Wrexham resume their EFL Championship campaign with an away game against Sheffield United at Bramall Lane on Friday.
Phil Parkinson's side did the double over the Blades last season, including a 5-3 Boxing day thriller in Wales and a 2-1 win in Sheffield in March, en route narrowly missing out on the playoffs last season.
Wrexham have had a much tougher time of it this season, as they lie 17th in the table after a 0-2 loss to Blackburn Rovers last weekend, while Chris Wilder's side are two points above them in 12th place. Sheffield United come into this game on the back of a 1-0 win away to Bristol City and a 1-1 draw at home to Derby County last weekend.
Here's everything you need to know about the match.
How to watch:
The match will be available to watch on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Football in the U.K., Paramount+ in the U.S., FanCode in India, and beIN Sports in Australia. You can also follow ESPN's live updates here.
Key Details:
Date, kick-off time:
UK BST: Friday, October 30, 8 p.m
U.S. ET: Friday, October 30, 4 p.m.
India IST: Saturday, October 31, 01:30 a.m.
Australia AEST: Saturday, October 31, 7 a.m.
Venue: Bramall Lane, Sheffield, England
Referee: David Webb
Injury & Team News:
Sheffield United
Patrick Bamford, F: muscle, DOUBT
Jamie Shackleton, D: thigh, OUT
Matt Doherty, D: muscle, DOUBT
Wrexham
Ben Sheaf, M: back in training, DOUBT
Josh Windass, M: ankle, OUT
Nathan Broadhead, M: thigh, DOUBT
Max Cleworth, D: hamstring, OUT
Sebastian Revan, M: hamstring, DOUBT
George Thomason, D: muscle, DOUBT
Liberato Cacace, D: calf, OUT
Predicted XIs:
Sheffield United (4-2-3-1)
Michael Cooper
Hamza Choudhury | Japhet Tanganga | Liam Kitching | Harrison Burrows
Kalvin Phillips | Sydie Peck
Tahith Chong | Thomas Cannon | Romelle Donovan
Patrick Bamford
Wrexham (3-4-2-1)
Anthony Patterson
Dominic Hyam | Joe Worrall | Callum Doyle
Issa Kaboré | Ben Whiteman | Matty James | Jacques Ekomie
Sam Smith | Callum O'Hare
Kieffer Moore
Talking Points:
Wilder cannot afford to let momentum slip up
Chris Wilder's side went into the international break having been dumped out of the Carabao Cup by League Two side Fleetwood Town, and are two spots and two points above the relegation zone, after a start to the season that saw them win only two games in eight.
A dressing room inquest organised by the players themselves has since seen United grab two wins, a draw and a loss since returning to form, and that could very well have been three wins in four.
Wilder was left disappointed after his side could not take advantage of Derby going down to ten men, and only managed a 1-1 draw. Wrexham have only kept two clean sheets all season long, and Wilder will fancy his chances, although Patrick Bamford's shoulder injury could prove costly should the striker not recover in time.
With only seven teams having worse home records this season, Wilder will count on Bramall Lane also turning things around.
Wrexham finishing woes could cement unlucky seven trend
Phil Parkinson is currently the third-longest serving manager in the top four divisions of English football, behind Mikel Arteta and Nigel Clough. It is almost five years to the day when co-owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney attended their first game -- with Parkinson in charge. Yet, the pressure on the Wrexham boss was only amplified after the 0-2 loss away to Blackburn last weekend.
Parkinson, who is dealing with injuries to key players like Josh Windass and Nathan Broadhead, bemoaned the lack of clinical finishing in the loss to Blackburn, with only one of Wrexham's 24 shots on goal on target. Kieffer Moore has scored five goals from just 2.21 xG this season while leading the line for Wrexham, but goals and chances have been hard to come by for the rest of the squad, with the former Blades striker aiming to score once more at Bramall Lane.
Despite all the pressure surrounding Parkinson's future, Wrexham have the same number of points at this stage last season, and are six points from the playoff spots as well as the relegation spots. They cannot depend on previous trends for hope however, as only one of the fifteen previous seventh-placed finishers have followed it up with a top-half finish in the Championship.
A win away to Sheffield United would go a long way in bucking that trend.