English Championship 2nd/3rd Jan

[keemanan]

great stuff guys , looks like palace could be the bet of the day here.

I like sheff utd too MP , both at home too, nice.

I'm gonna deffo have a go on Stoke too.
It's nice to be getting a handle on this division again

[corsair]

Originally Posted by keemanan

I like sheff utd too MP , both at home too, nice.

You meant Sheff Wed, dun U?

Nvmd... I read wrongly

[traeth]

Hull [16th]v Sheffield United[2nd]

I agree with mickey and keemanan about Sheff utd in this match.
A bet that interest me is ht/ft draw/Sheff U @6.0 betfair

At home Hull h.t record this season is W2-D10-L1
Away Sheff U h.t record this season is W4-D7-L2

Will have a further look in the morning about this game

[GETT1NLOTS]

Neil Warnock said that his side were out on their feet after their game on Saturday which they won with a late, late goal. Hull have only lost 3 home games out of 13 this season. Sheff Utd have only lost 3 out of 13 on their travels.

I think this game has a draw written all over it. I might have a small interest bet on that result. If I was tempted to call it either way I would probably lay Sheff Utd as opposed to Hull.

[MickeyPaul]

As I said Gett1n, I think Hull were lucky in a few of their home games and could easily have lost more. Read the reports and you'll get the idea. Reading massacred them in their 1-1 there and on another day would have won easily I reckon. Hull sound very ordinary to me and I aint scared. Why were Sheff Utd out on their feet anyway? Football too tiring for the poor wee souls?

[MickeyPaul]

BBC:

Hull v Sheffield United
Hull striker Craig Fagan is a major doubt after damaging ankle ligaments in the defeat at Leeds.

The Tigers have no other new injury concerns, though Roland Edge remains sidelined with a groin strain.

Sheffield United manager Neil Warnock is set to make changes after describing his players as "running on empty" after the 2-1 win over Stoke.

Michael Tonge, Paul Ifill, Paul Shaw and Keith Gillespie were on the bench against Stoke and could start.

Those players Utd may bring in aren't too bad are they? Leeds won, Reading won, surely these damn Sheffield chaps will be going hammer and tongs for victory? I would be. Not particularly useful but here's another thing to read:

Saturday's hero Chris Morgan said two factors guided United to three more points in the victory over Stoke City.

"More than anything, I think we deserved it," said Morgan of the win. "We said in the changing room that it is down to two things: A - our determination and B - our fitness levels."

The skipper added: "The amount of goals we have scored late on is quite high and that is credit to everyone that we keep going - especially when you take into account that since Monday we've played Norwich at home and had a long trip to Southampton. Stoke are by no means an easy team.

"It is a great result and sets us up for the new year. At 1-1 we could sense the fans getting a bit frustrated, they wouldn't have been happy with a draw.

"We have just got to keep doing what we are doing, it is down to us now, we are not looking at what other teams are doing, that would take away from what we want to do - if we win all our games it doesn't make a major difference."

[MickeyPaul]

Just reading the report of Hull's 2-0 loss at Leeds. Not a bad first half effort from them to be fair before Leeds stepped up a gear 2nd half. Fagan sounds like he caused Leeds problems so hopefully he will indeed miss out tonight. I'm still hopeful Sheff Utd can nick it but it may be a bit tighter than I thought. Bah. All indications are that Hull will struggle to score though.

[keemanan]

Ifill's a great player at this level MP , I heard the Leeds v Hull game and they were plucky at best , no great quality.
At home ,big crowd , local opposition (relatively) they would really have to turn it on and Sheff U have a bad day at the office.These teams aint met since 1989 with Hulls last win coming in '83.

[MickeyPaul]

Exactly Keem; no great quality. That's the impression I get every time I read about them. The main thing that always stands out is that they lack any great creativity. They sound lacking all over in fact. Sheffield Utd should be well capable of handling them and they've gone to harder places than Hull and grabbed good results. Having said all that, I'm less confident than I was originally.

[keemanan]

Some blade's fans thoughts on their good win (the 3 pouints are all that matters in this div)

3 points at the end were hardly deserved, but I'd rather take that than play well and end up with nothing as Stoke did. Our one dimensional football is slowly returning, we looked short of ideas and energy, but the points are in the bag. I haven't been overly impressed with our recent performances and or our overall play, but the results are going for us (apart from Norwich) and you can't ask any more than that.

Conclusions
Recent games have highlighted the need for 2-3 players in the transfer window. I'd let Kabba go as a makeweight in a swap deal for either Earshaw or Jerome. We need a central midfielder who can be more productive and creative and I'd go all out to try to tempt either Lee Hendrie, Jason Koumas or Michael Brown. A strong and aerially dominant centre half is also high on our wanted list. Centre halfs won't be easy to find though and we may need to go and try to sign a top rated Championship defender or go for a Premiership fringe players.

Worth a look
http://www.unitedite.co.uk/

[MickeyPaul]

Maybe work in their favour freshening it up then? Oooo, I'm a bit nervy now. It's looking tighter and tighter...... they're well capable of a result though. Errrrrm..... still a narrow Sheff Utd victory for me.

Cheers for that link Keema. The Utd fans are all predicting an easy win.

[corsair]

I've already placed $$$ on the 2 Utds tonight... The one in Sheffield - 1/4 and the other one in Manchester lvl ball.....

I dun see either one losing tonight... at worst could be a draw for both.

Hope I don't jinx anyone...

[GETT1NLOTS]

Games like this one and the big game in the Premiership are the type of matches that keep the bookies in business - both are impossible to call in my opinion and as a result there is little value in the odds.

YOU DON'T HAVE TO HAVE A BET LADS.

[MickeyPaul]

Oh ye of little faith. Dig deep Gett1n and you'll see Hull could consider themselves fortunate not to be further down the league. Their home stats of W5 D5 L3 could so easily read W4 D3 L6 - yes they are stuffy and hard working etc. but as Keem said, Sheff Utd have that extra little bit of quality which should be enough to see them off. I actually said exactly all of the above before Watford went there and won 1-2. I'm not overly confident but I'm hopeful Hull will struggle to create much and Sheff Utd will nick it, possibly late on again.

[corsair]

Originally Posted by GETT1NLOTS

Games like this one and the big game in the Premiership are the type of matches that keep the bookies in business - both are impossible to call in my opinion and as a result there is little value in the odds.

YOU DON'T HAVE TO HAVE A BET LADS.

Haha, That's very true
But I seriously think the 2 uniteds will do the business... I'm staking low amounts on it anyway... all the best?