Two teams with promotion aspirations meet on the opening weekend of the 2026/27 Championship season as Sheffield United entertain Birmingham City at Bramall Lane on Saturday evening.
The Blades endured a dismal start to the previous campaign under Ruben Selles which resulted in the Spanish coach being sacked and former manager Chris Wilder being ushered back into the hotseat.
It was hoped Wilders' return would spark a revival and while Sheffield United did haul themselves clear of relegation trouble, the team could only muster 13th in a largely disappointing campaign.
Birmingham were tipped by experts to replicate Ipswich Town's achievement of securing consecutive promotions from League One to the Premier League, but the Blues flattered to deceive under Chris Davies and ultimately finished 10th, nine points adrift of the top six.
The second city outfit haven't been as brazen with their recruitment this summer, and yet the additions of Dael Fry, Max Bird and Jhon Solis represent shrewd business with Davies under pressure to achieve a top-eight finish this term.
His first objective will be to address Birmingham's hideous away form - starting with Saturday's trip to the Steel City.
Jake Osgathorpe of the Football Betting Club has scanned the markets for Saturday's 17:30 kick-off and has picked out a price in the player fouls market.
Sheffield United v Birmingham City Prediction
Best Bet: Romelle Donovan to commit 2+ fouls @ 6/4
Alternative Bet: Romelle Donovan to commit 3+ fouls @ 5/1
"My pick for this fixture is Brentford loanee Romelle Donovan, who came on for Tahith Chong in the EFL Cup fixture against Mansfield and played really well for an hour," said Jake.
"He might not be in the starting XI, which does scupper this bet a little bit. However, with bet365 if you place the bet and he doesn't start, the bet does get voided.
"The most notable thing for me was how aggressive he was. He made three fouls in that game against Mansfield.
"He's only 19 years old, he's not played a lot of football and his game time is incredibly limited, but he does make a lot of fouls when he does play.
"In 2023/24, he played just 220 minutes for Birmingham in the Championship and committed six fouls in that time. 24/25, he played 245 minutes for Burton in League One with four fouls, and last season he made nine fouls in just under 300 minutes at Brentford.
"So, over his career that's 2.23 fouls per 90, albeit from a small sample size. If you look at his starts, he's started five games in his career - which again, is a terribly small sample size and we are projecting big time here - in four of those he's committed two or more fouls.
"When he does get the nod and plays for an hour, he is quite aggressive and I do think there's a rawness to his game.
"It looks like a massive price at 6/4, if he starts. The icing on the cake is that his opposite number, who is hopefully Alex Cochrane, is very good at drawing fouls. The left-back drew three fouls in just 45 minutes against Swansea last week.
"Donovan down the right and Cochrane down the left could be a really nice match-up for this bet, and I think it will be a quite combative game at Bramall Lane between two sides with play-off aspirations.
Key Match Stats
Sheffield United are unbeaten in their past five league games against Birmingham (W3 D2)
Birmingham picked up the fourth fewest points away from home in the Championship last term
Chris Wilder's Blades lost five of their final nine matches at Bramall Lane in 2025/26
Only Leicester (32) lost more points from winning positions than Sheffield United (29) last season
The Blades have lost five of their previous six games on the opening day, while the Blues have drawn their past four curtain-raisers
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