James Buttler looks ahead to the Sunday afternoon's kick-off in the Championship as The Blades visit The Baggies and finds the very best bets.
It’s seventh plays top on Sunday afternoon in the Championship as two teams that have forgotten how to lose go toe-to-toe. If you’re going to get amnesia that’s the best kind of forgetfulness!
West Brom have become the draw specialists, unbeaten in 10 matches but having drawn a whopping nine of them. The only win came 2-1 away at struggling Hull City. It’s not dazzling form, but the Baggies are tough to beat.
The Blades are unbeaten in seven matches, although there’s a huge difference with six of those games yielding three points for a win. That’s why the Blades are top of the pile and the Baggies are beginning to look over their shoulders.
Sheffield United beat fellow promotion contenders Sunderland 1-0 at Bramall Lane last weekend to lead the Championship by two points from Burnley. West Brom are 10 points behind the leaders and could use a win to keep themselves in the hunt for automatic promotion. They drew 1-1 at Deepdale against Preston North End last weekend.
The last time the sides met two seasons ago, Sheffield United won both fixtures 2-0 home and away.
Are there goals coming at The Hawthorns?
Tyrese Campbell (5), Jesurun Rak-Sakyi (4), and Gustavo Hamer (4) are the leading scorers for the Blades, but it’s Josh Maja with 10 for West Brom that is the most prolific in this fixture and the second highest marksman in the division.
The Blades are on a three-match away unbeaten streak, but if you’re looking for a bet in this match, and we are, it’s how much the Baggies ability to draw matches and not concede many goals comes into the calculation.
Three of the last four Baggies home matches have ended goalless and with Sheffield United not featuring in many matches that have ended over 2.5 match goals, just two of nine away, although they have been the last two. Maybe the tide has turned.
We’ve had a fair bit of joy this season on Sheffield United to win and under 2.5 match goals and that is available at 9/2 with Bet365, but the draw and unders might be a better option at 3/1 with the same bookie. For some reason 1-1 at 11/2 stands out for me.
Josh Maja has scored two in four matches and if the hosts are to score, he is the most likely candidate to get the last touch. Despite having scored twice as many goals as anyone else on the pitch on Sunday, Maja is fourth favourite in the anytime scorer market at 29/10 with Unibet. That makes little sense, is overpriced, and what we call betting value, so we’ll have some of that.
James’ Championship Tips
The draw and under 2.5 match goals at 3/1
A 1-1 correct score at 11/2
Josh Maja to score anytime at 29/10
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