Blackburn Rovers v Sheffield United: EFL pundit issues score prediction as 4th meets 2nd at Ewood Park

Football League World

By Ben Wignall

Published Mar 3, 2023

In what is somewhat of a dress rehearsal for their FA Cup quarter-final clash in two weeks time, Blackburn Rovers will take on Sheffield United at Ewood Park on Saturday afternoon in Championship action.

The cup fixture will take place at Bramall Lane but the Blades have to cross the Pennines this weekend to visit Lancashire in a bid to extend the gap to third-placed Middlesbrough to 10 points before their match against Reading later in the day.

Just four points separated United and Boro going into last weekend's fixtures, but a 1-0 win against Watford for Paul Heckingbottom's side, coupled with Boro's defeat at West Brom saw daylight grow between the two.

It will not be easy for United though despite their confidence-boosting win against Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday night as they tasted defeat on the road last time out against Millwall, and they face a Blackburn side that are bang in-form.

Jon Dahl Tomasson's side are seven games unbeaten in league action with three wins on the spin, and their confidence will be sky-high after dumping Leicester City out of the FA Cup this week.

EFL pundit David Prutton is unable to separate the two clubs though going into this weekend's encounter, with a 2-2 scoreline predicted.

"Blackburn are right bang on song," Prutton said on his Sky Sports podcast.

"Three wins on the spin in the Championship, and a great FA Cup win at Leicester in midweek. Confidence will be high.

"You can say similar for Sheffield United. "They claimed a vital win against Watford last weekend, then beat Tottenham in the Cup. "This should be a quality game, but I can't split them." The Verdict

Blackburn normally have their mid-season slump around February - at least they had done in previous years under Tony Mowbray - but Jon Dahl Tomasson has reversed that and they have been really in-form. They appear to be playing better without Ben Brereton Diaz in the team than they have been with him at times, and with his exit likely this summer, this is promising signs from Rovers in recent matches as they've flourished minus the Chile international. Sheffield United will represent a tougher test than some of their recent league matches though, as after a short blip with back-to-back defeats they are back on the right track and they'll look to make it three wins on the spin in all competitions. They'd absolutely take another gritty 1-0 victory at Ewood Park, but of course they will have to do it without Paul Heckingbottom who is serving a touchline ban.