Huddersfield vs Sheffield United Betting Pick | English League One

English League One

2012-05-26 - Huddersfield vs Sheffield United

A Sports Betting Pick by Auls

Huddersfield v Sheffield United
Football: English League One Play Off Final
Saturday 26 May 2012 - Kick Off 3pm
This game is live on TV

Huddersfield

Huddersfield reached this stage of the Play Offs last season but suffered a heartbreaking 3-0 loss to Peterborough United and they will be looking to rectify that loss against their Yorkshire rivals. Simon Grayson has previous in guiding teams out of this Division and there are plenty of positives for them coming into this game.

The team finished 4th in the League One this season with 12 points separating themselves from the automatic promotion spots. They based a lot of their success on being tough to beat away from home, while winning plenty of their home games. Huddersfield finished with a 7-12-4 away record, scoring 44 goals and conceding 28 and only Charlton lost fewer of their games on their travels.

Huddersfield got through to the Final with a 3-2 aggregate win over MK Dons, doing the damage in the first leg that they won 0-2 in Milton Keynes. They did lose the second leg with a last minute goal from Alan Smith, and that was their first defeat in 5 games. Huddersfield have lost half of their last 6 away games.

Ian Bennett is a doubt for the game having come off in the second leg loss to the MK Dons. The goalkeeper may be the only change from the team that started that game.

Sheffield United

Sheffield United pushed their local rivals Sheffield Wednesday all the way in the race for an automatic promotion spot, but fell short in that chase. Earning promotion through the Play Offs will still count as a successful season, but there is going to be pressure on the players as another season in League One will not be well received by the fans.

The Blades finished 3rd in the League One table, just 3 points behind Sheffield Wednesday and 9 points clear of their opponents in this Final. They finished the season with a solid 11-5-7 record away from Bramall Lane, scoring 38 goals and conceding 24 and it was only the Champions Charlton that won more away games than Sheffield United.

They have now lost just 1 of their last 14 games in the League after beating Stevenage 1-0 on aggregate in the Semi Final of the Play Offs. The win over Stevenage in the second leg is their first in 5 games, while Sheffield United have failed to win any of their last 3 away games.

Kevin McDonald and Richard Cresswell are both doubts for this game. Ched Evans is out serving a jail term.

Head to Head

This will be the third time the teams have met this season and both recorded wins away from home.

They have now met 9 times since they last shared a draw with Huddersfield winning 5 of those games and Sheffield United winning the other 4.

Prediction

This looks like it could develop into a tight Final as both teams are under pressure to earn promotion to the Championship, while the loss of Ched Evans has really hurt Sheffield United.

With Richard Cresswell also a doubt, the Blades attack has been blunted and that means they are likely going to want to ensure that space is limited as they cannot really get into a high-scoring contest with a Huddersfield side that boasts Jordan Rhodes.

The pressure may just tell on both sides with the possibility of the fear of losing being greater than the prize of winning and that could see a low-scoring game develop with the winner perhaps going up with a single goal scored.

I can't really pick a winner between the sides, but I will take the Under and hope the pressure spoils the game a little and that the absence of the Sheffield United main striker limits their ability to take any chances that comes their way.