West Brom v Sheffield United previewed

English Football League / Sean Calvert / 24 August 2007 / Leave a Comment

The man with the Baggy Trousers takes an "impartial" view of Saturday's televised clash

Sheffield United v West Bromwich Albion is always a fixture that involves excitement, controversy, goals and incident and this weekend's televised renewal has all the ingredients of another unmissable 90 minutes.

In the recent past, this fixture was dominated by the hatred that existed between managers Gary Megson and Neil Warnock, which culminated in the infamous 'Battle of Bramall Lane' in March 2002.

For those not familiar with this classic, West Brom were awarded a 3-0 win after the match was abandoned after 81 minutes, with Sheffield United having only six players left on the pitch and all substitutes used.

It was a truly memorable afternoon, which had it all - shocking fouls, head butts, red cards, arguing managers, melees, and the pleasurable sight of a sour Warnock stalking the touchline in frustration.

Back to this season and Albion's first opportunity to visit a club that is surely about to be ruined by Bryan Robson's renowned coaching skills is one that both managers will want to win and should guarantee fireworks, unless Robson's mind-numbingly tedious tactics send everyone to sleep after 20 minutes of course.

I think it's a pretty safe bet that this match won't finish in a draw, as there have been only two in the last 37 matches between these sides, going back to 1965 and the last one at Bramall Lane was in 1987 - 22 matches ago. Therefore, perhaps laying the draw at 3.5 could be the way to go.

Indeed, this has always been a high scoring encounter and The Blades beat The Baggies 6-0 at Bramall Lane as recently as 2000 and there have been more than 2.5 goals in 8 of the last 11 renewals, so that could be value at 2.1.

An Albion away win could also be worth an interest at 3.4, as West Brom have won the last two at Bramall Lane and could prove too classy for a Blades side still believing they should be in the Premier League and having suffered the hammer blow of finding Robson appointed as manager.

The Baggies usually start with Kevin Phillips and Craig Beattie up front and Phillips will be a popular choice for first goalscorer. For a longer priced wager though, Felipe Teixeira has an eye for goal and is the best bet of the Albion midfielders, whilst undoubtedly the wager of the day would be Lee Hendrie to score, as he always does when he plays against West Brom - and he enjoys it immensely. Another Albion new-boy to keep an eye on is Ishmael Miller, who scored a cracker on his debut last week and looks full of pace and power and drew comparisons from some observers to Baggies legend Cyrille Regis.

It's not been a great start for Sheffield, with a defeat at Watford following a home draw with Colchester and anything less than a win for them at 2.36 will see Robson's honeymoon period (if there ever was one) come to an abrupt end. If you do fancy a home win, the value bet is for Albion to be leading at half-time and Sheffield Utd to win the match at 32, as The Baggies are strong starters but often concede late in games, as was the case at Burnley a couple of weeks ago.

Due to the feisty nature of this fixture it could also pay to get involved in the bookings and dismissals market, with Paul Robinson for West Brom and Lee Hendrie for Sheffield Utd almost certain to go in the book at least, should they start the match.