Nottingham vs Sheffield Utd prediction: ENGLAND: Championship – Play Offs betting tips on match 2022-05-16 21:45.
Conceding late on in the first leg of this Championship play-off semi-final wasnât ideal for Nottingham Forest, but they lead 2-1 on aggregate as they look to get the job done in front of their home fans. A draw would get them to the final, but theyâve only produced one of those in their last 15 competitive matches (W11, L3) so this could yet go down to the wire.
A rousing atmosphere at The City Ground should help, where theyâre unbeaten in five H2Hs (W3, D2). As theyâve won each of their last seven home league games, conceding just twice during that sequence, theyâre obvious favourites; encouragingly, Forest are unbeaten in 76% of home league games they entered as favourites this term.
All of which bodes poorly for Sheffield United, who must win to keep alive their hopes of sealing play-off success at the ninth attempt. A late first-leg strike by Sander Berge handed them a lifeline and theyâre not trying to do something unprecedented in this match, as in each of the last three seasons, one of the play-off finalists had lost the first leg of their semi-final.
But with just one win in their last seven league away matches (D3, L3), the âBladesâ need to find more of a cutting edge if theyâre to emulate Brentford (twice) and Derby County. With the game so finely balanced, conceding first â as they did in each of their last three Championship away fixtures â could instead prove disastrous for their attempt to return to the Premier League at the first time of asking.
Players to watch: Brennan Johnson emulated his father David who scored against Sheffield United in 2003 during a play-off first leg, by netting in the first leg himself, and another strike could be good news as Forest havenât lost after heâs scored this term (W14, D3). Bergeâs first-leg goal for Sheffield United was unusual as his previous four league strikes all came before the 55th minute.
Hot stat: Thereâs been an average of 1.25 goals per game after the 80th minute across Forestâs last five matches.