Sheffield United vs Aston Villa tips: Villans shut up shop in return to winning ways

We're backing Aston Villa to make it four clean sheets in five when they face strugglers Sheffield United at Bramall Lane in a Premier League clash on Saturday evening (1730 GMT).

Unai Emery, coach of Aston Villa.
Unai Emery, coach of Aston Villa. Picture: AAP Image

Bramall Lane has been chaos in recent weeks. Oli McBurnie's penalty against West Ham was the latest goal in Premier League history.

Six days later, the Blades struck twice in two minutes to erase Brighton's 2-0 lead just before the break before going on to lose 5-2.

They took the show on the road last time out as new signing Ben Brereton Diaz opened the scoring inside a minute in a game United would eventually lose 3-2.

Aston Villa have generally been much more controlled than that, keeping opponents at arm's length during a run of three clean sheets recently.

However, they hit the self-destruct button against Newcastle and produced one of their worst performances of the season in a 3-1 loss.

They seem to shuffle between chaos and control on their travels and the hosts would certainly settle for the former and not allowing Unai Emery's side to find a rhythm.

However, we think Villa are likely to dictate the play and they'll want to revert to type. They've held 18 of 23 opponents to under 1.5 goals since September.

Despite their recent outbursts, the Blades have failed to score over 1.5 goals in 25 of their previous 30 Premier League home matches.

Clean sheets aren't Villa's forte on the road but we're going to take a chance on them winning to nil as a response to the dismal performance last time out.

It's worth noting there have been under 2.5 goals in all five Premier League meetings since the Villans were promoted.

If you're not convinced then you may be able to exploit the corner market in this match. Sheffield United allow seven per game at Bramall Lane and their box will come under immense pressure.

Team news

Chris Basham, John Egan and George Baldock are ruled out, which leaves Chris Wilder short of options at the back again.

Rhian Brewster and Daniel Jebbison are absent in more forward areas while Max Lowe, Tom Davies and Ivo Grbic face late fitness tests.

Tyrone Mings, Luca Digne, Pau Torres, Jhon Duran, Emi Buendia and Bertrand Traore are all expected to miss out for the visitors.

Key stats

- There have been under 2.5 goals in each of the last five meetings
- Sheffield United have scored under 1.5 goals in 25 of 30 Premier League home matches
- Aston Villa have kept a clean sheet in three of their last four matches

Suggested bets

Aston Villa: Over 6.5 corners

Aston Villa to win to nil

Under 2.5 goals


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