PREVIEW | Sheffield United vs Cardiff City - team news, lineups, predictions

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·16 April 2025

PREVIEW | Sheffield United vs Cardiff City - team news, lineups, predictions

Sheffield United and Cardiff City face each other this Friday at Bramall Lane in Matchweek 43 of the EFL Championship. The match will be broadcast live at 17:30 on Sky Sports Football.

The Blades have lost three games in a row to derail their automatic promotion tilt and they currently sit five points adrift of the top two, Leeds and Burnley. Chris Wilder's men most recently slumped to a 2-1 reverse against Plymouth Argyle and they desperately need to return to winning ways if they are to stand any chance of reeling in either the Whites or the Clarets.

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Cardiff, meanwhile, are in a pickle down at the bottom of the division. The Bluebirds currently lie in 22nd position and a 0-1 loss to Stoke City last time out did nothing to inspire confidence regarding the Welsh side avoiding the drop.

However, the visitors can take some comfort from the fact they edged the last encounter between the two teams 1-0.

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Theo (All Things Blades) : With three losses on the spin Sheffield United simply have to return to winning ways against Cardiff or they will face the nerves of the play-offs once again.

Recently, United have struggled to find the back of the net and that’s one of the main reasons why they’ve slipped away from the top two in the Championship.

The pressure will certainly be on if Burnley pick up a result in the 3pm kick-off so United can’t afford another poor performance and simply must win.

Prediction: 1-0

Tomas Taylor: Easter is known for a famous resurrection, but it’s going to take more than a miracle for Cardiff’s season to come back to life. After the 0-1 loss to Stoke City last weekend the panic button has been pressed. Not only was the scoreline catastrophic for us, but the performance was a huge red flag. The biggest surprise for me was how the Potters only scored one with some of the chances they created.

There are so many reasons as to why this season has gone poorly, and it's hard to pick just one issue. A complete lack of footballing identity, no real style of play, constant changing of the starting XI, and strange, momentum killing substitutions just scratch the surface of how poorly things have been on the pitch this year.

We were known in years gone by for our strong defence and making the most of set pieces, but this year our back line has been incredibly weak and almost all of our goals from corners and free kicks have dried up. We have battled relegation in three out of the last four seasons, and it seems this year we've flown a bit too close to the sun and will be punished for it.

Will Alves and Callum O'Dowda have had some decent performances as of late, and unfortunately that's where the positivity ends. Sheffield United are on a bit of a poor run at the moment, but I'm sure that they'll be able to get a result. It's almost as if this is the perfect game for them to keep their fairly slim chances of automatic promotion alive, and I have absolutely zero confidence in Cardiff to get anything. We've routinely failed to step up to the plate when it mattered most this season, and I don't think Friday will be any different with the Bluebirds taking a step closer to relegation in the club's 125th anniversary year.