Football tips: Our punchy pair of punts for Southampton v Sheffield United

* All prices are bang up to date with our snazzy widget, while odds in copy are accurate at time of publishing but subject to change.

Southampton to win

Given their recent form, it’s very hard to make a case for Sheffield United winning at St Mary’s. The Blades have had 10 defeats and only a single draw in their opening 11 games of the campaign. They’ve also lost five away games out of five played.

They meet a Southampton team on Sunday who have brought their good form from the second half of last season into this one. The Saints sit comfortably in the top half of the table presently, and they’ve been boosted by the return of star striker Danny Ings for this game – after he returned to action in the win over south-coast rivals Brighton on Monday night.

Ings scored the winner in that game too, which is sure to be even more bad news for Sheffield United. The partnership Ings has developed with Che Adams upfront is just a nightmare for teams to defend against.

Sheffield United are in a rout and I don’t see them getting out of it here, take Ralph Hasenhüttl’s outfit to win again at home.

Sunday 12:00pm: Southampton v Sheffield United
Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Premier League

Southampton (-1)

Southampton have a handy knack of winning games at home in which they are favourites. They’ve had 2-0 victories over West Brom, Newcastle and Everton at St Mary’s so far this season. With the lack of goals coming from Chris Wilder’s side at present, I fancy The Saints to topple the handicap here.

Sheffield United have underperformed in their expected goals stats and perhaps have been a touch unfortunate to have such a lowly points total this term. But, when your strikers look devoid of confidence it’s hard to pick up those all-important goals you need and you couldn’t see them netting at Southampton on Sunday morning either. The Saints look to have enough in their locker to bring in this punt too.