The Blades look to equal last season’s best in the FA Cup as Bristol City visit Bramall Lane in the Fifth Round

A rejuvenated Sheffield United can make the quarter-final stage of the FA Cup for the third time in ten years when they face Bristol City at Bramall Lane on Wednesday night.

Chris Wilder’s men have been able to get past their last two FA Cup ties with relative ease as they overcame Bristol Rovers in round three and Plymouth Argyle in round four.

The last tie against the League One side was a one-way affair until a lapse in concentration by the Blades put them under a bit of pressure from Argyle.

Chris Basham opened the scoring for the home side after a Billy Sharp cross into the box saw the defender rise the highest to nod the ball into the back of Michael Cooper’s goal.

In the opening exchanges of the second half, the Blades were able to take a two-goal lead through club captain Sharp.

Oliver Norwood found the striker with a fantastic through ball as he rounded Cooper and slotted the ball into an empty goal to double the advantage for the Premier League side.

With 15 minutes left, Plymouth were able to get a goal back after sloppy play from the Sheffield United defence. Byron Moore picked up the ball on the edge of the box and squared the ball to Panutche Camara with the midfielder tapping the ball into the back of the net.

That was not enough for Argyle to mount an FA Cup comeback as they failed to capitalise on the momentum they gained after their goal.

Bristol City made it through to the fifth round after a tight affair against League One outfit Portsmouth and a comfortable win over fellow Championship side Millwall. The Robins came out as 2-1 victors against Pompey as goals from Famara Diedhiou and Chris Martin either side of a Callum Johnson goal for the visitors saw the Championship club advance to round four.

Diedhiou was on the scoresheet again in round four after his penalty in the 32nd minute of the match at the Den gave the away side the lead heading into the half-time interval.

Nahki Wells added a strike of his own in the 58th minute to give the Robins a 2-0 lead with Antoine Semenyo’s goal handing Bristol City a 3-0 win and a place in the fifth round.

The Robins have the chance to reach the FA Cup quarter-finals for the first time since 1973/74 with the club only making it past the fifth round three times in their existence.

Sheffield United have been able to lift the trophy of the oldest competition in the world on four occasions. Their last triumph came all the way back in 1924/25, with the Blades gracing the final in 1935/36 as they finished runners-up to Arsenal who won after an Edward Drake goal in the 74th minute.

In the FA Cup, the Yorkshire side are unbeaten against Bristol City every time they have faced them in the competition, beating the Robins on three occasions and drawing once which resulted in a replay that Sheffield United won.

Last time these two went head to head was back in 2019 when United were still in the Championship. Billy Sharp gave the Blades the lead in the sixth minute with Andreas Weimann equalising on the half-hour mark.

Scott Hogan put the Blades back in front with Weimann completing his hat-trick and completing Bristol’s turnaround with a 3-2 victory at Bramall Lane.

In every one of the Robins’ last three visits at Bramall Lane, they have come out victorious and will be looking to do the same this time around as the teams go head to head in the fight of a spot in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup.

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