Following victories over Shrewsbury Town (2-1) and Bury (2-0) away from home and a 3-0 win against Colchester United has seen the Blades fly into second place after going through whole of January without a league win, however due to results involving Doncaster Rovers and Swindon Town the Blades slipped into fourth in midweek. Goals from Barry Robson (4 minutes) who scored from the penalty spot after he had been fouled in the box by Jake Robinson. Midfileder Kevin McDonald (73) doubled their lead and Dave Kitson (90) finished to score his nineth goal for United after Diego De Girolamo saw his shot saved.
Earlier in the season United beat Bournemouth by five goals to three and Blades boss Danny Wilson will no doubt look to complete the double over their Southern opponents and re-take control of poll position. However he may be without Jonathan Forte - on loan from Southampton who suffered a knock ten days ago in the victory over Bury and failed a fitness test to be included in the match against Colchester.
Defender Matt Hill will be fighting for a place in the starting line-up after recovering from injury and playing a whole 90 minutes in last Monday's 3-1 defeat in the Under-21's, but has started the last three games as an unused substitute. Youngsters Dominic Poleon, 19 (on loan from Leeds United) and Academy startlet Diego De Girolamo, 17 will both be looking to make first team debuts after only appearing as used substitutions.
Possible Blades Line-Up:
| Long | |||
| McMahon | Maguire | Collins | Higginbotham |
| Flynn | McDonald | Doyle | Robson |
| Kitson | Murphy | ||
Despite being league leaders Bournemouth could only record a two-nil loss at Preston North End last Saturday with goals from Stuart Beavon (19) and Bailey Wright (31) which ended a run of five consecutive victories for the Cherries. They have been on a fine run of form which has seen them defeated only twice in the previous 22 matches which has seen them rise from relegation fodder to potentially playing Championship football next season.
Cherries boss Eddie Howe is likley to be without Tommy Elphick after he was injured in a rash challenge by Milton Keynes Dons striker Ryan Lowe (ex-Sheffield Wednesday) who received a red card for his troubles. Meanwhile both Charlie Daniels (foot) and Marc Pugh (virus) are listed as doubtful and may or may not feature against Sheffield United. They should be almost at full strength despite these set backs, recruiting Matt Ritchie (from Swindon Town) in a £400,000 deal.
Following their defeat to North End, Cherries boss Eddie Howe told BBC Radio Solent; 'We weren't at our best today, no doubt about that. We were second best, which is really difficult for me to say because it hasn't happened yet. 'We were slow out the traps, we conceded two poor goals, and we never really had any concerted pressure on their goal...We're delighted where we are (in the league), but we're disappointed with today and we've got to try and make sure we respond in the right fashion.'
The Cherries are likely to field full-back Simon Francis, 28 to face his former club. He joined the Blades in a £200,000 deal from Bradford City in March 2004; making his debut in a 2-1 defeat at Cardiff City. However, he found first team opportunities rare and joined Southend United in a free transfer in June 2006 after making just 8 (+7) appearances without scoring. He had also played at Grimsby Town and Tranmere Rovers in loan spells.
Possible Cherries Line-Up:
| Jalal | |||
| Francis | Cook | Seabourne | Painter |
| Grabban | MacDonald | Arter | Pugh |
| Ritchie | Pitman | ||
:: Head-to-Head ::
It may come as a surprise to any football fan but Bournemouth have yet to beat Sheffield United at Dean Court in any professional fixture, this of course may well change this weekend but we would hope that our good record on the South Coast returns to S2 intact. United and the Cherries have met in all major professional leagues, with the exception of top flight.
The first four meetings between the two sides all ended in draws, with only the fourth fixture being any goals (2-2) and the Blades sole defeat in our battles with Bournemouth came on 15 August 1987 at Bramall Lane where they claimed a 0-1 win, United have won nine of the fourteen matches taken place with four victories coming at Dean Court.
Earlier in the season the Blades triumphed Bournemouth by five goals to three in an epic encounter at the Lane but United home to come from behind against the Cherries, Tommy Elphick (20 minutes) headed home after the hosts had spurned chances early on. They were soon back into the game and in the lead through two quick-fire goals from winger Ryan Flynn (24 & 31) and before the break, then on loan Manchester United striker John Cofie (43) had again fired home from 25 yards in his trademark spectacular effort.
Three minutes after the break the visitors had scrambled a ball home through Lee Barnard (48) but normal service was assumed for substitute Richard Cresswell (60) on the hour but with three minutes remaining Marc Pugh (87) had given the Cherries hope. However there was to be one final say from United; Nick Blackman was hauled down in the box and he picked himself up (90+3) before finishing off the spot kick.
| League form versus Bournemouth... | ||||||
| P | W | D | L | F | A | |
| Home | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 15 | 9 |
| Away | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 1 |
| Total | 13 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 21 | 10 |
* Table correct up to and including 17 February 2013
Blades-Mad Prediction: AFC Bournemouth 1-2 Sheffield United
With thanks to Andy Burton at www.cherries-mad.co.uk