EFL expert pinpoint the one Bristol City ‘red flag’ that Sheffield United must target

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Bristol City are preparing for their first Championship play-off fixture since they lost the 2008 final to Hull City, and the mood at Ashton Gate is extremely positive.

Despite going 2-0 down to Preston North End on Saturday afternoon, the Robins came back into the game with Ross McCrorie scoring twice to hand the home side a point that ensured that they finished sixth.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
1	LeedsLeeds	46	29	13	4	95	30	65	100
2	BurnleyBurnley	46	28	16	2	69	16	53	100
3	Sheff UtdSheffield Utd	46	28	8	10	63	36	27	90
4	SunderlandSunderland	46	21	13	12	58	44	14	76
5	CoventryCoventry	46	20	9	17	64	58	6	69
6	Bristol CityBristol City	46	17	17	12	59	55	4	68

Sheffield United await Liam Manning’s side on Thursday evening, with Chris Wilder hoping to take his legacy further at Bramall Lane by becoming the first Blades manager to ever win a play-off campaign.

22 points separated the teams by the time the season came to an end, and league position does give the South Yorkshire side the advantage heading into the two legs. But there is one other advantage that they will have over Bristol City when they meet on Thursday.

Ali Maxwell identifies one crucial Bristol City issue that the Blades must target

Manning’s side are excellent at home, and he will know that his players must take some sort of positive result to Bramall Lane if they are to advance through to the final at Wembley on May 24.

Sheffield United will go into the tie disappointed with how they gave up on the automatic promotion chase. Wilder has to rally his troops once again to go and find the best versions of themselves ahead of their two biggest games of the season so far.

However, there is one area of Bristol City’s game that they will be keen to exploit, with Ali Maxwell making it clear at just how vulnerable the Robins could be in the Championship play-offs.

“There is a red flag, that I didn’t necessarily even know about before I did the prep,” he started. “And that is that Bristol City, despite this kind of famous playoff dash, successful playoff dash, have only kept two clean sheets in 20 league games.

“And over their last dozen league games, a negative goal difference. The fact is, they’re not a terrific attacking team, and they’re actually worse defensively than I’d realised,” Maxwell concluded.

Sheffield United must play with confidence and attack at Ashton Gate

One problem that the Blades have had themselves is the lack of a consistent goal scorer this season, with Tyrese Campbell topping the table with just 10 strikes in the league this season.

Goals have been shared around the team relatively evenly, but this lack of a consistent threat in the final third was what saw the Championship title battle go down to the wire between Leeds United and Burnley while Sheffield United were forced to watch on.

However, Gustavo Hamer is fully rested ahead of the semi-finals, and he will be keen to re-write his own history in the play-offs after losing out with Coventry City in the 2023 final. His talent could prove to be the difference, as he does have the ability to score from anywhere.

Bristol City’s workhorse midfield will be difficult to contain, but there is a way through to goal if the Blades can find a gap and Manning will be worried that his team’s defensive issues continue.