Sheffield United vs Southampton Predictions

• Sheffield United are unbeaten in their last five (three wins, two draws).
• Southampton have won only one of their six competitive games this season (8-0 v League Two Newport).
• Southampton have not scored in their last two matches.

Blades can cut Saints down to size

It’s nearly seven years since League One Sheffield United knocked Southampton out of the League Cup on their way to the semi-finals.

And there’s a whiff of an upset about the Blades’ Carabao Cup third round tie at home to the Premier League club this week too.

The Saints may occupy the same place (15th) in the top-flight as the Blades do in the Championship right now, but appear to have stopped scoring.

Saturday’s 0-0 draw at Manchester City was rightly celebrated as a good result for Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side, who survived a couple of scares on the way to claiming their deserved point.

But they still lack a reliable goalscorer to fill the void left by Danny Ings’ departure and some of the squad players don’t quite look ready to step in should injuries take hold on the south coast.

Sheffield United are coming together after a slow start under Slavisa Jokanovic and are now five games unbeaten ahead of the visit of Southampton.

The Serbian threw several youth team graduates into his line-up in the previous round and they saw off an equally youthful Derby County 2-1.

If he does it again, they could come unstuck against higher-level opposition, but there may still be a chance to avoid defeat in the 90 minutes against a much-changed Saints line-up.

Confidence has been building in the home camp over the past month and Jokanovic won’t want to damage that by throwing this opportunity away, so we are supporting the hosts in the double chance market and a 1-1 correct score play.