Two Championship sides will fight it out for a place in the FA Cup semi-finals on Sunday, when Sheffield United welcome Blackburn Rovers to Bramall Lane.

The teams met just over two weeks ago in the league, with the visitors prevailing over the second-placed Blades on home turf, while both got the better of Premier League opposition in the previous round to reach the final eight.

Match preview

In the midst of their strong campaign in the Championship, in which they have occupied a spot in the top two for almost the entirety of the season thus far, Sheffield United began their FA Cup journey with a trip to Millwall in the third round and secured their progression with a 2-0 victory, before travelling to fifth-tier Wrexham and only forcing a replay through John Egan's injury-time equaliser in a dramatic 3-3 draw.

On their return to Bramall Lane, Paul Heckingbottom's side eventually got past the Welsh outfit, again thanks to late goals, as Billy Sharp and Sander Berge got on the scoresheet deep into injury time to seal a 3-1 victory.

That saw them book a round-of-16 tie at home to Tottenham Hotspur, and after the game remained goalless for 79 minutes, Iliman Ndiaye netted the only goal off the bench to fire the Blades to a surprise victory and into the final eight.

The victory was then followed by a trip to Sunday's opponents, in which they fell to a 1-0 defeat, and despite their recent inconsistency in the bid to seal a top-two finish and automatic promotion this season, Heckingbottom's men did restore their lead over the chasing pack to six points on Wednesday with a crucial 2-1 victory away at Sunderland, thanks to goals from James McAtee and Tommy Doyle.

Having now strengthened their position once again in the fight for automatic promotion with nine league games to go, the Blades will turn their focus back to the cup and aim to avenge their recent defeat to Sunday's opponents and book a trip to Wembley for the first time since 2014, when they lost in the semi-finals to Hull City.

Their visitors, also heavily involved in the fight for promotion to the Premier League this season, began their own FA Cup campaign with a trip to Norwich City and progressed with a 1-0 victory courtesy of Jack Vale's goal, before again meeting Championship opposition as they were drawn against Birmingham City in the fourth round.

Jon Dahl Tomasson's side would only manage a 2-2 draw in that contest, as they were pegged back by a Jordan James leveller in injury time, but they would prevail away from home in the replay, as an Auston Trusty own goal in extra time made the only difference between the teams to book a quarter-final tie with Leicester City for the Lancashire outfit.

Rovers went two goals ahead at the King Power Stadium through Tyrhys Dolan and Sammie Szmodics, and after Kelechi Iheanacho pulled one back for their top-flight hosts 23 minutes from time, Tomasson's men stood strong to come out on top and advance to Sunday's quarter-final.

They followed that up with a 1-0 beating of the Blades, thanks to Harry Pickering's early goal, to strengthen their position in the Championship top six, and after a defeat away at Stoke City, they now head into the cup tie on the back of an important 2-1 victory at home to Reading on Wednesday, thanks to Ryan Hedges's decisive 82nd-minute goal after Ben Brereton Diaz had initially opened the scoring in the second minute.

With that result keeping them in fifth place and extending their lead over the chasing pack in the playoff race to five points, Tomasson's men will now look to continue their cup run with another triumph over the Blades to punch their ticket to Wembley.

Team News

After a hard-fought victory away at Sunderland on Wednesday, Sheffield United may opt to make a few rotations to their strong squad on Sunday, and Oli McBurnie should return to the starting XI to lead the line alongside Iliman Ndiaye, with the two frontmen having netted 12 goals each across Championship and FA Cup action this season.

Elsewhere, experienced midfielder Oliver Norwood is vying to return from the outset after only featuring from the bench on Wednesday, although Sander Berge, Tommy Doyle and James McAtee all have strong claims to keep their starting spots at the weekend.

If George Baldock is not deemed fit to start, Jayden Bogle will likely come back in from the start in a right wing-back role on the opposite flank to Max Lowe, while the back three of Anel Ahmedhodzic, John Egan and Jack Robinson should remain untouched despite competition from Chris Basham.

As is the case with their hosts, Blackburn Rovers are without several important players on Sunday, with Daniel Ayala, Scott Wharton, Adam Wharton, Bradley Dack and Jack Vale all sidelined by injuries, while winger Sorba Thomas is also unavailable having played in a previous round of this season's FA Cup for Huddersfield Town.

First-choice goalkeeper Thomas Kaminski also remains out of action through injury, meaning Aynsley Pears will again play between the sticks behind a back four of Joe Rankin-Costello, Hayden Carter, Dominic Hyam and Harry Pickering.

Key man Ben Brereton-Diaz has found the net in consecutive league games to take his tally to 12 for the season in England's second tier, and he should again play a key role in support of frontman Sam Gallagher, with Sammie Szmodics and Tyrhys Dolan likely taking up the other two attacking spots.

Sheffield United possible starting lineup:
Foderingham; Ahmedhodzic, Egan, Robinson; Bogle, Berge, Norwood, McAtee, Lowe; Ndiaye, McBurnie

Blackburn Rovers possible starting lineup:
Pears; Rankin-Costello, Hyam, Carter, Pickering; Travis, Morton; Dolan, Szmodics, Brereton Diaz; Gallagher

We say: Sheffield United 2-1 Blackburn Rovers

Although their form has been somewhat inconsistent in recent weeks, Sheffield United will be boosted by Wednesday's victory, and in what promises to be a close-fought encounter, we think they have the quality to come out on top on home turf.


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