Mark Lawrenson reveals why he's backing Sheffield United to BEAT Arsenal & book place in FA Cup semi-finals

The Blades have enjoyed a fairly comfortable ride in the competition so far, facing AFC Fylde, Reading, and Millwall in their push to the quarter-finals.

United head into the Arsenal game off the back of two 3-0 losses in the space of four days, having been comprehensively beaten by Newcastle United and Manchester United respectively in back-to-back defeats.

Writing for BBC Sport, pundit Mark Lawrenson has predicted a 1-1 draw between the two sides at Bramall Lane on Sunday afternoon, with Chris Wilder's side to book their place in the semi-finals via a dramatic penalty shoot-out win.

Justifying his choice, Lawro wrote: "Like Norwich, Sheffield United are another team who do not look like they have got a goal in them at the moment.

"The Blades are just not playing as well as they were earlier in the season, but maybe the fact they are playing Arsenal might help them out. Arsenal are just a mess at the moment, and this is a situation that has been coming for a while.

"Some people point the blame at former manager Arsene Wenger, but I don't agree with that. Even his worst Gunners team would beat this current Arsenal side, easily."

He concluded: "As for this tie, I am going for the Blades to win on penalties, but Arsenal's problems will not be over by a long shot even if they do get through.”