Sheffield United vs Cardiff City Prediction 09.01.2025 | FA Cup

• Competition: England - FA Cup
• Date: Thursday, 9th, January 2025
• Kickoff: 19:00 UK / 20:00 CET 
• Venue: Bramall Lane (Sheffield)

With a place in the FA Cup fourth round on the line, Sheffield United and Cardiff City are set to face off at Bramall Lane this Thursday night.

The barren three-game streak without a victory finally ended for Chris Wilder's men, who managed to grind out a hard-fought 2-1 win at the tricky away ground of Vicarage Road against Watford, putting their title ambitions back on track. Sheffield United will momentarily shift focus from their Championship journey to the FA Cup, where they aspire to advance to the fourth round for the third year running, but accomplishing that goal requires overcoming their midweek challenge.

In their way is a challenge in the form of Cardiff City, who have boosted their survival chances in the Championship with a couple of good results recently, picking up a slender 2-1 win at Watford before sharing points in back-to-back matches against Coventry and Middlesbrough. The Bluebirds haven't had much fortune or success in the FA Cup in recent years, and now they are staring at the real possibility of being knocked out in the third round for the third year in a row.

Sheffield United vs Cardiff City Betting Tips: UNDER 2.5

Cardiff may bring slightly better form into this match, but they'll face a tough challenge in breaking down the second-best defense in the Championship. In fact, Sheffield's defense has particularly shone at Bramall Lane, having conceded just three goals in their last 11 home matches, with eight of those games seeing their net remain undisturbed. With a rock-solid defense and an unconvincing attack, the Blades have often found themselves in low-scoring affairs, as no more than two goals have been scored in 10 of their last 11 home fixtures. On the other hand, Cardiff have struggled to secure wins in recent months, with only one three-point result from their last 13 matches, and they may have to go without full points here, as their recent H2H record against Sheffield doesn’t bode well, losing five on the spin. After all, the Bluebirds have been off the scoreboard in three of the last four H2Hs, and since the Blades' backline has been tough to break down at Bramall Lane, we expect a quiet affair here, where one goal could decide the winner.