Tottenham's hunt for 5th
Sheffield United welcome Tottenham to Bramall Lane on Thursday evening during match-day 32 of the English Premier League. Sheffield will be trying to break out of their current negative spell whilst Tottenham hope to build upon their recent triumph over West Ham.
Sheffield United
The Blades have been on a downward trajectory since the end of lockdown having registered a draw and 2 defeats exponentially reducing their chance of participating in next seasons edition of the Europa League.
Worrying run of form
Their goal difference of 0-6 in the 3 games since return finely illustrates the poor form they currently find themselves in and is the reason they can be found as far down as 10th in the table having previously occupied the Europa League spots.
Sheffields home stats of 7 wins, 3 draws and 5 defeats is slighty above average meaning that they record good results against the lower table teams but have lost all but 1 of their games against teams in the top 6 making the difference in quality very transparent between Sheffield and the teams above them.
Can Sheffield bounce back?
A large dip in Sheffields form was basically inevitable given the fact that they are newly promoted and therefor lack the necessary talent and depth needed to really break into the top 7 or 8 teams.
Sheffield are, despite their bad form against the top sides, hard to break down, especially on their own turf meaning they may still have a slight chance of climbing a few places by the end of the season.
Tottenham
The Spurs ended a 4 game winless streak with a well deserved 2-0 win against city rivals West Ham which saw them leapfrog Thursdays opposition by only a single point meaning a fair bit is on the line here, the biggest part being a step closer to securing qualification for next years Champions League.
A lot on the line
There are realistically 4 real contenders for the 5th and final CL spot, Man United, Wolves, Arsenal and Tottenham, all of which are fantastic teams. What this essentially means is that even the slightest of slip ups with so few fixtures left could potentially be a detrimental blow to someone.
Very positive injury update
A huge boost for Tottenham in their bid for a top 5 finish is the fact that all of Harry Kane, Son Heung-Ming and Lucas are fit for fight meaning Mourinho cannot, with good conscience, blame bad performances and their previously troubling injury list for their defeats.
Big test for Spurs
Tottenham's performances against both Manchester United and West Ham were relatively big improvements compared to how they have previously looked (void of any creativity and flair) which is in large due to the return of previously injured players (paragraph above). The Sheffield fixture is a rather big challenge for the Lilywhites and will be an indicator of whether or not Tottenham have what it takes to secure that sought after 5th place finish.
Betting tip
Given Sheffields recent struggles and the fact that Tottenham have Kane back i will be backing a Tottenham win at 1.95 with Betway.
