On Wednesday, 13th placed Blackpool take on seventh-placed Sheffield United in the EFL Championship. In the reverse fixture, it was Blackpool that came out on top 1-0 back in October 2021. In that game, Keshi Anderson scored the only goal of the game. Coming into this game, Blackpool won 1-0 at home against Swansea City, and Sheffield United lost 1-4 away at Coventry City.
Blackpool arrive into this game back off a 1-0 win at home against Swansea City. Gary Madine scored the only goal of the game. This win means Blackpool have 14 victories, nine draws, and 13 losses so far this season. As per xG, Blackpool should have scored 46 goals this season, but they currently have only 42 goals to their name. So, Blackpool are underperforming on their xG.
As seen in the above shot map, Blackpool have taken some chances well but also missed quite a few big chances. Eight months into the season and not even a single Blackpool player has reached double figures in goals. Their joint-highest goalscorers have eight goals each to their name.
Luke Garbutt has been Blackpool’s most successful threat creator so far this season from open play as well as from set-pieces. Most of his threat comes from corners. But he has a score of less than 10. This implies that Blackpool do not create as many chances as the other teams in the league this season.
Sheffield United suffered a big 1-4 loss at the hands of Coventry City coming into this game. Sander Berge scored for Sheffield in what was an otherwise forgettable night for the team. This defeat leaves Sheffield United with a record of 16 wins, nine draws, and 11 losses to their name. Sheffield United have scored 50 goals this campaign, but xG predicted them to score 54 at this point of the season. So, Sheffield United have somewhat underperformed in the attack.
That underperformance can be seen in the above chart. Sheffield United have an xG per 90 value of 1.38 but actual goals per 90 value of only 1.25. While Sheffield United have performed mostly fine, they still need to improve if they are to reach the promotion play-offs, as they currently sit seventh, which is just outside the play-off spots.
Blackpool will look to win their fourth game on the trot against Sheffield United, while the latter will want to bounce back from the bad result suffered against Coventry during the weekend.
