Sheffield United vs. Arsenal – English Premier League, April 11, 2021

Sheffield United looks to win only its fifth game of the season as it welcomes Arsenal to Brammall Lane this Sunday.

The Blades are not mathematically down quite yet, but the Championship is definitely calling. Beating Arsenal would purely be for pride in South Yorkshire.

Arsenal is the odds-on favorite to win this game with the sportsbooks, even after the very poor display at home against Liverpool last week.

The Gunners can be even worse away from home against more combative teams, so the draw bet – or even the home win –might be worth investigating at these prices.

Even though Sheffield United lost to Leeds last weekend, interim manager Paul Heckingbottom will have been pleased with the way his players improved throughout the game – even if his side was lucky to finish with eleven on the pitch.

But there was at least a fighting quality that hasn’t always been present this year. Any hope of staying up now has disappeared, so that is exactly the kind of performance that Sheffield United needs to be putting in. There are a few defensive injury worries for the home side this weekend, so the team’s determination will be needed.

Mikel Arteta might also be hoping that his players are bothered on Sunday after looking by far the weaker side against Liverpool last time out. Home advantage completely evaporated for Arsenal as it conceded three goals for the second game in a row. There was no come back last weekend to enjoy this time, however.

Recent results – and the win in the north London derby – had suggested that there might even be an outside chance of Arsenal challenging for one of the European places this season. That looks to be out of the question now – and that might affect the level of urgency shown by what will be some tired players this Sunday.

There are some very good players in the Arsenal team, even though it finds itself stuck in mid-table right now. But Arteta has to deal with not knowing how up for a game his top players will be – and whether weaker members of the squad will turn out to be a liability. Three points from a game against the bottom-placed club should be fairly straightforward, but the odds for the draw look far more tempting to me here.