Chelsea vs Sheffield United: Predicted lineup, injury news, head-to-head, telecast

Published at :December 14, 2023 at 4:30 PM

Modified at :December 27, 2023 at 5:35 PM

Mauricio Pochettino’s hands are tied with injuries

Chelsea suffered their seventh defeat in the Premier League for the season. It was an away fixture last game against Everton at the good old Goodison Park. The Blues will now host Sheffield United after losing three of their last four games. The West London club also lost a few more players to injuries.

Sheffield United find themselves at the bottom of the PL table after matchday 16. Although they did win last time out against Brentford, the numbers aren’t in their favour. The Blades rank first in both the least number of goals scored and the highest number of goals conceded in the competition. Chris Wilder will hope to change much of that slowly with his third game in charge.

Kick-Off:

Saturday, 16 December 2023 at 3:00 PM UK (8:30 PM IST)

Location: Stamford Bridge

Form

Chelsea (in all competitions): L-L-W-L-D

Sheffield United (in all competitions): W-L-L-L-D

Players to Watch

Conor Gallagher (Chelsea)

Conor Gallagher has been the go-to player wearing Chelsea’s captain armband amid the injury crisis of Reece James. The 23-year-old central midfielder is backing Pochettino’s choice with performances on the field as well. Along with his high work rate, Gallagher has also made 4 assists in 15 PL games so far.

Gustavo Hamer (Sheffield United)

After leaving the EFL Championship for Premier League football in the summer, Gustavo Hamer has made 15 appearances in the top flight. The defensive midfielder who can also play centrally and as a makeshift right-back, has only missed 1 PL game so far. Hamer has scored 2 goals on top of an assist in the competition.

Match Facts

Even though Chelsea are placed mid-table and Sheffield United bottom, the last five-game form has been the same. Both sides have lost three of their last five fixtures and made the same number of points on the table
The Blues (1.6 goals per match) have double the scoring average of the Blades (0.8 goals per match)
The Stamford Bridge hosts have failed to keep a clean sheet in the last six matches while the visitor’s goalkeeper Wes Foderingham is ranked 1 in saves per match (4.8 saves per PL match)

Injury & Team News

Apart from defeat to Everton, Mauricio Pochettino also lost a few more players to injury. Both the fullbacks – Reece James and Marc Cucurella who started at Goodison Park were taken off along with goalkeeper Robert Sanchez. James suffered a hamstring injury. While Cucurella twisted his ankle, Sanchez was plagued with a knee issue. The Blues injury list already had – Wesley Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, Noni Madueke, Marcus Bettinelli, Carney Chukwuemeka, Lesley Ugochukwu and Ben Chilwell. Christopher Nkunku is ever closer to making his return. Romeo Lavia and Malo Gusto are also soon to follow.

For the visiting side of Chris Wilder, injuries have taken out a good chunk of players. The injury list has – Tom Davies, Rhys Norrington-Davies, Chris Basham, Daniel Jebbison, Ismaila Cheick Coulibaly, John Egan and Rhian Brewster. In the Brentford game, centre-back Jack Robinson accumulated fifth yellow card of the season. This means he will be suspended in this one.

Head to Head

Total Matches – 5

Chelsea wins – 3

Sheffield United wins – 1

Draws – 1

Predicted Lineup

Chelsea predicted lineup (4-2-3-1):

Petrović (GK); Disasi, Colwill, Badiashile, Maatsen; Gallagher, Caicedo; Palmer, Fernandez, Mudryk; Broja

Sheffield United predicted lineup (4-1-4-1):

Foderingham (GK); Bogle, Ahmedhodžić, Trusty, Thomas; Souza; McAtee, Hamer, Brooks, Archer; Osula

Match Prediction for Chelsea vs Sheffield United

Chelsea’s season is stumbling in simple words. As much as the injury woes are of concern so are the results on the pitch. The Sheffield United side’s atmosphere may have changed with Chris Wilder’s appointment 2 matchdays prior. But still, chances are the Blues bag a win at least in this one.

Prediction: Chelsea 1-0 Sheffield United

Telecast for Chelsea vs Sheffield United

India – Star Sports, Disney+ Hotstar

UK – Sky Sports, TNT Sports, Amazon Prime Video

US – NBC, USA Network, Peacock

Nigeria – SuperSport, NTA, Canal+ Afrique

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