Pundit makes 'not the same force' admission as Sheffield United tipped to dig in against Fulham

BBC pundit Chris Sutton expects in-form Fulham to be 'too strong' for Sheffield United when the two sides meet at Bramall Lane this weekend. The Cottagers travel to South Yorkshire with bags of confidence having seen off Tottenham Hotspur convincingly in their last Premier League outing before the international break.

That was Fulham's fourth win in their last six games and such form has been enough to carry them to within touching distance of the top half of the table. Of course, United won't be overly concerned by Fulham's rich vein of form, they'll simply be focusing on themselves as they look to pick up the points needed to launch a push for survival.

The Blades are cut adrift at the bottom of the Premier League and at the time of writing they remain eight points short of the pace required for survival. Chris Wilder's side will have belief that one win could be enough to turn their fortunes around, though, and they'll be eager to pick up what would be just their fourth league win of the campaign to date.

Two of those wins have come on home soil and they'll fancy their chances against a side that has struggled to find consistency on the road, but Sutton believes the three points may just be beyond them.

"Fulham blew Tottenham away in their last game and even though they are not quite the same force on the road, they should be too strong for Sheffield United," Sutton, who is tipping a 2-0 away win, said in his BBC predictions column.

"Marco Silva's side have got better and better as the season has gone on and, in Rodrigo Muniz, they have got a striker who is bang in form.

"We know the Blades will dig in and work hard but at the moment that is pretty much all they have got. It won't be enough."

To make matters worse for the Blades, Sutton is predicting Nottingham Forest to move out of the relegation zone this weekend by picking up a 1-0 home win over Crystal Palace.