Two pundits in full agreement as they predict Aston Villa v Sheffield United outcome

It will come as no surprise to see that Sheffield United are far from favourites to pick up the points when they head to Villa Park on Friday night.

The Blades are lying bottom of the Premier League table with just a couple of wins to their name, while over in the midlands a revolution has taken place under Unai Emery with Aston Villa well in the title race, such has been their form this season.

While there has been improvement in performances under Chris Wilder since he returned to the club earlier this month, Villa are on a 15-match winning run at home and could go top of the table with victory over the Blades.

With that in mind, the pundits are predicting another victory for Emery's men, though a couple of them are expecting a tight affair under the lights.

Chris Sutton, in predicting a 2-0 win for Villa said in his BBC Sport column: "Sheffield United famously scored a ghost goal at Villa Park in 2020, when they were denied a win because Hawk-Eye did not recognise they had scored.

"The Blades could do with a few of those at the other end this time, because I don't see them keeping Villa out otherwise. I think there has been a slight upturn in performances since Chris Wilder took charge at the start of December but they are still bottom of the table.

"Villa, meanwhile, are flying. They had to come from behind to beat Brentford last week but their home form is so impressive. Their long winning run at Villa Park has to end at some point, but it's hard to see it happening here.

"Unai Emery's side will be top on Christmas Day if they win this one and Arsenal draw with Liverpool. What an incentive that is to keep pushing on."

Meanwhile, Mark Lawrenson also went for a home win, this time 2-1, but he too pointed to the Wilder factor in his prediction.

“Aston Villa are brilliant at home so I think they’ll win this,” he told PaddyPower. “They’ve just got to keep pushing on, but it’s a real test for them now because everyone’s suddenly realised that they’ve got a chance of maybe, maybe, finishing in the top four and that’s when the pressure hits.

“Sheffield United will pick up under Chris Wilder but whether they’ll get enough points to stay up, I’m not so sure.”