Both enjoying unbeaten runs in England's second tier, Sheffield United and Hull City will kick off the weekend's round of Championship fixtures on Friday, when they meet at Bramall Lane.
The hosts stretched their lead over third place to 11 points with a win over Stoke City last weekend, while the visitors have risen to 16th spot thanks to a run of six games without a defeat in the league.
Match preview
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Sheffield United come into their 28th Championship game of the season in an enviable position, having put themselves in the automatic promotion spots with an 11-point lead over the chasing pack and with an eye-catching tally of 16 league victories all on the board.
That position has been helped by their impressive form since the return to action from the World Cup break, with Paul Heckingbottom's side extending their unbeaten run to seven second-tier matches including six triumphs, firstly beating Huddersfield Town and Wigan Athletic prior to Christmas before continuing with three-point hauls against Coventry City and Blackpool.
The Blades' unbeaten streak then looked set to be put to an end in their first game of the new year, as they trailed by a goal to nil away at Queens Park Rangers following Ilias Chair's early finish, only for John Egan to salvage a point with an equaliser deep into injury time, before they again travelled to London to take on Millwall in the FA Cup third round and won 2-0 courtesy of goals from Daniel Jebbison and Jayden Bogle.
On their return to Bramall Lane and Championship action last Saturday, Heckingbottom's men hosted Stoke City, and after going into the interval with a 2-1 lead thanks to goals from Iliman Ndiaye and Bogle, the latter would net his second of the game late on to wrap up all three points in a 3-1 triumph and stretch their lead over third place back to 11 points with 19 league games to go this term.
Now in the midst of a seven-game unbeaten run in the second tier, with the league's tightest defensive record and its second-highest goals tally, the Blades will aim to continue their eye-catching streak of form with another three-point haul to further strengthen their position alongside Burnley in the top two in their bid to return to the Premier League this time around.
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They face a tough test on Friday, though, as Hull City arrive in a positive run of their own, having climbed to 16th spot thanks to a six-match unbeaten streak.
Soon after Liam Rosenior's appointment as manager, the Tigers went into the World Cup break at the bottom end of the table with 24 points from their opening 21 outings, but they have not been beaten in the second tier since, adding 10 points to their tally in the process, as they firstly played out draws with Watford, Sunderland and Blackpool.
The Yorkshire outfit then put their eighth league win of the season on the board as Oscar Estupinan hit the only goal late in their trip to Birmingham City, before making it two three-point hauls on the bounce as they kicked off the new year with a 4-1 beating of Wigan Athletic away from home, with Jacob Greaves and Estupinan on the scoresheet before Tyler Smith added a late brace.
Aiming to bounce back from a 2-0 FA Cup beating at the hands of Premier League side Fulham and further extend their unbeaten run in the league, Rosenior's men hosted Huddersfield Town last weekend and looked set to fall to a 1-0 defeat following Michal Helik's first-half goal, only to come away with an important point as Estupinan again found the net, with the leveller coming eight minutes into added time.
While the Tigers would have hoped to have made it three wins on the bounce in that contest against a struggling Terriers outfit, they will have added confidence from their late leveller and ongoing run which has inspired a climb to 16th spot with an eight-point lead over the bottom three, and they will now look to pull off what would be an eye-catching result at Bramall Lane to continue their rise up the division.
Team News
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Sheffield United continue to deal with several injury issues, as full-backs Enda Stevens and George Baldock have recently joined the likes of Rhys Norrington-Davies, John Fleck, Rhian Brewster and Jack O'Connell on the sidelines, with frontman Oli McBurnie also unlikely to return to full fitness in time to start the contest.
Talismanic attacker Iliman Ndiaye, who hit his 10th league goal of the season in the Stoke victory, having also contributed seven assists, was forced off with an injury concern in that game, but he is set to be fit to lead the line, with Daniel Jebbison and Billy Sharp fighting to join the Senegal international, while Sander Berge and Manchester City loanee James McAtee will offer further attacking support from midfield.
In the absence of Stevens, Norrington-Davies and Baldock, Max Lowe and Jayden Bogle should again play in wing-back roles on the left and right flanks respectively, with the latter having hit three goals in his last two games, while Jack Robinson could again join John Egan and Anel Ahmedhodzic in a back three if Ciaran Clark does not return from his own injury issue in time.
Hull City's attack will again be spearheaded by summer signing Oscar Estupinan, who has found the net in each of their last four Championship games to take his tally to 12 goals for the season, with plenty of competition to start in supporting roles behind the Colombian.
Regan Slater should feature in an advanced midfield role against his former club, while Benjamin Tetteh has returned from a long-term injury and Aaron Connolly has arrived on loan from Brighton & Hove Albion to challenge Tyler Smith and Ryan Longman for starting berths.
Ozan Tufan and Ryan Woods are both vying to come in from the outset in the engine room, after Greg Docherty was preferred alongside Jean-Michael Seri last time out.
Sheffield United possible starting lineup:
Foderingham; Ahmedhodzic, Egan, Robinson; Bogle, Berge, Norwood, McAtee, Lowe; Sharp, Ndiaye
Hull City possible starting lineup:
Ingram; Christie, Jones, McLoughlin, Graves; Woods, Seri; Tetteh, Slater, Longman; Estupinan
We say: Sheffield United 1-0 Hull City
Hull City certainly have the ability to frustrate their hosts and cause them problems, particularly through Estupinan, but we see the Blades as slightly too strong, especially on home turf, and back them to take all three points.
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Top tip
Sam Varley
