Pre-season predictions probably would have placed Sheffield United and Coventry City at opposite ends of the Championship table to where they currently are.
The Blades have struggled since relegation from the Premier League last season and sit 17th, while the Sky Blues are surprise playoff contenders in fourth.
Match preview
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Sheffield United have taken just one point from their last three matches, leaving them in no-man's land in the Championship; seven points adrift of the playoffs and seven points above the relegation zone.
Rhian Brewster gave the Blades an early lead against Blackburn Rovers a fortnight ago, but they collapsed as the game wore on to lose 3-1 and could have conceded more.
Slavisa Jokanovic's side are back on home turf, but they have lost back-to-back games at Bramall Lane after winning three of their previous four in the Steel City.
In the bottom half of the Championship, only Nottingham Forest (23) have scored more goals than Sheffield United (22) this season, but at the other end of the pitch, the Blades have not kept a clean sheet in their last eight matches.
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Coventry headed into the international break on a high as Matt Godden netted a 92nd-minute winner to secure a dramatic 3-2 victory against Bristol City.
However, the Sky Blues have struggled with consistency of late and will be targeting back-to-back wins for the first time in two months.
Mark Robins's team have been near unstoppable at home but have only won two of their eight away games this season and netted just six goals on the road.
This will be the first fixture between Sheffield United and Coventry since April 2017 when the two sides were in League One; the Blades have won three of the last four meetings.
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Team News
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Sheffield United will be without striker Oli McBurnie who is self-isolating as a close contact of someone with Covid-19, while goalkeeper Robin Olsen is a doubt after picking up a muscle problem on international duty.
Oliver Norwood received his fifth yellow card of the season against Blackburn two weeks ago, meaning that he is suspended.
In defence, Slavisa Jokanovic should be able to welcome back Ben Davies who was suffering from a virus before the international break.
Coventry wing-back Ian Maatsen will serve a one-match ban following his red card against Bristol City before the international break.
Jake Clarke-Salter has been struggling with an Achilles injury which forced him off at half-time against the Robins, making him a doubt.
Sky Blues top scorer Viktor Gyokeres is enduring his longest goal drought of the campaign, having not found the net in his last six appearances.
Sheffield United possible starting lineup:
Foderingham; Baldock, Egan, Davies, Stevens; Hourihane, Fleck; Brewster, Gibbs-White, Osborn; Sharp
Coventry City possible starting lineup:
Moore; Rose, McFadzean, Hyam; Kane, Hamer, Kelly, Dabo; O'Hare; Gyokeres, Godden
We say: Sheffield United 1-1 Coventry City
The international break came at the right time for Sheffield United, who will have used the two-week gap to refocus after a difficult run of form. Coventry will provide a stern test though, even if their away record requires improvement. A tight game lies in store.
Top tip
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 49.37%. A draw had a probability of 26.5% and a win for Coventry City had a probability of 24.15%.
The most likely scoreline for a Sheffield United win was 1-0 with a probability of 13.27%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (9.71%) and 2-1 (9.1%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (12.43%), while for a Coventry City win it was 0-1 (8.5%). The actual scoreline of 0-0 was predicted with a 9.1% likelihood.
