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Sheffield United and Sunderland are set to meet in one of the biggest games in English football this weekend.
The two sides will clash on May 24 in a 3pm kick-off, with a £240m game at Wembley set to play out.
Sheffield United hammered Bristol City in their semi-final clashes, while Sunderland made it past Coventry City following an extra-time winner from Dan Ballard.
It’s been suggested by fans that Sunderland are favourites to win the Championship play-off final.
However, it was Chris Wilder’s side who secured a third-place finish with an impressive 90 points, and they, according to one expert, have a player who could cause problems for Regis Le Bris’ men.
Sunderland warned one Sheffield United player could be a problem
Both sides are stacked with quality options, but one Sunderland expert has picked out Vini Souza as one of the Blades’ main strengths.
The Black Cats have been incredibly effective when it comes to hitting teams on the counter this term, including in the play-off semi-finals against Coventry.
We saw this especially in the first leg when Wilson Isidor scored on the back of a counter started by a brilliant ball from Enzo Le Fee.
But speaking on the Second Tier podcast this week, an expert from the Roker Report has suggested Souza could stop those types of goals from happening.
He said: “I think Vini Souza in the midfield, he could be a real problem for us because I think you know we generally tend to be more of a counter-attacking side, but a lot of our best players are in the midfield.
“I’m thinking Enzo Le Fee, I’m thinking Jobe Bellingham, I’m thinking Dan Neil, even Chris Rigg, who has faded a little at the end of the season but still a talented, talented lad.
“If Vini Souza is really on his game, I think he’s going to be a big problem because he can just, he can stop us getting out and he can stop us playing.
“I think back to Isador’s goal, the first goal we scored in the first leg against Coventry, that through ball that Enzo Le Fee plays when he’s right in that middle pocket of space. If you’ve got somebody who’s just snuffing that out and sniffing the danger out constantly, I think you remove a big avenue for our goals because we’re such a good counter attacking team, but you can’t counter attack if you can’t break the lines, and when you’ve got somebody who is as good at that as he is, I think that could be a big problem.”
Sheffield United facing unwanted challenge vs Sunderland
It’s not all negative for Le Bris and Co. going into the play-off final this weekend, however.
One EFL pundit discussed the pressure Sheffield United will face vs Sunderland, suggesting they haven’t really had to deal with that in the play-offs so far.
And when the Blades have been in high-pressure moments in recent moments when they were still chasing automatic promotion, he pointed out that they did not fare well.