Given the hosts' tight defensive record, particularly at Bramall Lane, and the visitors recent run of results, we can only envisage a low-scoring and hard-fought contest on Friday.
The Blades do arguably boast more attacking threat in their available ranks and will back themselves to find a decisive goal to go back to the top of the table.
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Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Sheffield United win with a probability of 44.92%. A win for Sunderland had a probability of 29.73% and a draw had a probability of 25.4%.
The most likely scoreline for a Sheffield United win was 1-0 with a probability of 10.11%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.15%) and 2-0 (7.69%). The likeliest Sunderland win was 0-1 (7.91%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.03%). The actual scoreline of 1-0 was predicted with a 10.1% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted a 1-0 win for Sheffield United in this match.
-0.11) 
0.25) 
