Live on Sky: Sheffield United vs West Ham preview

Team news, key stats and prediction ahead of Sheffield United vs West Ham in the Premier League.

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• Charlie Nicholas' Premier League predictions
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Team news

Sheffield United's only injury issues concern their back-up goalkeepers as they prepare to host West Ham.

Michael Verrips must miss out under concussion protocol following the knock to the head that saw him substituted against AFC Fylde in the FA Cup last weekend, while Simon Moore (back) continues to regain full fitness and is back in training.

Blades boss Chris Wilder, who rested his entire starting XI in the cup, recalled Jake Eastwood from his loan spell at Scunthorpe this week and he may be on the bench as cover for Dean Henderson on Friday night.

Mark Noble and Aaron Cresswell return to the West Ham squad for the trip to Bramall Lane.

Skipper Noble and full-back Cresswell missed last weekend's FA Cup win at Gillingham as they were carrying knocks.

Ryan Fredericks is out after injuring a hamstring against the Gills while Michail Antonio (hamstring), Jack Wilshere (groin) and Andriy Yarmolenko (thigh) are still sidelined.

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How to follow

Sheffield United vs West Ham is live on Friday Night Football from 7pm; Kick-off 8pm. Sky Sports customers can watch in-game clips in the live match blog on the Sky Sports website and app. Highlights will also be published on the Sky Sports digital platforms and the Sky Sports Football YouTube channel shortly after the final whistle.

• How to watch Premier League highlights
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Opta stats

• Sheffield United have won both of their Premier League home games against West Ham, winning 3-0 in April 2007 and 3-2 in March 1994.
• West Ham are winless in their last eight top-flight away games against Sheffield United (D2 L6), though they have won twice at Bramall Lane in the second tier in that time.
• The Hammers have won just one of their last 10 Premier League games in Yorkshire (D3 L6), beating Huddersfield 4-1 in January 2018. Meanwhile, London sides have lost their last seven Premier League games against Sheffield United at Bramall Lane.
• Sheffield United have only lost three consecutive league games under Chris Wilder once previously, losing three in a row in the Championship in December 2017.
• West Ham captain Mark Noble's two goals against Bournemouth took him to 45 Premier League goals, just two behind the Hammers' record scorer in the competition, Paolo Di Canio (47).
• Sheffield United's David McGoldrick has had 35 shots without scoring in the Premier League this season, more than any other player. The longest a player had to wait in terms of shots for their first goal last season was Harvey Barnes, who netted his first goal with his 38th effort for Leicester City in 2018-19.

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Charlie Nicholas' prediction

It has been a decent start for David Moyes at West Ham. They didn't play well at Gillingham but got the job done. Six weeks ago they would have lost and been knocked out of the FA Cup. They have kept two clean sheets, which Moyes works hard at, but he will not be obsessed by that.

Sheffield United got a reality check against the best two teams, on their day, in Liverpool and Manchester City. It will have brought them down, but you could see with a narrow win over Fylde in the FA Cup that it will bolster them, just getting the result in general. Although, if they go on a run where they only pick up one point from 12, you start to wonder what happened.

West Ham will squeeze and play more back to front. They got a bit more from Felipe Anderson. Sebastien Haller will continue to play I think, and West Ham will get something.

CHARLIE PREDICTS: 1-1 (11/2 with Sky Bet)

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