Newcastle United will travel to Bramall Lane to take on Sheffield United on Sunday in the final offering of the sixth round of Premier League fixtures this season.
A victory last weekend saw the visitors climb to 12th spot in the top-flight table, while their hosts sit 17th with two points on the board following an agonising defeat last time out.
Match preview
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After sealing a return to England's top flight last season by finishing second in the Championship, Sheffield United set out to avoid relegation this time around, but they have had to endure a slow and winless start thus far, despite some encouraging performances, as they firstly fell to a 1-0 defeat at home to Crystal Palace.
Paul Heckingbottom's men then travelled to Nottingham Forest and were only denied a share of the spoils late on, as Chris Wood sealed a 2-1 home victory after Gustavo Hamer looked to have earned the Blades a point, with the following contest against defending champions Manchester City ending agonisingly similarly, having drawn level at a goal apiece through Jayden Bogle five minutes from time, only for Rodri to restore the visitors' lead shortly after.
Still without a point from three outings, the South Yorkshire outfit then hosted Everton before the recent international break and got off the mark, albeit in a slightly underwhelming 2-2 draw at Bramall Lane, having initially come from 1-0 down to go ahead through Cameron Archer and a Jordan Pickford own goal, before being pegged back by Arnaut Danjuma's equaliser early in the second half.
On their return to action after the break, Heckingbottom's men faced a tough trip to high-flying Tottenham Hotspur last Saturday and saw their third out of the opening five games end in a 2-1 defeat, despite looking set to come away with a surprise one-goal victory through Hamer, as their hosts eventually equalised through Richarlison in the 98th minute before Dejan Kulusevski quickly netted the winner, sending the Blades home empty-handed.
While they will certainly feel their displays have earned more than the one point they boast thus far, Heckingbottom's men will know that results are crucial in their fight for survival and will be desperate to score a first three-point haul at the sixth time of asking on their return to Bramall Lane on Sunday.
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That will be no easy task, though, as Newcastle United arrive aiming to make it back-to-back wins after their own tough start.
Aiming to build on last season's memorable fourth-placed finish, in which Eddie Howe's side consistently remained in the leading pack throughout, the Magpies did make a winning start in style at home to Aston Villa, dishing out a 5-1 thrashing at St James' Park courtesy of Alexander Isak's brace and goals from Sandro Tonali, Callum Wilson and Harvey Barnes, but they were unable to build on that as they did in the early stages of last term.
In what was a tough opening schedule, Newcastle then met Manchester City and Liverpool and suffered 1-0 and 2-1 defeats respectively, with the decisive goal coming in the 93rd minute in the latter after they led 1-0 against 10 men, before they headed into the international break on the back of a third straight defeat, having been beaten 3-1 away at Brighton & Hove Albion following Evan Ferguson's hat-trick with Wilson's 92-minute goal nothing more than a consolation.
Returning to action with just three points on the board from four tough outings, the Magpies hosted Brentford last weekend and successfully made a return to winning ways as Wilson netted the only goal of the contest from a penalty spot.
Now on the back of their first Champions League group-stage match since the 2002-03 season, in which they began their continental campaign with a creditable point from a goalless draw away at AC Milan, Howe's men will aim to make it back-to-back league wins for the first time this term, ahead of upcoming meetings with Burnley, West Ham United and Crystal Palace, as they seek to establish themselves at the right end of the table once again.
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Team News
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Sheffield United will head into Sunday's contest without key forward Oli McBurnie, who was sent off in the dying minutes of their defeat to Tottenham last weekend, and in his and Rhian Brewster's absence, Benie Traore will likely come into the attack from the start to partner fellow summer signing Cameron Archer.
They will have support from James McAtee, who returned to Bramall Lane for a second consecutive loan spell after playing a key role in their promotion last time around, while new arrivals Vinicius Souza and Gustavo Hamer should again get the nod over Oliver Norwood in midfield, with Hamer having already netted two top-flight goals since his switch from Coventry City.
While full-backs Rhys Norrington-Davies, George Baldock and Max Lowe remain sidelined, the Blades were also without key centre-back and captain John Egan for the trip to Tottenham, but the Irish international has returned to contention and will likely be deemed fit to come back into the back three alongside Anel Ahmedhodzic and Jack Robinson, while Leicester City loanee Luke Thomas should be preferred over Yasser Larouci on the left-hand side.
Newcastle United remain without midfielders Joelinton and Joe Willock due to injury, meaning Sean Longstaff, Bruno Guimaraes and Sandro Tonali will line up in an unchanged midfield trio at Bramall Lane, while there is more competition in attack, with Alexander Isak and Callum Wilson fighting to lead the line having netted two and three league goals respectively so far this term.
Anthony Gordon and Jacob Murphy were given starting berths either side of Isak at the San Siro, while summer signing Harvey Barnes is fighting to return to the attack from the outset, as is Miguel Almiron after both settled for substitute appearances in midweek.
Howe has fewer dilemmas at the other end of the pitch, as after back-to-back clean sheets, he is bound to field an unchanged back four with Sven Botman and Fabian Schar partnering up in the centre and Dan Burn and Kieran Trippier taking up full-back roles.
Sheffield United possible starting lineup:
Foderingham; Ahmedhodzic, Egan, Robinson; Bogle, Souza, Hamer, Thomas; McAtee; Traore, Archer
Newcastle United possible starting lineup:
Pope; Trippier, Schar, Botman, Burn; Longstaff, Guimaraes, Tonali; Gordon, Isak, Barnes
We say: Sheffield United 1-2 Newcastle United
Sheffield United have certainly been competitive in all of their tough fixtures this season, and we expect the same on Sunday but ultimately see them falling just short again against a Newcastle United side full of superior quality.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
