Sheffield United moved within three points of Yorkshire rivals and Championship league leaders, Leeds United when they registered an important 1-0 home win over Middlesbrough in midweek.
Chris Wilder’s side now have a fantastic opportunity to draw level on points with Leeds United and indeed go top (due to a superior goal difference) when The Blades play host to Championship strugglers Reading when the teams meet at Bramall Lane this Saturday afternoon.
The hosts head into this clash having put together a four match unbeaten run that includes wins over Bolton Wanderers and Middlesbrough along with points against Norwich City and Aston Villa, so confidence should be high, particularly when looking at Sheffield United’s recent results at home.
The Blades have won their last five home matches on the bounce with the last four on the trot being to nil, and with goal-hungry striker Billy Sharp (22 goals) and his side-kick McGoldrick (11 goals) in fantastic goalscoring form, United should be picking up another three points here.
Visitors Reading may have something to say about that though as The Royals also extended their unbeaten run to four matches with a midweek 2-1 home win against Blackburn Rovers which followed on from three draws on the trot previously.
Those precious three points against Rovers lifted Reading out of the bottom three and in turn dumped Rotherham United into the relegation zone as they make their way up north to face high-flying Sheffield United at Bramall Lane.
There’s no doubt that Reading’s new Portuguese manager, Jose Gomes, has steadied the ship since his arrival to the Berkshire club, and although they’re not out of the woods yet by any means, the fact that Reading have lifted themselves out of the bottom three will be a big boost to the squad.
Reading’s revival will be severely tested though against Sheffield United as the visitors have managed just one league win on their travels so far this season and that was at Preston North End all the way back in mid-September with a 3-2 win, but both Preston and Reading’s fortunes have changed somewhat since that time.
With just one win, eight draws and seven defeats it appears that Reading’s best chances of getting something at Bramall Lane would be a draw, but their two visits away to top six opposition so far this season have ended in defeats at West Brom 4-1 and Leeds United 1-0 respectively.
Perhaps Reading’s revival will be put on hold for a week as this should be a comfortable home win for Sheffield United here.