FA Cup: Wolves Keen to Blunt the Blades

Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Sheffield United

The Wolves’ FA Cup campaign is about to commence this weekend as they’ll host Sheffield United over at the Molineux.

Bruno Lage’s side will look to carry their improving form in these past few matches and they are keen to get as far as possible in the competition despite not being a favourite to win it all.

Their visitors in Sheffield United have also been solid recently and they’ll look kick off 2022 with a bang. And what better way to do it than to score an upset win against their hosts.

The hosts are tipped as the overwhelming favourites for this upcoming fixture especially since they’ve gotten the better of the Blades in their most recent meetings.

Learn more about these two sides as SBOTOP provides some talking points here in this preview.

Talking Points

Wolves can smell blood

Despite being dealt with a tough schedule before the end of 2021, the Wolves responded by going undefeated in three consecutive Premier League games.

Since suffering a defeat at the hands of Manchester City, albeit only via a 1-0 scoreline, Bruno Lage’s have picked up points via a draw vs. Chelsea and victories against Manchester United and Brighton.

Achieving this was impressive particularly for Bruno Lage, considering that the club was hit by COVID-19 not too long ago.

Korean sensation Hwang Hee-chan remains their top scorer with four goals. However, if he isn’t available for this game they’ll continue to rely on their veteran striker Raul Jimenez, who has three goals and two assists under his belt.

Surprisingly, their third leading scorer is from the centre-half in Roman Saiss, who also has three so far. The hulking Moroccan scored the game-winning goal against Brighton and he played a huge role vs. Chelsea and Manchester United.

Midfield ace Joao Moutinho is another man to watch out for if you’re Sheffield United, as he finally got to open his account after scoring the marginal goal against the Red Devils.

Sheffield United’s strike trio is their key

The Blades’ current roster looks different compared to when they last played in English top-flight. Since being relegated to the Championship, Paul Heckingbottom has taken over and he has been more proactive in playing his younger stalwarts.

Sheffield United, like Wolves, are also unbeaten for quite some time now as they’ve won against Fulham, Cardiff City, Bristol City, and Reading, after being held to a goalless draw vs. Coventry.

Billy Sharp seems to have found the fountain of youth this season since he’s their top hitman with seven goals and six assists. The 35-year-old forward isn’t as fast as he used to be, but he makes up for it with his veteran smarts and physicality.

Several young legs join him up front in the form of Iliman Ndiaye and Morgan Gibbs-White, who is on loan from the Wolves. Ndiaye and Gibbs-White have eight goals and five assists between them.

Gibbs-White would love to show his mother club what he’s fully capable of by trying to put up FA Cup 2022 highlights as he’s expected to rejoin his Sheffield United teammates after dealing with a knee injury.

History

The last time that these two clubs met was during the 2020/21 season when Sheffield United were still in the Premier League. During the said campaign, the Wolves have had the Blades’ number as they did a double over them with an aggregate tally of 3-0.

Overall, they’ve squared off in 23 matches with the Wolves having the slight advantage of nine wins while Sheffield United have won six times along with eight draws.

As far as the FA Cup is concerned, Sheffield United have never brought home the trophy here while the Wolves won it way back in 1960 where they defeated the Blackburn Rovers 3-0 in the final.

Betting Tip 

	Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Sheffield United	Wolverhampton Wanderers Asian Handicap -0.75 @ 1.89
	January 09, 22:00 (GMT+8)

Bruno Lage’s side is favoured to move on to the next round of the FA Cup. The Wolves are installed at 1.63 to win, while Sheffield United are priced at 4.50 and a draw is at 3.50 in the 1X2 market.

Sheffield United may have a group filled with hungry individuals who are ready to prove the FA Cup 2022 odds wrong. But the Wolves are more than capable of putting them away, although we don’t expect to see a lot of goals for this contest.

There’s a reason why the Blades are in the Championship right now while the Wolves are in the Premier League. The hosts’ sheer quality should definitely be enough to put the visitors in their place.

 

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