Sheffield United v Cardiff: Back BTTS in key Good Friday contest | OneFootball

EFL Championship

Sheffield United have lost three on the spin

Promotion-chasing Sheffield United entertain relegation-threatened Cardiff in a key Championship clash on Good Friday. Betfair writer Mark O'Haire is backing goals at Bramall Lane.

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Sheffield United v CardiffFriday April 18, 17:30Live on Sky Sports

Wilder bemoans Blades' missed chances

Sheffield United chief Chris Wilder rejected suggestions his Blades squad are suffering from "mental fatigue" and said a failure to take their chances cost them dearly in defeat at rock-bottom Plymouth last weekend. The 2-1 reverse - the club's third successive loss in a week - has left United five points adrift of joint leaders Burnley and Leeds with four games to go.

The Blades scored just once in matches against Argyle, Oxford and Millwall and Wilder said post-Plymouth: "The biggest message was to go and be clinical. We did what we needed to do in getting the first goal. But we never really showed the quality we should be showing at the top end of the pitch. We had enough opportunities. We need a big week now."

Wilder has made five changes to his team at Home Park, fulfilling his promise to shuffle his pack. Rhian Brewster, Tyrese Campbell, Femi Seriki, Hamza Choudhury and Ben Brereton Diaz dropped out with Tom Cannon coming in to lead the line, supported by Jesurun Rak-Sakyi and Callum O'Hare, while Vini Souza and Harry Clarke returned from injury.

Riza still believes Cardiff can avoid drop

Downbeat Cardiff boss Omer Riza says he is still confident the Bluebirds can avoid Championship relegation despite a disastrous 1-0 home defeat to Stoke last time out. A Will Fish own goal five minutes from time was enough to condemn the Welsh capital club, a result that leaves them one point inside the bottom-three with only four matches to play.

Cardiff, not for the first time this season, looked ordinary for long period of the contest and Riza admitted, his side are going to have to do it the hard way to avoid the drop. He said, "We have a mountain to climb. We still believe. But now with the belief there's got to come performances and points. We haven't managed to do that yet but it's also not over yet."

Riza once again decided to tinker with his side and made four changes from last weekend's encounter. Perry Ng returned to the team as expected with Andy Rinomhota making way, while Dimitrios Goutas wasn't included after picking up an injury last time out. Callum Robinson, Alex Robertson and Will Alves were all brought back into the starting XI.

Sheff Utd too short to support

Sheffield United have won each of their last five league meetings with Cardiff, including a 2-0 success when the two teams met in the Welsh capital back in December.

The Blades also boast a W4-D4-L2 record when welcoming the Bluebirds to Bramall Lane in league action since 1989, though City did win here in the FA Cup as recently as January this year.

Sheffield United 1.53 are W11-D2-L7 since Christmas with Chris Wilder's side struggling on home soil in that same sample (W5-D2-L4), managing only two shutouts in those 11 outings. The Blades have been formidable against teams in 10th and below (W23-D3-L3) this term but their recent wobbles make their short-price position far too skinny to support.

Cardiff 5.90 have claimed only four Championship victories in 2025 with the Bluebirds' draw bias often holding them back (W4-D9-L6). Omer Riza's troops have triumphed just twice on their travels yet both wins have arrived since Boxing Day (W2-D5-L3) with the visitors returning a reasonable W2-D9-L3 when travelling to sides in 16th and above.

Sheffield United's impressive early season defensive numbers have disappeared following the festive period. Blades have bagged only five clean sheets in 20 Championship contests since Christmas.

With Cardiff getting on the scoresheet in 15 of their 21 road trips across the campaign, the desperate Welsh outfit will fancy their chances of grabbing a goal here.

With that in-mind, Both Teams To Score stands-out at 1/1. Sheff Utd have fired only three home blanks of their own and face a Cardiff side that's managed to silence only two home teams this term. A tasty 15 (71%) of those away days have paid-out for BTTS backers, including 14 of their 18 visits to teams outside of the bottom-four positions.

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