The pair drew 1-1 at Bramall Lane on Sunday last but in the league Nigel Clough and Sheffield United remain in the bottom four relegation spots following a 3-0 defeat at Crewe Alexandra last Saturday. Chuks Aneke blasted a double as Crewe clinched an important 3-0 win in their relegation encounter with Sheffield United. The Arsenal loanee took his tally to eight for the season as he drove in two fine first-half finishes to set the Railwaymen en-route to their eighth home success of the season. Mathias Pogba, making his first start of the campaign for Crewe, almost caught out United goalkeeper George Long with a speculative loft from the by-line.
Crewe were on top by the time Aneke cut infield and curled a left-footed shot past Long into the far corner for the 37th-minute opener. Then after Ajay Leitch-Smith's free-kick was headed into his path, Aneke hit a sweet volley past Long on the stroke of half-time. Home goalkeeper Ben Garratt got of his line to thwart Jose Baxter as the Blades tried desperately to respond after the restart. But it needed a last-ditch clearance from former Crewe defender John Brayford to prevent Leitch-Smith adding a third.
Long kept out Brad Inman's effort and Crewe's Australian winger also went close with another curling effort before his stoppage-time shot was palmed away by the visitors' goalkeeper for substitute Byron Moore to add a third with a close-range finish.
The Blades are without captain Michael Doyle who serves the second of a three match ban following his dismissal against Fulham at Bramall Lane. He missed the defeat at Gresty Road and as well as tonight's game in London will be absent for the arrival of Shrewsbury Town this weekend. Meanwhile striker Billy Paynter will be cup-tied and unable to play at Craven Cottage having featured for parent club Doncaster Rovers in their third round defeat at home to Stevenage.
Possible Blades Line-Up (4-5-1):
Long
Brayford - Maguire - Collins (c) - Hill
Flynn - McGinn - Coady - Scougall - Murphy
Baxter
Please note for those supporters unable to make it to Fulham tonight, the game will be shown live on ITV4 at 8:00pm.
Fulham sank to bottom of the Premier League table following a 3-0 defeat at home to Southampton last Saturday. The renewed optimism brought by Fulham's late flurry of transfer activity quickly evaporated as Southampton became the eighth side to take three points at Craven Cottage this season. Staring down the barrel of relegation, the Whites took drastic action in a bid to retain their Premier League status by undergoing a 48-hour rebuilding project. Six players arrived and four players departed Craven Cottage in that period, although there was no immediate reaction as Rene Meulensteen's side crashed to a 3-0 defeat at home to Southampton. Only two of the new arrivals, Lewis Holtby and William Kvist, were registered in time to feature against Saints, who spent much of the first half on the back foot and had goalkeeper Artur Boruc to thank for keeping the score level.
Fulham were made to pay for those missed opportunities in the second period as Southampton ruthlessly exposed their soft underbelly, with Adam Lallana opening the scoring after 64 minutes with a superb strike across the face of goal. Rickie Lambert netted his 100th league goal for Saints six minutes later, before the visitors' other England international, Jay Rodriguez, curled home exquisitely in front of the watching national team manager Roy Hodgson. Few would have expected such a rout after a confident first-half display from Fulham. Their first chance of note came after eight minutes when Dan Burn met a Holtby corner with a towering header, which flew just over.
Scott Parker and Steve Sidwell fluffed efforts from distance as Meulensteen's side looked for the breakthrough, while Parker also saw a penalty shout for handball against Maya Yoshida waved away. Other than a deflected cross that Maarten Stekelenburg fumbled, Southampton were creating little and would have gone behind in the 24th minute was it not for an expert one-handed save from Boruc. Brede Hangeland met another fine Holtby corner with a header, which was somehow clawed away by the back-tracking Poland goalkeeper.
Southampton were not looking their free-flowing usual selves, with the defence looking unsteady and Victor Wanyama just ahead of them looking rusty on his return from almost two months on the sidelines. The powerful Kenyan was misplacing many passes and was booked just 26 minutes into his return for clattering Parker, joining team-mate Rodriguez in referee Mike Jones' notebook. Morgan Schneiderlin saw a header pushed around the post by Stekelenburg on a rare voyage forward by the visitors, who were again relying on their goalkeeper to keep the scores level. Darren Bent was thwarted twice in a matter of minutes by Boruc, who first got down brilliantly denying the on-loan striker rifling home after neat interplay.
The former England international was then put through after Wanyama was dispossessed and left in a heap, although the Southampton goalkeeper was again a match for him. Schneiderlin became the third Southampton player booked as the break approached, with Rodriguez heading wide before the half-time whistle went. Unsurprisingly, Wanyama was replaced by Jack Cork for a second half which began with the ball being worked out to the right, where Rodriguez fizzed an effort wide.
Schneiderlin saw an audacious overhead kick fly over, before Stekelenburg denied a Lallana strike from distance. While Bent saw a handball appeal turned down at the other end, it was Southampton in control. Lambert was left frustrated after he could not make the most of a hashed clearance, only to then turn provider for the opening goal. Collecting the ball just inside the Fulham half, the England forward played a wonderfully-weighted ball for Lallana to impressively fire low past Stekelenburg.
The 64th minute goal extended Fulham's wait for a clean sheet to a ninth match - the longest run in the top division - and they almost conceded again soon after. Only a late block saw a Steven Davis strike wide, before Lallana started a great counter-attack and fed the ball to the overlapping Shaw, whose low cross was prodded wide by Rodriguez. Southampton did not have to wait long for another goal, though. Nathaniel Clyne, on as a 58th-minute substitute for the injured Chambers, sent in a fine low ball from the right, which, thanks to an intelligent stopover by Rodriguez, fell perfectly for Lambert to slot home.
Rodriguez's selflessness was rewarded in the 75th minute with a goal of his own. Lambert's long ball to the forward was controlled by his fellow England international, who cut inside away from Hangeland and curled home brilliantly into the top right-hand corner. Substitute Pajtim Kasami curled wide as Fulham looked to reduce the deficit in the closing stages, but they failed to threaten Boruc as Southampton won a league game at Fulham for the first time since October 1947.
The Whites will be without Adel Taarabt who was recalled from his loan spell from Queens Park Rangers and swiftly sold to Italian giants AC Milan, defender Johnny Heitinga joined Everton in a free transfer, and former Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur forward Dimitar Berbatov was loaned to French club Monaco. Meanwhile Aaron Hughes (Queens Park Rangers) and Philippe Senderos (Valencia) leaving the Cottage.
However they did bring in seven players with; Ryan Tunicliffe and Larnell Cole (both Manchester United), Konstantinos Mitroglou (Olympiakos, £11,000,000), in permanent deals whilst Lewis Holtby (Tottenham Hotspur) joined on loan.
Possible Whites Line-Up (4-3-2-1):
Stockdale
Riether - Hangeland - Burn - Richardson
Kvist - Sidwell - Holtby
Dempsey - Parker (c)
Bent
Under competition rules, should the match be all square at 90 minutes then 30 minutes extra-time will commence and possibly a penalty shoot-out should the scores remain level.
Blades-Mad Prediction: Fulham 0 Sheffield United 1