Championship, Wednesday, 01/01/2025 at 9:00 pm
Two go straight up, four more go into the relegation – the promotion topic in the Championship is clearly regulated! Of course, the favorites want to break away, so the top game at the Stadium of Light on New Year’s Day will be interesting.
Nobody can afford to make a mistake, so it’s a good thing that the home side are still unbeaten at home. In my Sunderland Sheffield United tip, I’ll tell you why I’m betting on a tactical game and therefore an “Under 2.5 goals”.
The rise? It’s hard-fought! In England’s second-highest division, there are a number of well-known teams that all want to get back to the top. Sheffield United, who were still in the Premier League in 2023/24, are of course among them.
The Blades are currently in second place, but with the leading pack very close, they can never be sure of their good starting position. The team is actually doing quite well, but now they have to be careful not to lose their advantage.
For the third time this season, Sheffield has failed to win twice in a row – but they have never gone more than two games without a win. 0-2 against Burnley and 1-1 against West Brom, these two results show the small period of weakness.
There is a very interesting fact about the Blades: if they win, you can almost be sure of a clean sheet! We count 15 wins, 14 of which had no goals conceded. No wonder I’m looking for betting options here.
I find what I’m looking for at Betway. There is also a great new customer bonus here. Click on the graphic and get up to 100 euros for your bets after registration.
If they manage to win with a clean sheet on Wednesday, which they have already done five times away from home, you could get odds of 5.50 at Betano! A great value, and Betano also scores with the attractive bonus code.
Sheffield has won 2-0 away from home four times, which is also very exciting. The corresponding result bet has odds of 18.5 at Betano. Are there generally fewer goals in these games?
That can certainly be said with 33:14 goals, on average 1.96 per game. The 2.5 mark was only broken five times, and in addition, only six results had “both teams scored”.
No question about it, you rarely get to see a spectacle at the Blades. However, there is one personnel fact that matches the defense and that is sure to strike fear into the hearts of fans.
Harry Souttar, the defensive leader, has suffered a torn Achilles tendon and will be out for months! The last two matches in which he did not take to the pitch, Sheffield did not win (1-1 and 2-2).
Sunderland and Sheffield have not met very often in recent years, with six duels since 2017. The record: five wins for the Blades, one for Sunderland – so one point for the guest.
Our bookmakers don’t want to be blinded by history, they prefer to go the classic way and see the home side with average odds of 2.15 to 3.50 in front.
Sunderland are fourth, currently five points behind Sheffield. So to get closer to their upcoming rival, they definitely need a win on Wednesday.
The last game was a tough setback, as the game at relegation candidates Stoke City ended in a 0-1 defeat. Three very narrow wins in the last twelve rounds? With such a record, you probably won’t get promoted in the end!
Sunderland has the big problem of regularly having to play away from home. At home, things are going much better, with seven wins and four draws, the Black Cats are still unbeaten.
2:1, 1:1, 2:1, 0:0, 2:2, 2:0, 2:2, 2:0, 1:0, 1:0? The fans know full well that they can expect close results whenever they want to support their team in the stadium.
In fact, there have only been five results with more than one goal difference in the entire season – the last time was the 2-0 win over Oxford on October 26.
Sheffield or Sunderland, which team is currently the more stable promotion candidate? Both teams have certain strengths and weaknesses, but in my opinion the Blades are much more stable.
What has particularly struck me about them is that their defense is very solid and, in general, very few goals are scored. Sunderland may be unbeaten at home, but recently the draws have been piling up and the wins are always very close anyway.
I therefore cannot imagine that on Wednesday one team will push forward and outclass the other. Since the guests are known for their low-scoring results, I have decided to favor the following bet:
The 2.5 goals will not be cracked!
