite their dominance, City had just five corners against Burnley and three when they beat Newcastle at the Etihad last week

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