Thursday night’s FA Cup third round match between Sheffield United and Cardiff City is an all-Championship clash at Bramall Lane.
The two teams come face to face just a tad over twenty two days on from their second tier match played in South Wales where the Blades emerged victorious courtesy of a Kieffer Moore master fitted brace.
The Blades ceux a stop a three-match losing streak and set alight their promotion bid again when they won 2-1 at Watford last Saturday.
It was Andre Brooks who delivered the final blow in the 53rd minute to give the Blades the narrow victory that has placed them third in the league table and just a point behind the newly tied up Leeds United after the Yorkshire side could only manage a 3-3 draw with Hull City.
Wilder was almost moved to tears after his team emerged as worthy victors at Watford on Monday night, he has challenged his players to sustain the ‘terrific effort’ even as they manager numerous injuries to some of their key players with a view to helping them establish a string of good performances in their bid to force promotion back to the Championship.
There is the FA Cup next up, however, and with United looking to knock their rivals out in the third round period for the sixth consecutive season and for the seventh time in eight campaigns for a team from the same division.
Sheffield United come into Thursday’s match having lost their last two home league matches to Burnley by 0-2 and to West Bromwich Albion 1-1 but the Blades have won their last five competitive games against the Bluebirds scoring 11 goals in total.
After the nine matches scoreless sequence at the end of the 2024, Cardiff have managed to amass five points from the last three Championship fixtures to boost their campaign.
This Thursday, Sheffield United will play Cardiff City at home in the FA Cup's third round. The two teams, who are 20 spots apart in the standings, halt their league games. Continue reading for our match prediction.
After faltering toward the close of the previous season, Sheffield United bounced back in their second game of 2025. They just ended a three-game losing streak with a 2-1 victory over Watford. In their last three games, both teams scored, and Sheffield United hasn't kept a clean sheet in four games. Sheffield has won five of their last six FA Cup games.
Following a 2-1 victory at Watford, they have drawn 1-1 with Coventry City and Middlesbrough, both of which they overcame to win crucial points; last weekend, Calum Chambers tied the score against Middlesbrough.
Even though the Bluebirds are still in 23rd place in the table, they are only in the relegation zone on goal differential and have a game in hand over some of the clubs in and around them. Omer Riza thought his "resilient" team was worth the point they earned at the Riverside.
Although the Bluebirds have only lost one of their last six away games, they have lost three of their last four FA Cup matches with Sheffield United and have lost their last four away games, giving up at least three goals in each of the previous three.
Cardiff must first focus on the FA Cup and try to avoid losing in the third round for the seventh consecutive season, but they will undoubtedly have their sights set on Championship matches later this month against Watford and Welsh rivals Swansea City.
