Aston Villa v Sheffield United Betting Tips [21 September 2020]

After surviving the drop in the Premier League 2019-20 season by a very small margin, Aston Villa begin life in the 2020-21 season with a home game against Sheffield United at Villa Park on Monday. Villa had a good outing in the midweek League Cup when they defeated Burton Albion 3-1. Sheffield started their league season with a 2-0 loss at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers and were then dumped out of the League Cup via penalties by Burnley.

Villa finished last season 17th in the standings and just one point away from the bottom three. An unbeaten four-match league run certainly helped with two wins and draws each. That included a creditable 1-0 win over Arsenal and Villa will look to start well this season after tying up talismanic captain Jack Grealish to a long-term deal in the summer. However, worryingly for Villa, they have lost their first home game in four of their last five Premier League campaigns, drawing the other. Furthermore, they haven’t won three home league games in a row since October 2007 although they have a chance to emulate that with a win here.

Sheffield finished last season 9th in the table, after staying in the European qualification positions for long. The ‘Blades’ started the season with a loss at Wolverhampton and the midweek League Cup elimination didn’t help things either. Sheffield haven’t started a Premier League campaign with two consecutive defeats since 1973-74 and will be keen to avoid that. Thankfully, they are unbeaten in each of their last four league games against Villa, winning and drawing two each. The ‘Blades’ have kept a clean sheet in both of their Premier League matches against Villa last season – only against Palace were they able to do so.

Sheffield United will be desperate to break their losing run, having lost their last four league matches – including one this season. Their recent record against Villa is impressive, raising hopes of continuing that trend. We are backing the visitors in the double chance market. Apart from the main pick, keep an eye on the goal scorers’ market. Sheffield’s Billy Sharp has scored four goals in his last three league matches against Villa. Backing him to find the net any time in the match looks a prudent pick.