Sheffield United have improved their form of late after suffering a dip in their results after such a red-hot start to life in the Championship after their League 1 promotion winning campaign that saw them finish top of the pile last season under Chris Wilder.
After losing 4 out of 5 games leading up to Christmas the Blades boss managed to reinvigorate his squad of late.
The Blades bounced back after their poor run before Christmas to draw 2-2 with in-form Aston Villa away and then on Boxing Day Wilder’s side comprehensively beat strugglers Sunderland 3-0 at Bramall Lane.
Disappointingly after the Sunderland victory, United went down to a tight 1-0 defeat against relegation threatened Bolton Wanderers at home before they pulled off a very creditable draw with 2nd placed Championship side Derby County on New Year’s Day away at Pride Park.
This Saturday January 6th 2018 sees Sheffield United travel to face Championship rivals Mick McCarthy’s Ipswich Town at Portman Road in the Emirates FA Cup with a 3pm kick off.
Ipswich Town are in 12th position in the Championship trailing the 7th placed Blades by 6 points in the ever congested League.
Chris Wilder could be getting to face Mick McCarthy’s team at the right time as the East Anglican club have only 1 win in their past 6 Championship games with 4 losses and a single draw so McCarthy will be hoping that the FA Cup can give his team a distraction and a chance to put in a good performance to shake off their poor league form.
Both sides will likely be active on the loan market this transfer window as they look to strengthen with a view towards pushing for a play-off place and being this season’s Huddersfield Town.
The Blades have got a decent history in the FA Cup and hopefully they can pull off the win and move onto a possibly lucrative big game against Premier League opposition in the next round of the Emirates FA Cup.